Customer Reviews

Western Digital Elements 640 GB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive WDE1UBK6400N (Black)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The Western Digital Elements is, by far, the most robust external hard disk I've ever owned. And, when I say solid, I mean almost 3 lbs. solid (I didn't put it on a scale but it feels that way), 100% metal casing, likely to survive a building collapsing on top of it. Given that I bought it for backups, not for travel, I actually like it this way.

It's probably helpful to enumerate the features I feel are worth being aware of before one buys it (and I shall answer any additional questions if you drop a comment, to the extent that I can):

# Heavy, solid build, almost bullet-proof enclosure.
# 8"x4"x1" rectangular prism (these are not exact measurements but I'm confident it's close.
# USB port for data transfer, cable included.
# External power supply.
# Silent run - you can't hear it spinning unless you place it close to your ear.
# Cool - after one night of uninterrupted operation it was barely warmer than room temperature.
# Not a speed demon but I backed up 50GB in something like 20-30 minutes.
# Formated as FAT32.
# Comes with no software but it was instantly recognized by both Vista and my PS3 (more about that later)
# There is no manual to speak of - and no manual is needed.
# One year warranty.
# 30-day free tech support during the warranty period where the clock starts running after the first call to WD.
# Lacks the (to me annoying) carnival lights that some other drives have these days - only one blue LED, on the back, blinks when read/writes are performed.
# Competitive in price with the Western Digital Elements 1 TB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive WDE1UBK10000N (Black) which I happen to own.

I can't think of anything bad to say about the WD Elements. I went for the 1TB size because I wanted to back up several smaller computers on it and my 320GB PS3. For a stress test and if you are going to use it with XP or Vista you may want to reformat the disk as NTFS - Microsoft will be spinning your disk for many, many hours and, if you bought a dud, chances are it will stop working during the 10-12 hours format process. Or, you can check the 'fast format' option and the formatting will be done in less than one minute.

After the overnight test was passed, I partitioned the disk into 4 using Vista (no problem whatsoever) and I formated 3 of them as NTFS and one as FAT32 (get FAT32FORMAT off the Net because Microsoft's utility does not work on a 300GB partition). Backups ran flawlessly with Microsoft's backup interface and backing up the PS3 was incident-free too - it instantly recognized the FAT32 partition and I have a nice PS3 backup now.

I highly recommend this drive as a backup device that does not travel a lot. If you wish to save a few dollars and don't have much use for an extra 300GB, go with this one. Otherwise, get the 1TB version.

Great value for money.
If you just want a basic external drive for photo/video/music back-up, then this is a great product.
Install is a breeze with USB plug and play - there is no install disk needed, just plug in the USB cable to your PC and it auto-installs as a new drive.

The 640GB is a less common memory size, so you get more memory and a better price on this size, than for instance a 500GB drive.
If you do not plan on disconnecting USB without using 'Hardware remove', then in the Windows disk properties you can optimize the data transfer cache for optimum performance.

My only reservation is that it is a bit heavy and not as stylized as the book style external drives. So, if you want something to carry around with you and a carry case, then there may be better (but more expensive) options.

I've been using this product for a month without any issues.

This device requires the included external power supply. The Amazon product description "Simply plug it in to a USB port and start [using it]" is a little misleading. With so many external drives getting their power from the USB port, I wish this info had been included in the product description or technical details.

This little black box of a hard drive is amazingly quiet, especially for a Western Digital product. (I'm used to a lot of chatter from their 3.5" drives.) Unless I put my ear next to the drive, I cannot hear a thing.

The only power/activity light is located at the rear of the drive, next to the USB port. The blue LED is appropriately bright, meaning it is visible during the day but doesn't turn your computer area into a disco at night.

The case is sturdy, and the removable rubber caps on both ends keep the drive firmly in place. The sides of the case are slightly rounded, preventing it from standing on its edge. The drive can be stood on its nose, a trick that can save desk space but also blocks some of the case's air vents.

The case does not get hot. Slightly warm to the touch, but not enough to keep your toast warm. The drive is heavy and the case feels solid - I feel comfortable taking this drive on road trips (assuming there's an outlet nearby).

