Western Digital My Book Studio 2 TB USB 2.0/FireWire 800/400, Desktop External Hard Drive

by Western Digital

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 1.9 x 6.5 inches ; 2.6 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B002RL8J12
• Item model number: WDBAAJ0020HSL-NESN
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (92 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 2, 2001

Product Description

Capacity: 2 TB

From the Manufacturer

My Book Studio - Pure performance for Mac.

Designed for Mac, My Book Studio external drives feature a customizable e-label, automatic, visual backup, and password protection. The high-performance FireWire 800 interface gives you the speed you need for creative endeavors like photo and video editing and graphic design.

Pure Performance. Save and access data at top speeds with the high-performance FireWire 800 interface.	Your label, your way. Create your own label to remind you of what's stored on the drive. See it even when the drive is unplugged. Perfect for archiving data.	See your life safe in one place. WD SmartWare software - A visual control center with a single screen view of all your data. From it you can back up, retrieve, and secure your files.

Features at a glance Automatic, continuous backup WD SmartWare software Customizable e-label Turbo FireWire 800 interface Password protection and hardware-based encryption 3-years limited warranty

Smart display - Create your own personalized drive label to remind you of what's stored on each drive. You can even view the label when the drive is unplugged. The display also includes available capacity and security status.

Pure performance - Save and access data at top speeds with the high-performance FireWire 800 interface. Also includes USB 2.0 interface for maximum flexibility.

Designed for Mac - Formatted for Mac and compatible with Apple® Time Machine™, this drive is plug-and-play ready for Mac computer users.

WD SmartWare™ - A control center for your drive that gives you the power to:

-- Protect your data automatically - Relax, your data is secure. Automatic, continuous backup will instantly make a second copy whenever you add or change a file.

-- See your backup as it happens - Seeing is believing. Visual backup displays your content in categories and shows the progress of your backup.

-- Bring back lost files effortlessly - Retrieve your valuable data to its original location whether you've lost all your data or just overwritten an important file.

-- Take control - Customize your backup, set drive security, run diagnostics, manage the power settings, and more from the WD SmartWare control center.

Find out more about WD SmartWare™

Drive lock - Gain peace of mind knowing that your data is protected from unauthorized access or theft with password protection and 256-bit hardware-based encryption.

Smaller, sleeker, more streamlined design - We've made these award-winning drives even smaller, sleeker and more elegant. As always, this book-like shape takes up minimal space on your desk and allows two or more My Book drives to nestle neatly together like volumes on a shelf.

Power miser - My Book external drives are designed to save energy. WD GreenPower Technology™ lowers internal drive power consumption by up to 30%, a sleep mode reduces power during idle times, and a power-saving feature turns the drive on and off with your computer.

Planet friendly - We designed a small box from recycled materials to minimize waste. We encourage you to recycle it.

Ideal For

• Identifying what's on your drive even when it's unplugged. Perfect for archiving.
• Protecting your data with automatic, continous backup
• Retrieving lost data effortlessly
• Securing private or sensitive data
• Using with Mac and Apple® TimeMachine™
• Storing and editing videos and photos

Compatibility

Mac OS® X Tiger®, Leopard®, Snow Leopard™

What's in the box

External hard drive, WD SmartWare software, FireWire 800 cable, FireWire 800 to 400 cable, USB cable, AC adapter, Quick Install Guide.

Backup software you'll really use - WD SmartWare Five great reasons to love it:
1. It's easy - Data backup can be a chore, but it's your family photos, your movies, your music - your life - and it's important to protect it. So we made this software extra easy because we really want you to use it.
2. You can see your life safe in one place - See your content displayed in easy to understand categories like movies and photos. Watch the progress of your backup as it happens with the instant-feedback color bars. Now you can truly be sure that all your stuff is backed up. A unique visual interface lets you see the drives connected to your computer. WD SmartWare will automatically scan your computer and find all of your personal files, including e-mail. Content category gauges show how much information you have to be backed up in each category. You can even mouse over a category to see a file count. Simply click Run Backup and WD SmartWare will automatically start backing up your files. As your backup is running the category gauges will change color showing you the backup as it happens. When finished, you'll see a status screen and information about your backup. You only have to do this once. After the first backup your files will be backed up automatically every time you change or add a file.
	3. It's always on the job - WD SmartWare is always watching your computer, so when you change a file and save it, create new files, add new pictures, movies, or songs, WD SmartWare will instantly back them up.
4. You can bring back lost files effortlessly - If you ever accidentally delete an important file, or need to get an earlier version of a file, you can find and retrieve it in seconds with this easy-to-use interface. Restore files and folders by categories – photos, music, video, for example. Find a lost file with the search function. Go back in time to retrieve an older version of a file.
5. You're in control - WD SmartWare software is also a control center for your external drives. From it you can: Customize your backup Set drive security Run diagnostics Manage the power settings, and more...

