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May 25, 2007

Unboxing: Western Digital My Book 500GB

I have an old external generic drive case which I got at a cheap price of around Php560. Its now handling a 160GB Seagate HDD which I use to transfer media files from one workstation to another or to my laptop (the 54Mbps LAN just wouldn’t cut it). So, when I saw this Western Digital 500GB My Book at a sale price back in Funan IT Mall, I grabbed one right away.

I was un-boxing it last night while taking pictures…

Western Digital 500GB HDD

Western Digital 500GB HDD

Western Digital 500GB HDD

Western Digital 500GB HDD

Western Digital 500GB HDD

Western Digital 500GB HDD

The thing looks like a black XBox 360. Been transferring files from the old hard drive to this one in the last 24 hours and it’s still just over half way there. Though this one runs at USB 2.0 speeds, the old one is hooked up on a USB hub which seems to be downgrading the transfer speed to USB 1.0 or something.

Written by yuga

Abe is the founder and publisher of YugaTech. You Can follow him on Twitter @abeolandres.

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21 Responses to “Unboxing: Western Digital My Book 500GB”

  1. kid says:

    i think there’s also such a thing as a usb 2.0 hub.

  2. yuga says:

    Yup, the one I am using says it’s a USB 2.0 hub but every time I hook up a device thru it, a pop-up message would say that “this USB device can perform faster if you connect it to a Hi-Speed USB 2.0 port.”

  3. Aja Lapus
    Twitter:
    says:

    Is the so-called USB 2.0 hub connected directly to the motherboard or just another USB port on the back or case of your system unit?

  4. yuga says:

    Aja, attached to one of the ports at the back of the case. Is there a way to attach it directly to the mobo? I think the mobo only supports up to 4 USB 2.0.

  5. Aja Lapus
    Twitter:
    says:

    I’ve had trouble with high-speed USB 2.0 a while ago. It’s either the back USB port the hub is connected to doesn’t support high-speed USB 2.0 [or the high-speed option is disabled on the BIOS settings], or the hub itself just falls back to lower speeds since it is handling many devices at once, which is connected to just a single high-speed port.

    You can connect the hub directly to the mobo if it has connectors looking like this. More info

  6. quezacolt says:

    how much is it? :)

  7. vance says:

    I also have same problems with my pc, I think the front panel usbs isn’t a 2.0 one, even though it is connected directly to the usb2.0 slot in the motherboard. I haven’t figured out why.

    on the topic, That looks good.. how much is it?

  8. vance says:

    it would be cool if you have router that has usb port so that you can plug it in and be able to share that with all your computer within the network.

  9. Aja Lapus
    Twitter:
    says:

    @vance: Some motherboard pins for USB does not support high-speed USB 2.0. Check your mobo’s manual to make sure, as some USB 2.0 on motherboards need activation of Enhanced Host Controller Interface (EHCI, or some similar term) on the BIOS/CMOS settings. ;)

  10. yuga says:

    Got it for about Php7,500.

  11. vance says:

    @aja ah ic.. thank you.

    @abe thats quite cheap! I thought it would cost around 20k or so like the maxtor and seagate external drives.

  12. chase says:

    Nice that you got it on sale. External harddisks are quite impt. nowadays well in my case since everyone in my school has one.

  13. Jaypee
    Twitter:
    says:

    Php7,500? Whoaaa! That’s so cheap! I just checked from BestBuy’s website and their selling it for $199. That’s definitely a good buy. :D

  14. vance says:

    I saw it in Greenhills virramall and the price is almost close, It is being sold here for 8k flat, you got it 500 pesos cheaper though. hehe.

    I really like the 1 Terabyte versions (macro and Dual) the price is decent for its capacity from 19k and 20k Flat respectively

  15. miko says:

    hi there! doing some research on possible data storage options and came across your page. i’m looking for a good way to back up my photos (right now 15 dvd’s worth) na at the same time accessible din naman.

    anyway, just wanted to ask, how’s the drive naman now? no problems? may mga mixed reviews kase sa internet..

    thanks :D

  16. [...] used to do my backups on a secondary internal drive. Now, I got that Western Digital MyBook 500GB to backup important files and media from my desktop PC and [...]

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  18. Don says:

    “this USB device can perform faster if you connect it to a Hi-Speed USB 2.0 port.”

    this means that your hub is 2.0 but one of the devices connected is a 1.1 version. This downgrades the speed of the entire hub

  19. Xhitman says:

    Hi I would just like to ask if this is good for downloading purposes Ex. Torrent downloading

    I will need additional storage and I am thinking of using this as an permanent external drive where all the downloads in the torrents will be saved.. Thanks for the info.

    I would also like to know if this kind of usage will significantly reduce the lifespan of it? Thanks!

  20. 88shoppe says:

    This is a very good external hard drive because of the storage capacity but not a portable device that can be put in my pocket anywhere because of the size (weight about 2.9 lbs, Dimensions: 6.7″ x 5.6″ x 2.3″).

    Sleek, slim, and sexy for an external HDD.

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