Customer Reviews for 500GB MY BOOK ESSENTIAL ED USB 2.0 7200 RPM 16MB EXT
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500GB MY BOOK ESSENTIAL ED USB 2.0 7200 RPM 16MB EXT500GB MY BOOK ESSENTIAL ED USB 2.0 7200 RPM 16MB EXT
Average Customer Rating: 
(166 Reviews) 150
Rating Distribution (166 reviews) 5 stars 133 4 stars 24 3 stars 1 2 stars 3 1 star 5
156 out of 166(94%)customers would recommend this product to a friend.
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Customer Reviews for 500GB MY BOOK ESSENTIAL ED USB 2.0 7200 RPM 16MB EXT
Review 1 for 500GB MY BOOK ESSENTIAL ED USB 2.0 7200 RPM 16MB EXT
(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Ease of Installation:
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Ease of Use:
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Reviewed by:MudSlingerTJ
(Frankfort, KY)
Duration of product use:Less than a month
Level of expertise:Average
Date:January 24, 2008
Pros:Very easy to use. Better price than even Wally World.
Cons:None
+1point
1out of 1found this review helpful.
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Review 2 for 500GB MY BOOK ESSENTIAL ED USB 2.0 7200 RPM 16MB EXT
(166 Ratings)
Overall Rating:
(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Ease of Installation:
(166 Ratings)
Ease of Installation:
5
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(166 Ratings)
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Compatibility:
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Ease of Use:
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Reviewed by:linkwill
(Texarkana, TX)
Duration of product use:Months
Level of expertise:Average
Date:January 19, 2008
Title:
Get it While its HOT!
Pros:Everything about it is great. It is literally plug n play. Really do not need directions. It is the simpliest item that I have ever purchased and worked right away. Everything is immediate and ease of use is out of this world. I would purchase this item again as I need more memory for storage. Even priced well. GREAT!!!
Cons:Did not notice any.
+1point
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Review 3 for 500GB MY BOOK ESSENTIAL ED USB 2.0 7200 RPM 16MB EXT
(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Ease of Installation:
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Compatibility:
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5
(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
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Reviewed by:waynebo
(Chicago, IL)
Duration of product use:Less than a week
Level of expertise:Newbie
Date:January 13, 2008
Title:
Don't buy for backup!
Pros:relatively easy to install for just a drop and drag drive
Cons:This does not work with Widows backup utility easily, not sure if at all. I wanted something to back up my photos, data, and music seamlessly and effortlessly. I have not been able to use my existing backup software. It will not start up because the Windows backup will not see the drive, and will not shadow over the NTUser.dat files. Its a big pain in the back up. I need to go look for software to do this. It is a tad noisy also, not sure how other compare, the fan does make a louder sound than my XPS.
Review:There should be an easy software suggested at least for effortless periodic backup. I figured I could back up periodically, turn the unit on and off to try and minimize virus problems, and in case of hard drive failure have a minimal effort to recover everything. This would not be that ground breaking of effort to do.
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Review 4 for 500GB MY BOOK ESSENTIAL ED USB 2.0 7200 RPM 16MB EXT
(166 Ratings)
Overall Rating:
(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Ease of Installation:
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Ease of Use:
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Reviewed by:Mpointer620
(Sicklerville, New Jersey)
Duration of product use:Less than a month
Level of expertise:Average
Date:January 7, 2008
Title:
Wonderful!
Pros:I purchase this drive for a gift for my husband, and he loves it. He is at the computer every spare minute saving his music. He has stored over 15,000 songs on it and still loading. This was a great purchase.
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Review 5 for 500GB MY BOOK ESSENTIAL ED USB 2.0 7200 RPM 16MB EXT
(166 Ratings)
Overall Rating:
(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Ease of Installation:
(166 Ratings)
Ease of Installation:
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Compatibility:
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Ease of Use:
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Reviewed by:Billh73
(Phoenix AZ)
Duration of product use:Months
Level of expertise:Average
Date:January 4, 2008
Title:
Be Careful
Pros:Product is 'plug and play'. However, only from the perspective of as soon as you plug it in to your USB you will see it as a drive. Works like a memory stick would, not plug and play for backing up your computer. Good price for a lot of storage.
Cons:I installed my WD MY Book Essential HD in early 2007 and assumed that it was set up to back up all my files. I distinctly remember going through a set up to back everything up. I am finding out 10 months later that it did not. My problem could obviously be user error but I blame the lack of documentation. Product design is mass consumer friendly but the documentation and web support are not.