Product Description

See your life safe in one place with WD’s My Book Studio external drive for Mac. It’s the high-performance answer to your storage needs with an innovative e-label to personalize your drive and easily archive media collections; visual, automatic, continuous backup software, and effortless file retrieval. The FireWire 800 interface lets you save and access data at top speed, and password protection and 256-bit hardware-based encryption helps keep your digital life safe. Compatible with Apple TimeMachine.

Pure Performance. Save and access data at top speeds with the high-performance FireWire 800 interface.	Your label, your way. Create your own label to remind you of what's stored on the drive. See it even when the drive is unplugged. Perfect for archiving data.	See your life safe in one place. WD SmartWare software - A visual control center with a single screen view of all your data. From it you can back up, retrieve, and secure your files.

Features at a glance Automatic, continuous backup WD SmartWare software Customizable e-label Turbo FireWire 800 interface Password protection and hardware-based encryption 3-years limited warranty

Smart display - Create your own personalized drive label to remind you of what's stored on each drive. You can even view the label when the drive is unplugged. The display also includes available capacity and security status.

Pure performance - Save and access data at top speeds with the high-performance FireWire 800 interface. Also includes USB 2.0 interface for maximum flexibility.

Designed for Mac - Formatted for Mac and compatible with Apple® Time Machine™, this drive is plug-and-play ready for Mac computer users.

WD SmartWare™ - A control center for your drive that gives you the power to:

-- Protect your data automatically - Relax, your data is secure. Automatic, continuous backup will instantly make a second copy whenever you add or change a file.

-- See your backup as it happens - Seeing is believing. Visual backup displays your content in categories and shows the progress of your backup.

-- Bring back lost files effortlessly - Retrieve your valuable data to its original location whether you've lost all your data or just overwritten an important file.

-- Take control - Customize your backup, set drive security, run diagnostics, manage the power settings, and more from the WD SmartWare control center.

Find out more about WD SmartWare™

Drive lock - Gain peace of mind knowing that your data is protected from unauthorized access or theft with password protection and 256-bit hardware-based encryption.

Smaller, sleeker, more streamlined design - We've made these award-winning drives even smaller, sleeker and more elegant. As always, this book-like shape takes up minimal space on your desk and allows two or more My Book drives to nestle neatly together like volumes on a shelf.

Power miser - My Book external drives are designed to save energy. WD GreenPower Technology™ lowers internal drive power consumption by up to 30%, a sleep mode reduces power during idle times, and a power-saving feature turns the drive on and off with your computer.

Planet friendly - We designed a small box from recycled materials to minimize waste. We encourage you to recycle it.

Ideal For

• Identifying what's on your drive even when it's unplugged. Perfect for archiving.
• Protecting your data with automatic, continous backup
• Retrieving lost data effortlessly
• Securing private or sensitive data
• Using with Mac and Apple® TimeMachine™
• Storing and editing videos and photos

Compatibility

Mac OS® X Tiger®, Leopard®, Snow Leopard™

What's in the box

External hard drive, WD SmartWare software, FireWire 800 cable, FireWire 800 to 400 cable, USB cable, AC adapter, Quick Install Guide.

Backup software you'll really use - WD SmartWare Five great reasons to love it:
1. It's easy - Data backup can be a chore, but it's your family photos, your movies, your music - your life - and it's important to protect it. So we made this software extra easy because we really want you to use it.
2. You can see your life safe in one place - See your content displayed in easy to understand categories like movies and photos. Watch the progress of your backup as it happens with the instant-feedback color bars. Now you can truly be sure that all your stuff is backed up. A unique visual interface lets you see the drives connected to your computer. WD SmartWare will automatically scan your computer and find all of your personal files, including e-mail. Content category gauges show how much information you have to be backed up in each category. You can even mouse over a category to see a file count. Simply click Run Backup and WD SmartWare will automatically start backing up your files. As your backup is running the category gauges will change color showing you the backup as it happens. When finished, you'll see a status screen and information about your backup. You only have to do this once. After the first backup your files will be backed up automatically every time you change or add a file.
	3. It's always on the job - WD SmartWare is always watching your computer, so when you change a file and save it, create new files, add new pictures, movies, or songs, WD SmartWare will instantly back them up.
4. You can bring back lost files effortlessly - If you ever accidentally delete an important file, or need to get an earlier version of a file, you can find and retrieve it in seconds with this easy-to-use interface. Restore files and folders by categories – photos, music, video, for example. Find a lost file with the search function. Go back in time to retrieve an older version of a file.
5. You're in control - WD SmartWare software is also a control center for your external drives. From it you can: Customize your backup Set drive security Run diagnostics Manage the power settings, and more...

