Western Digital WDG1T5000N My Book Pro Edition 500 GB USB/Firewire Triple Interface External Hard Drive

by Western Digital

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 8 x 4.8 inches ; 3.6 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 4.3 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000G2BGFK
• Item model number: WDG1T5000N
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (119 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 7, 2004

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Is your computer loaded with photos, music, video, and all sorts of important files? If so, you should make extra room, back them up, and keep them safe on Western Digital's My Book Pro Edition 500 GB External Hard Drive. This reliable, easy-to-use external hard drive is the perfect storage solution for all your precious digital assets. And because it's the pro edition, it includes three leading external hard drive interfaces (FireWire 800, FireWire 400, and USB 2.0) on one drive for maximum performance and universal connectivity.

The My Book Pro Edition's elegant case takes up very little space. View product presentation.

FireWire 800, FireWire 400, and USB 2.0 connectivity are provided. View larger.

You can also daisy chain two or more drives together for even more storage.

Installation is a breeze because you don't really "install" anything -- just plug it in and it's ready to use. There is not even an installation CD because all the included software loads automatically from the hard drive the first time you plug it in. For cream-of-the-crop, high-speed performance, use My Book Pro Edition's FireWire 800 interface. However, if FireWire 800 isn't convenient, Western Digital has you covered -- the My Book Pro Edition hard drive is also compatible with USB 2.0 and FireWire 400. Best of all, you don't have to choose between one or the other because all three interfaces are built into every drive.

Western Digital provides powerful software with the drive -- EMC Retrospect Express -- that makes backing up your data as easy as possible. In addition to full system backup, the software also provides system recovery and encryption. With a few simple steps you can back up all your data files, or just save your picture and music files. You can also schedule routine backups so you don't have to worry about it ever again.

Built for ease of use, this drive is equipped with a capacity gauge that shows how much space is left on your drive. The My Book Pro Edition also includes intelligent drive management features. For example, the drive turns itself on and off with your computer, and Safe Shutdown prevents the drive from being powered down until all your data has been written.

Western Digital uses a smart design to make the My Book Pro Edition look as good as it performs. The elegant case resembles a book and takes up very little space on your desk. Plus, it stacks horizontally and allows two or more drives to nestle neatly together like encyclopedias on a shelf. Inside the stylish exterior is an exceptionally fast, ultra-quiet, cool-running hard drive.

My Book Pro Edition Hard Drives are ideal for:

• High-speed backup of important documents and images
• Extra storage for your computer
• Automatic backups of your existing hard drive
• Archiving the music stored on your MP3 player
• Adding plenty of space for digital video capture and editing
• Saving and organizing your digital photo collection

Note: If you don't need as much storage space, Western Digital also offers a 250 GB version of the My Book Pro Edition.

What's in the Box
My Book Pro Edition 500 GB external hard drive, 9-pin to 9-pin FireWire 800 cable (6 feet), 6-pin to 6-pin FireWire 400 cable (6 feet), USB 2.0 certified cable (6 feet), AC adapter with power cord, software CD-ROM (EMC Retrospect Express), and quick install guide.

Product Description

They're your photos¿your music¿your videos¿your important files. Make extra room for them, back them up, and keep them safe on YOUR book. WD's My Book Premium is the perfect external hard drive for all your precious digital assets.

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

81 of 81 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quiet, fast, stylish and portable! Perfect for Macs!, September 28, 2006

By 

Navarro L. Parker "Motion Graphics Dude" (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Western Digital WDG1T5000N My Book Pro Edition 500 GB USB/Firewire Triple Interface External Hard Drive (Personal Computers)

This is my fifth My Book I've purchased in the past few months (and first triple interface Pro model). Haven't had any trouble with any of them. It's very fast and very quiet. And they look amazing when stacked next to each other! The Pro models features a plastic case (like the Essential model) and a rubberized edge (like the Premium model). I haven't tried the backup software that ships with it -- a previous drive I had backed up with Restrospect didn't restore fully when I my laptop crashed. I now opt to use the better Super Duper to clone my drives.

Just a couple notes. When formatted on Mac OS X, you end up with 465GB of storage (which is to be expected with any formatted drive). Also, the photos make out the drive to be iPod-like pearly white, which isn't correct. It's more like metallic plastic -- similar to the aluminum case of Powerbooks/Mac Book Pros.

85 of 86 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Option, July 24, 2006

By 

A. Bolzle (Boston, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Western Digital WDG1T5000N My Book Pro Edition 500 GB USB/Firewire Triple Interface External Hard Drive (Personal Computers)

Last year, I puchased a 250mb Lacie d2. When I found out about all the reports discussing its failure rate, I couldn't afford to take a chance, so I started looking for its replacement. After researching for a couple of weeks, I decided to purchase Western Digital's My Book Pro. It offered the most options and the largest capacity for the money, but more importantly, everything I've read has stated that WD makes very reliable hard drives.

I not only use the external HD for backing up files on my computer, I also store all of my digital music it, since I have more than 100gb of it. Because of this, I use the HD all the time and its reliability is extremely important to me. There might be cheaper options out there, but I am willing to pay a little more for safety.

Pros:
-Very small and light.
-High capacity for the size and price.
-Really great looking... it matches the look of my MacBook Pro (if looks matters to you).
-Clear rubber on all edges makes me feel comfortable to place it anywhere.
-Triple interface allows you to connect to computer in multiple ways and allows for easy daisy-chaining.

Cons:
-Takes longer for hard drive to show up on my desktop than other hard drives I've owned (especially when connected via USB2).
-Small spurts of vibration are emitted every once in a while. Can by annoying depending on where you set it.
-The front lighted gauge doesn't seem to work correctly, even though the software was installed correctly (I haven't done much trouble shooting with this issue, so it might be resolvable)

Overall, I think this is a great product at a fair price. I would recommend it to anyone who needs a reliable external HD with a large capacity drive.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solid, Reliable and Fast, January 11, 2007

By 

H. Liebowitz "gansos" (Berkeley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Western Digital WDG1T5000N My Book Pro Edition 500 GB USB/Firewire Triple Interface External Hard Drive (Personal Computers)

Overall, this hard drive does everything it promised. It's small, quiet, sleek, and holds a ton of data.

Considering that this disk is marketed to both Mac and PC users, it's no surprise that WD went with the lowest common denominator in terms of formatting. The device is formated as Windows FAT32 out of the box, which works on all systems, but is generally not ideal. I have a Mac and I wanted to take advantage of journaling and the HFS+ filesystem. Re-partitioning the drive took less than five minutes using Apple's Disk Utility. Doing this erased everything on the disk, but all the bundled software is also included on a CD.

I have the disk hooked up my Mac mini with firewire 400, and it's great. All the lights work (including the capacity gage), and the drive goes to the sleep whenever the mini does. (Make sure to install the drivers to get this functionality). The only slight annoyance is that the drive takes an unusually long time to mount when plugged into the computer. Whereas an iPod or LaCie drive will show up almost immediately, the My Book takes 30 seconds or more to mount. This doesn't affect performance at all, and it's a small price to pay for all of the other excellent features.