+2points
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Review 6 for 500GB MY BOOK ESSENTIAL ED USB 2.0 7200 RPM 16MB EXT
(166 Ratings)
Overall Rating:
(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
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Reviewed by:DMAN23
(Los Angeles)
Duration of product use:Months
Level of expertise:Expert
Date:January 3, 2008
Title:
worst external harddrive ever
Pros:non
Cons:bought two, both burn out worst external harddrive ever. lost all of my information for the past 8 years.
Review:DO NOT BUY WD EXTERNALS
-1point
1out of 3found this review helpful.
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Review 7 for 500GB MY BOOK ESSENTIAL ED USB 2.0 7200 RPM 16MB EXT
(166 Ratings)
Overall Rating:
(166 Ratings)
Overall Rating:
(166 Ratings)
Ease of Installation:
(166 Ratings)
Ease of Installation:
5
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Compatibility:
5
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Performance:
5
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Ease of Use:
5
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Reviewed by:iamdavers
(Vancouver, USA)
Duration of product use:Months
Level of expertise:Good
Date:December 24, 2007
Title:
5 stars across the board!
Pros:A true definition of Plug-and-Play. Plug in the power, pluig in the USB, and you have an extra 500GB of hard drive space.
Cons:None in over a year of using these drives!
Review:I do alot of media production and these drives make an economical medium for mass, lont-term storage. I also like them for storing disc images of my expensive media and software libraries. And Dell's price is compatable with local retail sale prices - so it is just as easy to order online and have them at your door in a couple of days. At last count I have 8 of these drives.
+1point
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Review 8 for 500GB MY BOOK ESSENTIAL ED USB 2.0 7200 RPM 16MB EXT
(166 Ratings)
Overall Rating:
(166 Ratings)
Overall Rating:
(166 Ratings)
Ease of Installation:
(166 Ratings)
Ease of Installation:
5
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Compatibility:
5
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(166 Ratings)
Performance:
(166 Ratings)
Performance:
5
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Ease of Use:
5
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Reviewed by:techsupt00
(Massachusetts)
Duration of product use:Less than a month
Level of expertise:Expert
Date:December 19, 2007
Title:
Expand Your Disk Space With This Drive
Pros:Price, Speed, Convenience, Easy to use
Cons:None
Review:I purchased a Dell Inspiron E1705 notebook (from Dell) in February 2007. The notebook came with a 120GB hard drive. I knew then that the drive would not accommodate my needs and would eventually need to upgrade.
When I found the various Western Digital external drives, there were a few to choose from. I had a choice of the 500GB firewire, or usb, 750GB, or 1TB drives. The price also crossed my mind. I didn't want to spend more than $150.00, so the cost narrowed my decision down to either the firewire 500GB or the USB 500GB. Since firewire is typically slower than USB, I chose USB, this drive.
Since the price was eventually the motivator for me to purchase, I went ahead with the order. The hard drive arrived within a few days from Dell. Most computer people would be quick to unwrap and install, but I took a day to open the box. I wanted to devote my attention to the drive and see how well it really would work for me. The hard drive arrived in its own Western Digital box. Contents included the ac power supply, the hard drive (sealed), a USB cable, and a booklet for instructions. Most of the time I use the instructions, but this was an easy hook up.
Installation was simple. As always, you should power off everything before installing anything external to your computer. Since my computer was off, that is where I started. The instructions were simple to follow through. It said to power off the computer. Next, plug in the ac power supply to the western digital hard drive to the wall, then plug in the USB plug to the drive, then to the computer. Finally, turn on the computer. Since my computer has Windows Vista for the operating system, Vista quickly recognized the drive as a USB device. There was no need to install any drives either. Just for the record, my other pc has Windows XP installed on it.
Once the hard drive was recognized by the operating system, it allowed me to move files off my notebook and onto the hard drive. If you are unfamiliar with how the USB drive works, it is as easy as having a floppy disk in a floppy disk drive. Once the computer recognizes the drive, the drives acts as another storage device for your files.
+5points
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Review 9 for 500GB MY BOOK ESSENTIAL ED USB 2.0 7200 RPM 16MB EXT
(166 Ratings)
Overall Rating:
(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Ease of Installation:
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
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5
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(166 Ratings)
Ease of Use:
5
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Reviewed by:max07ltd
(Miami)
Duration of product use:Over a year
Level of expertise:Good
Date:December 18, 2007
Title:
Perfect
Pros:Everything about this drive is awesome, i have a great time using it.