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

296 of 307 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Smartware on drive is intrusive, not defeatable, December 13, 2009

By 

dosers "dosers" (South Pasadena, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Western Digital My Book Studio 1 TB USB 2.0/FireWire 800/400, Desktop External Hard Drive (Personal Computers)

Having always liked Western Digital Quality, I purchased a few of these drives - and was horrified to learn that WD has chosen to pre-install a large suite of largely useless 'SmartWare' on the drive.
The problem is, it's not defeatable; it takes up disk space, but is activated in Flash - so no way to get rid of it. It robs you of a drive letter (in windows) or a drive on Mac OS X - again, without a way to get rid of it.
After weeks of complaining by users, WD issues a 'VCD' utility that allows you to 'hide' it (but not get rid of it); the zinger is that the current drives need updated firmware to run VCD - and WD has NOT published the firmware updater for Studio drives yet, hence making the former utility useless.

All in all a bad experience, a drive marred by mad design, and I for one will no longer purchase WD until they reverse this strategy of spyware on a drive that cannot be overridden. From the feedback everywhere, I assume they will get the message.


UPDATED:
The new 'info' WD had Amazon add to the line (visit support to hide VCD) is NOT true; the support site ONLY has updates for the Elite and Essential, but NOT for the Studio line yet. That means, the updater won't work, as the firmware updater required has still not been released. Check it yourself on their site; very, very poor support and misleading post

111 of 112 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Intrusive Software Detracts from a Great Product, December 28, 2009

By 

Lon J. Seidman "lon401" (CT) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Western Digital My Book Studio 1 TB USB 2.0/FireWire 800/400, Desktop External Hard Drive (Personal Computers)

(What's this?)

Let me echo the thoughts of some of the other reviewers here: The addition of the 'smartware' in such an intrusive way is not Mac-like and completely unnecessary. I did see the mandatory virtual CD disappear after I installed the smartware software on my Mac, but having to install anything to use an external hard drive is completely inexcusable. Western Digital loses two stars on this 'feature' alone.

Once installed, the included smartware software adds an equally unnecessary menu bar icon that does nothing but take up system resources. I was able to remove it from loading by going into user settings under system preferences and removing it from my startup items.

FEATURES & OPERATION
Beyond the major software flaw, this is a good external storage device. There are few first party firewire 800 drives directed at Mac users, so this drive might be attractive for those looking for an easy solution to adding a high-speed time machine backup drive to their system. It is also compatible with Firewire 400 and USB 2.0.

Western Digital gets points for including all the cables you'll need. A Firewire 800 cable, an 800 to 400 adapter, and a USB 2.0 cable are included in the box.

The drive has an e-ink display (similar to that of the Kindle) that details the remaining drive capacity. The display works even when the device is powered off. It unfortunately will not work until the smartware software is installed.

Transfer speed is decent and certainly faster than USB 2.0, although my first time machine backup of 600+ gigs took over five hours.

The silicon feet at the bottom are springy and make it very unstable when positioned upright. A simple nudge is enough to tip it over. I have mine safely lying flat on my desk.

CONCLUSION
External hard drives are a dime a dozen these days. I don't blame Western Digital for trying to differentiate themselves in a rather bland marketplace, but the heavy handed software installation is unnecessary.

--------

PROs:
A decent, fast drive in an attractive enclosure
All cables are included
Competitively priced

CONs
Heavy handed software installation that is difficult to remove
Drive prone to toppling over when standing vertically
E-ink display doesn't work until software is installed

67 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Beware SmartWare, December 3, 2009

By 

Anthony D'Atri "Anthony11" (Seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Western Digital My Book Studio 2 TB USB 2.0/FireWire 800/400, Desktop External Hard Drive (Personal Computers)

The drive out of the box presents both a normal disk and a goofy 215MB SmartWare "virtual CD" to the OS, so the latter clutters your desktop, finder, and chooser panels. Reports are conflicting wrt whether this space is taken from disk (as I suspect), or if it's actually flash hidden inside the enclosure on the interface board.

Various articles on the web talk about disabling the SmartWare "virtual CD" and point to a WD web page that advises that one update firmware, then run a Virtual CD Manager utility that can be downloaded from them. Unfortunately, the available firmware update only applies to Essential and Elite (sic) units, not these Studio models, and the Virtual CD Manager utility reports that a firmware update is required to use it -- yet WD confirms that none is available.

OSX reports for the disk:

Total Capacity : 1.8 TB (1,999,696,297,984 Bytes)

and for the volume:

Mount Point : /Volumes/My Book Capacity : 1.8 TB (1,999,562,039,296 Bytes)
Format : Mac OS Extended (Journaled) Available : 1.8 TB (1,999,158,603,776 Bytes)
Owners Enabled : No Used : 384.7 MB (403,435,520 Bytes)
Number of Folders : 9 Number of Files:62

There's no reason to believe that this virtual CD is anything more than an annoyance, but purchasers may wish to find the previous generation disk which doesn't suffer from it, until/unless WD releases a fix.

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