The Western Digital 160 GB External Hard Drive (WDXUB1600BBNN)
Written: May 10 '06
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Product Rating:
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Pros: high performance grades, 160 GB of space, works very quickly, quiet
Cons: none as of yet
The Bottom Line: At a reasonable cost of $139 this external drive is highly recommended because of its speed, quietness, space, and ease of use.
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| three_ster's Full Review: Western Digital (WDXUB1600BBNN) 160 GB USB 2.0 Har... |
Being able to back up your computers files is one of the most important things you can do with important documents. I have many Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, and PDF documents that I need, and are very important to me. For that reason, it is always necessary to back them up, as insurance that they won't be damaged. In addition to that, I have many, many web-site documents including photos and notepad created files that must be saved in case I ever make a mistake while working on the two web-sites that I have created. Recently I have had to move files from several computers that were going to be "surplused", and I needed to put them into one central location where they could be accessed by a new system that I was getting. The thought process was that I needed a large external drive where I could send all of these files, and then keep copies of them there for any future needs. So, with those thoughts in mind, it was time to research an external drive that could deal with a massive number of files.
What I ended up getting, was the Western Digital 160 GB External USB Hard Drive. It seemed like such an easy tool to have, and even though it had a lot more space than I really needed, it would be able to cater to as much data as I decided to save on it. The drive is about 9 inches long by about 6 inches wide, and has a width of about 2 inches. So, it is a pretty compact piece of equipment, but at the same time it is larger than a flash drive or zip disk that most people are used to backing up their files on. It's not the easiest thing to carry around either, because it is on the heavy side, and has a few cords that have to be used each time. But, if your intent is not to carry it around very often, it is easy to put away in a desk drawer or beside your "box" until you need to deal with it. It is also set up, so that you can stack additional drives (one on top of the other) if you so wish, but that capacity of storage is a little more than I am looking for. As it stands I only use one of the external drives, and it is easy enough to use on the desk.
The Contents
The Drive comes with a power cord, an AC Adapter, the AC Adapter Cord, a six foot USB 2.0 Cable, two stands, and four "feet". The stands are used to hold the drive up if you want it to be vertical, and the feet are used to prop the drive up off the desk horizontally, or from other drives if you have more than one. It also comes with an installation CD with express software that can be used to backup your files, and a user manual that can be seen in PDF format. You also get a Quick Install Guide, which goes through all of the instructions about how to set-up, connect, and use the drive. The drive works on Windows computers with a USB Drive and Windows 98SE/Me/2000/XP or greater. On the Macintosh front, you must also have a USB port, and it works on OS version 9.2.2 or OS X version 10.2.8 or greater. I use the drive on Windows based computers, and although we have a Mac, I have yet to try it out on that system. It doesn't seem like it would be too difficult though, as it uses the same functions and instructions on both of them.
Setting it up, and Putting it to use :
On the box it breaks down the directions of use to three easy steps: Install the software, Plug in the drive, and start Backing up your files. It is even easier than that though, because the software isn't necessary unless you want to have it "backup on demand". It also provides you with a Disk Utility that allows you to work with the drive, and actually erase, partition, or reformat if you are so inclined. The utilities are very easy to use, and once you have it working, you may not ever need to go back into it, unless you make a mistake using the drive, and need to fix something. Once you have installed your software, you connect the cables, making sue to use the SC adapter, and the USB Cable. Once everything is connected, hit the power button and the drive will turn on with a quick whir. You will know it is starting up, because the button will have a blue halo that indicates it has been turned on. In a few quick seconds you will have another drive show up on your computer, that it will recognize as being external.
Once everything is up and running there are a couple of ways that you can back up the data from your computer. The first is the simplest, in that you can drag and drop the files straight on to your external drive. This allows you to pick and choose what files you are saving and where you want them to go on the external drive. If you are working with a lot of different folders, and don't want everything to go over from your computer, this could be the best way to go. There are however, ways to back-up entire drives (such as your C drive), by using the Manual Backup, or by using the Automatic Backup. Using both of these options is very easy, because they have a corresponding button that you can press on the outside of the hard drive. The Manual one is denoted by an icon showing two folders, and the Automatic Backup is represented by a button with the icon of a clock on it. This way it is easy to keep straight which one is which, and just as easy to put them to use. By clicking on one of the buttons, you will be given a setup wizard that allows you to go through the steps of backing up everything. It will only copy documents by default, so if you want anything other than that to be saved, you will have to drag/drop over to the drive.
My Thoughts and Experience with the Western Digital Hard Drive:
Using the drive is a very easy process, and I think that even the most novice of computer users could put this to good use. It really is as simple as plugging it in, and copying your files from the original computer over to the external drive. You can organize those files in any fashion that you choose on the drive, and there isn't any limit to the number of folders that you set up to hold all of your work. Not only that, but the drive is extremely fast, and I am able to transfer hundreds of documents and pictures to it in a matter of seconds. The drive itself is preformatted to allow you the easy plug and play, and it operates in near silence. That blue light may be a necessary indicator for you, because you won't be able to hear the drive over your average room noise. This is a nice feature, because I don't need to be hearing constant whirring and drive loading when I don't want to. I guess one other way to know it is on, is if you put your hand to it, because it gives off a slight vibration while it is plugged in.
The external drive is of course 160 GB as depicted, and has a 7200 RPM rotational speed. You can choose to stand it either horizontally using the feet, or vertically using the stands. Both the feet and stands come in the box, but are very easy to put on to the drive. While I have mentioned its vast ability to back up the types of files that I use, it can also be used to store music files from an MP3 player, to save edited or created digital video, or to store entire digital photo collections. It can be used to easily share files between more than one computer, serves as a valuable backup to nearly any type of computer file, and can additionally be used with other external drives to provide a huge source of space for everything you want to save. The automatic and manual backups are both easy functions to work with, and I think that having buttons specifically geared to them on the drive makes it so much easier. That way you don't have to search on your computer for the software, but rather just need to hit the button to begin working with the wizard.
One important thing to note, is that you want to make sure you are taking the safe route when you are disconnecting the drive from your computer. They recommend closing all active applications before you shut down the drive to prevent any potential data lose. Once that is done, you can simply press the power button (which doubles as the safe shutdown button), and the external drive will power down. Once the lights have turned off, you can unplug everything and put it away if you so choose. The ease of shutting down the drive makes the product seem even better when you get to that point, and is just one of the many benefits to this particular external hard drive. Backing up your files is a very important endeavor, and you want to have a product that you can trust. I have yet to have a single problem using the Western Digital External Drive, and have actually really enjoyed my experiences using it. It is so easy to store files on, that it doesn't even seem like you are doing anything, and the speed at which it works makes it go very quickly. For the simplicity of use, the dependability that it offers, and the sheer amount of space it has provided, I highly recommend the Western Digital 160 GB Hard Drive.
Features as Advertised on the Box:
*160 GB drive
*7200 RPM Rotational Speed
*Preformatted to simply plug and play
*Fast, easy connection to PC or Macintosh Computers
*Cool, heat-dissipating case
*Stands vertically or horizontally
*Stackable
*Dual-Option Backup
Recommended:
Yes
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