Faster, quiet. Im really comfortable with this item.
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Review 10 for 500GB MY BOOK ESSENTIAL ED USB 2.0 7200 RPM 16MB EXT
(166 Ratings)
Overall Rating:
(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Ease of Installation:
(166 Ratings)
Ease of Installation:
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Performance:
5
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Ease of Use:
5
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Reviewed by:KaceeCan
(Houston, TX)
Duration of product use:Less than a month
Level of expertise:Newbie
Date:December 17, 2007
Title:
New Security Blanket
Pros:With excellent instructions from a wonderful Canadian Tech and DellConnect, I have a new security blanket. I am not very computer literate, so I had not mastered full backups before I experienced several 'blue screens of death'. I managed to copy documents and contacts to CDs, but after many attempts to circumvent the problems, we were forced to reload Windows (losing all my emails, employment communications, purchase confirmations, formatting details, scanned old photos, EVERYthing!). Eventually both memory boards and the motherboard were replaced also.
The simplicity of operation of My Book is amazing and exactly what I needed!
Cons:None about My Book; I just wish I had known about this product before I had to reload Windows !!!
Review:I suggest having the Dell kiosk sales reps discuss this product to prospective buyers, especially when they admit up front to being less than computer literate!
+1point
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Review 11 for 500GB MY BOOK ESSENTIAL ED USB 2.0 7200 RPM 16MB EXT
(166 Ratings)
Overall Rating:
(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Ease of Installation:
(166 Ratings)
Ease of Installation:
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Compatibility:
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Performance:
5
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Ease of Use:
4
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Reviewed by:JFBMASS
(Massachusetts)
Duration of product use:Less than a month
Level of expertise:Good
Date:December 17, 2007
Title:
Once you get the hang if it
Pros:Installation a breeze, stting p an auto backup with my norton 360, even easier. Just the first few times performing individual file backups took some extra time but a very quick learning curve
Cons:None. except reading negative reviews!!
Review:Might go for an internal drive as well
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Review 12 for 500GB MY BOOK ESSENTIAL ED USB 2.0 7200 RPM 16MB EXT
(166 Ratings)
Overall Rating:
(166 Ratings)
Overall Rating:
(166 Ratings)
Ease of Installation:
(166 Ratings)
Ease of Installation:
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Performance:
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Ease of Use:
5
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Reviewed by:JodyK
(Kasson, MN)
Duration of product use:Months
Level of expertise:Average
Date:December 10, 2007
Title:
Terrific storage
Pros:I was very excited to get the my book to store pictures, we take a lot of pictures and I needed to know they were safe. Super easy installation, just connect the cable, very easy to use - just like any other storage device.
Cons:Nothing wrong with this book
Review:I plan to purchase more for gifts.
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Review 13 for 500GB MY BOOK ESSENTIAL ED USB 2.0 7200 RPM 16MB EXT
(166 Ratings)
Overall Rating:
(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Ease of Installation:
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
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Reviewed by:Jakethesnake
(Minnesota)
Duration of product use:Less than a month
Level of expertise:Average
Date:December 10, 2007
Title:
Warning!!
Pros:Cost
Cons:Bad product!! Read all of the reviews on the web if thinking of buying. I had my drive for one month and only put 32GB on it and it all is lost, my computer wont recognize it!!! Western digital customer service is bad (no clear english speaking operators) and it costs a fortune to get info back from drive! Dont buy this model!!
Review:Research on web before you buy anything!! I've learned the hard way!
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Review 14 for 500GB MY BOOK ESSENTIAL ED USB 2.0 7200 RPM 16MB EXT
(166 Ratings)
Overall Rating:
(166 Ratings)
Overall Rating:
(166 Ratings)
Ease of Installation:
(166 Ratings)
Ease of Installation:
5
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Compatibility:
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Ease of Use:
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Reviewed by:Nonna
(Memphis, TN)
Duration of product use:Months
Level of expertise:Good
Date:December 10, 2007
Title:
500GB MY BOOK ESSENTIAL ED USB 2.0 - GREAT BUY!
Pros:Compared to external drives and other methods of storage - this has a great price...
I might add that DELL price is a bit less than most other places I check prices with.
I just plugged it into a port - and there you have it - ready to go.
Comes with a little pop-up to get it working.
I just plug it in and set it to receive all my backups - using Microsoft One-Care - scheduled backups
No worries - great little performer - and did I mention - disconnect it with the tray icon - or unplug when you power down - and carry it with you? That is a real PLUS!
