Storage With Style: WD MyBook Pro Edition

[pschmid]

Who said storage can't be sexy? Western Digital has stepped up with an external storage device shaped like a book - as in the kind you read.

 

[KeynoteKen]

My only hit on the first one was that LOUD fan. I'm not ultra sensitive to noise but when an addition to my system is LOUDER than my system (Dual G5 Power Mac), it becomes annoying. Glad to hear that this one doesn't have one. May have to upgrade to this one and use the old one as a backup/archive drive only.

My REALLY LOUD Book

For other Mac users that may view this post, if this one is like the previous, the only thing that comes for the Mac is the driver for the light activation and you'll want to format the drive before you use it as some programs don't like dealing with large files in that Windows format.

 

[Guest]

I bought a cheapy aluminum external HD enclosure that had a noisy fan and I just removed it. The case was aluminum and had sufficient venting. Works like a charm.

 

[Doughbuy]

I got 7 external cases... never buy pre-made cases, buy seperate case and hdd and it will save you money... not to mention a lot easier to swap drives around.

 

[KeynoteKen]

Unfortunately, there are very few "good looking" external cases (I like the look of the Metal Gear Box, but it's not one of the cheap ones). Sure, it's more expensive, but it's been proven that given that two things are equal in everything but price, if the more expensive one looks better, people with money will gravitate towards it.

 

[Doughbuy]

Case in point: Apple (except they also perform more crappily and other BS)

Yeah, these pre-made things are more for consumers than enthusiasts anyways. There are some nice looking cases out there though, and some of these pre-made ones are fairly ugly. But a lot of that also depends on user preference...

Another thing though is that seperate case and external is also easier to move things around. These pre-made ones are hard to take apart if at all possible. Just another thing I like about doing things myself.

 

[Luscious]

The article doesn't mention the firewire 800 card used in the test system.

Also, how about recommending a fast firewire 800 solution for laptop users???

EMC makes some very good software, I've been using Retrospect 7.5 and it works great, it even supports the newest 400GB AIT tape drives.

 

[KeynoteKen]

Yeah, these pre-made things are more for consumers than enthusiasts anyways.

Exactly, it's priced out of the range of enthusiasts specifically to go after someone walking into Best Buy looking for "hard drive ram" or some such thing. I'm always looking for nicely made cases that aren't just another plain plastic and I've got tons of unique ones for 2.5 inch HD's (there's several nice cases that have been made over the years) but not as many for 3.5's. Any links you have would be appreciated!

Another thing though is that seperate case and external is also easier to move things around. These pre-made ones are hard to take apart if at all possible.

Another thing that separates the enthusiasts from the "money crowd". Once it gets full, they'll probably just put it on a shelf and go buy another, not considering the fact that you could have a few good quality cases and swap HD's out (what I usually do with my 3.5's). BUT, if that's what they do, these will at least look good on that shelf

 

[HibyPrime]

Can somone say MacBook / MacBook Pro ripoff?

 

[KeynoteKen]

I wouldn't say it's a ripoff. I think they figure some sales are to be made to the Mac iPod crowd by making them match their white macbook and white iPod

 

[Narg]

I tried translating the "morse code" on top and didn't find anything resembling english. Anyone else want to try? Better pictures might help.

 

[funkmasterta]

Since when is FAT sexy?

The book form factor is fat, bulky and ugly. It takes up more space than it needs to and is more of a PITA to carry around.

So much for being ultra-portable.

 

[Cosmichrist]

I had the drive, it was actually the blue mybook, I put video on it, the drive went bad, specifically the drive would go to sleep or turn itself off without warning. So I transferred the content and took the drive back. Well, I was then stuck with the smart drive software on my computer, but I couldn't uninstall the software on my pc without the software on the drive. Well it was back at the store. So I contacted western digital for help, but they would not let me download the software without the serial number on the drive. Western Digital refused to allow me access to the software on thier site without a serial. I was eventually able to find a solution, no thanks to Western Digital. Why in the world would anyone care about having thier stupid backup software. Sigh.

I have a friend who does tech support for public schools, he told me that the school bought a bunch of mybooks and they had a lot of them die.

So that's the perspective I was speaking from. If you look at the price compared to what else is out there, I suspect that the Mybooks are cheaper, well, because they're cheaper.

 

[Narg]

Since when is FAT sexy?

The book form factor is fat, bulky and ugly. It takes up more space than it needs to and is more of a PITA to carry around.

So much for being ultra-portable.

I guess since it's made in a book like form, it's supposed to sit on a bookshelf and not be carried around? Sheesh, brains are thin today huh?

 

[HibyPrime]

Since when is FAT sexy?

The book form factor is fat, bulky and ugly. It takes up more space than it needs to and is more of a PITA to carry around.

So much for being ultra-portable.

I'm sure you can use NTFS if you wanted

el oh el

 

[obibobi]

Fantastic support from Western Digital, NOT !

After I upgraded to Vista 64-bit the MyBook is not accesible.
According to Western Digital support they do and will not provide drivers for 64-bit OS's.
-"talk to Microsoft" was their excellent answer.

I have the opinion that the hardware producer should provide drivers for their products.

Buy some other external harddrive, this is not made for future OS's.