Western Digital's 500GB My Book Home Edition external hard drive has so much more space than the majority of similarly-priced hard drives, most casual PC users will be able to treat it as a sort of Gmail-styled storage solution -- just save it and forget it, no deleting required. The My Book Home Edition's nearly half a Terabyte of data storage capacity will please even the most storage-hungry media junkie out there, no matter how many MP3's and digital movies they have.
At a Glance
Pros
- 500GB of Space for Above-average Storage Capacity
- Small Physical Size
- Both USB 2.0 and FireWire Connectivity for Fast Data Transfer
- Quiet Running Sound
Cons
- Awkward Powerup
- LCD Display Doesn't Work When Using eSATA Connection
Features
- Ultimate Connectability
The 500GB My Book Home Edition comes with both USB and FireWire cables in the box, and with good reason. Both cords can be used to connect it to your PC, with impressive results in terms of transfer speeds. During my testing, I averaged 15MB/s with USB and 20MB/s with FireWire, making even those massive files such as full HD movies transfer at acceptable speeds.
With three ways to connect -- USB 2.0, FireWire, and eSATA (although eSATA cables are not included in the box, and the self-powered LCD display does not work when connected with eSATA) -- the My Book Home Edition will be able to connect to your PC, whatever your needs or capabilities.
Performance
As mentioned earlier, I averaged between 15 and 20 MB/s, depending upon USB vs. FireWire. This is fast enough not to cause any problems, but not the fastest out there. eSATA provides much higher performance, but will be inaccessible to the broad majority of users. Regardless, most users won't run into any trouble transferring files, even large ones. Obviously, during massive backups of entire drives or folders, the standard "several minutes to complete" rules apply, but people will be expecting that in any case.
The drive runs both cool and quiet, thanks to the lack of a high-speed fan (or the need for any), and people with noisy PCs will recognize immediately what a treat that is. Not to mention the actual size of the drive, which is quite small by comparison to some other .5 to 1 Terabyte drives. It's an effective drive, with great performance in all the most noticeable areas -- speed, space, and sound.