Cons:No Cons
Review:I have used other removable storage - this is the best yet - and I can't believe the price Dell has to offer on this product!
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Review 15 for 500GB MY BOOK ESSENTIAL ED USB 2.0 7200 RPM 16MB EXT
(166 Ratings)
Overall Rating:
(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Ease of Installation:
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Performance:
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(166 Ratings)
Ease of Use:
(166 Ratings)
Ease of Use:
5
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Reviewed by:qdm4u
(Midland, TX)
Duration of product use:Less than a month
Level of expertise:Good
Date:December 10, 2007
Title:
Good Drive
Pros:I like Western Digital hard drives I have 3 now. They are very esy to install but most are these days. I will probably buy another.
Cons:I would like it if they came formated to NTFS already but thats really a small point.
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Review 16 for 500GB MY BOOK ESSENTIAL ED USB 2.0 7200 RPM 16MB EXT
(166 Ratings)
Overall Rating:
(166 Ratings)
Overall Rating:
(166 Ratings)
Ease of Installation:
(166 Ratings)
Ease of Installation:
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Performance:
4
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(166 Ratings)
Ease of Use:
(166 Ratings)
Ease of Use:
5
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Reviewed by:Carlton
(Detroit)
Duration of product use:Months
Level of expertise:Average
Date:December 3, 2007
Title:
Works like they said it would!
Pros:Ease of use. Almost seamless transitions. Easy to access doesn't slow operations. Easy to load.
Cons:Nonee so far.
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Review 17 for 500GB MY BOOK ESSENTIAL ED USB 2.0 7200 RPM 16MB EXT
(166 Ratings)
Overall Rating:
(166 Ratings)
Overall Rating:
(166 Ratings)
Ease of Installation:
(166 Ratings)
Ease of Installation:
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Compatibility:
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Performance:
5
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Ease of Use:
5
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Reviewed by:Richard58
(Middlebourne, WV)
Duration of product use:Less than a month
Level of expertise:Good
Date:December 3, 2007
Title:
Quality Hard Drive
Pros:This HardDrive is great. Worked great with Windows XP and also on my new Computer running Windows Vista. It was easy and quick to reformat it to NTSB. It is fast and easy to transfer files to and from. I would buy it again.
Cons:None
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Review 18 for 500GB MY BOOK ESSENTIAL ED USB 2.0 7200 RPM 16MB EXT
(166 Ratings)
Overall Rating:
(166 Ratings)
Overall Rating:
(166 Ratings)
Ease of Installation:
(166 Ratings)
Ease of Installation:
5
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Compatibility:
5
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Performance:
5
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(166 Ratings)
Ease of Use:
(166 Ratings)
Ease of Use:
5
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Reviewed by:rskim
(Houston, TX)
Duration of product use:Less than a month
Level of expertise:Newbie
Date:December 3, 2007
Pros:very easy to setup and use. portable!
Cons:none
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Review 19 for 500GB MY BOOK ESSENTIAL ED USB 2.0 7200 RPM 16MB EXT
(166 Ratings)
Overall Rating:
(166 Ratings)
Overall Rating:
(166 Ratings)
Ease of Installation:
(166 Ratings)
Ease of Installation:
5
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Compatibility:
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Performance:
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(166 Ratings)
Ease of Use:
(166 Ratings)
Ease of Use:
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Reviewed by:JC317
(New York)
Duration of product use:Months
Level of expertise:Good
Date:December 3, 2007
Title:
500GB MY BOOK
Pros:So simple to set up, no problem!
Cons:None.
Review:Great price & value, you can't go wrong.
+1point
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Review 20 for 500GB MY BOOK ESSENTIAL ED USB 2.0 7200 RPM 16MB EXT
(166 Ratings)
Overall Rating:
(166 Ratings)
Overall Rating:
(166 Ratings)
Ease of Installation:
(166 Ratings)
Ease of Installation:
5
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Compatibility:
5
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(166 Ratings)
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(166 Ratings)
Performance:
5
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(166 Ratings)
Ease of Use:
(166 Ratings)
Ease of Use:
5
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Reviewed by:DeaCoNxFRoST
(Los Angeles,ca)
Duration of product use:Over a year
Level of expertise:Expert
Date:November 6, 2007
Title:
good value for the price.
Pros:Easy to use and to install, simple plug and play.
Cons:Older models from a few months ago, use the on/off button in the front, later models do not use the button anymore. As far as why? I have no idea, the on/off button is useful when you do not want the drive to stay on when you are not using it.
+1point
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