Windows reports the drive capacity as 596 GB, with a specific capacity of 640,132,382,720 bytes. While hard drive marketing teams simply round the listed byte capacity (hence 640 GB), most operating systems correctly compute the GB capacity by dividing by 1024 a few times. (1KB=1024B, 1MB=1024KB, 1GB=1024MB)
Using computer math:
- 640,132,382,720 bytes
- 625,129,280 KB
- 610,477 MB (slightly rounded)
- 596 GB (slightly rounded)
This discrepancy ("computer size" vs "marketing size") is unfortunately standard practice in the hard drive industry - you should always expect the real world capacity to be smaller than the advertised size (in this case nearly 50GB difference). This difference increases as drives get larger. Buyer, be informed...

Because of the drive's weight and the power requirement, it is intended to be an external desktop drive instead of a portable drive.

This product might have gotten 5 stars had I known it required an external power source instead of getting its power from a USB port. It still earns a solid 4-star review, even though I'm a little disappointed in it.

I am impressed with this drive's build - it's solid and appears to be a very nice product.

Installation on WinXP didn't go as smoothly as expected but this had nothing to do with the drive. On installation the wizard repeatedly gave me an error message: "There was a problem installing this hardware. An error occurred during the installation of the device. One of the filter drivers installed for this device is invalid."

I sent an e-mail to Western Digital support and they replied in less than three hours with a link to a Microsoft Knowledge Base article that indicated a corrupt registry entry. After editing the specified area of the registry the drive installed with no problems. I was impressed with WD's speedy response and correct diagnosis of the problem!

The FAT32 formatting was not an issue; I used the NTFS quick format and re-formatted the drive in less than 30 seconds.

The 7200 RPM drive motor makes for quick transfers, much quicker than my old Seagate 5200 RPM external drive.

Since this drive will be used mainly for backups and will not see frequent use, I am also pleased with the automatic spin-down feature that puts the drive to sleep when not in use. After spin-down the drive spins up immediately when accessed with no discernible delay.

The only negative I have about this drive is having the access light on the back where it is not visible during normal use. This is only a minor issue, however, and overall I am very pleased with this drive.

What displeases me greatly is Amazon's new pricing policy. When I ordered the drive the price was $99.99. There was a delay in shipment because the drive was temporarily out of stock; when the drive was re-posted the price had been reduced to $88.00. When I contacted them, Amazon adamantly refused to charge the price when shipped from new stock and billed me for the full $99.99. As a consequence, other vendors will be receiving my business in the future and I will not be purchasing from Amazon again.

Sure, the "bullet proof" enclosure is nice and sturdy. Too bad I have now had 2 die on me. Luckily both were still within return policy range so they both went back.

I'll stick with the Essential/passbook WD's. They are smaller and take up less space anyway and I have 6 that so far have not failed on me yet.

WD makes great drives, but for whatever reason, I got 2 duds in a row of this particular model.

First let me say, if you're looking for a hard drive that looks durable, this is a great choice for you. I was looking for an external drive with a good price and a lot of storage. While typically I go for portable hard drives, this one caught my eye, and I must say I'm happy with the purchase. It's whisper quiet (I don't think I've heard a sound from it yet). Quick install, and good data transfer time. If I ever fill this one up, I'll probably buy another to match.

This is a good drive for the price. The drive itself was not formatted with the NTFS format. The drive total capacity is more like 600 once it is formatted which is not stated in the ad. Overall this is a very quiet,fast and so far reliable drive.

I have purchased 3 and one was defective. I got a fast response when I notified the company. I got a fast refund and have not had any problems with the other 2.

Although its a little bigger than it looks in the picture its a good buy. It doesnt heat up fast, it doesnt make any weird noises. Neither does it have any weird lights on it.

Overall this product is a pretty good deal on amazon. Lots of space for a good price. My only dislikes with the hard drive are the size of the hard drive, and the fact that you need to have an external ac power source along with the usb in order for the hard drive to have power. I also have a WD elements 400GB and its very small and runs off usb power only. When I got this new one I did not realize how large it was going to be compared to my other and the fact that it was not powered off of the usb only.