I bought this because my previous external hard drive (desktop sized) is also a WD and it is still going strong after nearly 6 years of heavy use - I think it's time to start taking precautions!
Although this is the same capacity I thought I'd rather get a pocked sized drive. I use this primarily to store my music for iTunes and as it is now a portable drive I free up a power socket and am also able to take it around with me.
It's not the fastest drive in the world but more than adequate for storing music and media files.
The operation is silent compared to my older desktop HDD and it feels solid in construction, although plasticy.
The drive comes pre-formatted to NTFS and using a Windows machine it works plug and play. There are no gimmicks on the drive (like encryption or auto-backup) - just an autorun folder containing the blue WD logo icon (so it shows the WD logo in Windows Explorer).
Just going by brand loyalty to WD I envisage this lasting some time. I've got a 120GB IDE WD drive from 2002 that used to be the main drive in my old desktop and that still works fine - I use it now for backing up photos (which goes in to storage). I can't say at this point how long this drive will last but I can only trust my instinct.
The only downside is that A: The cable has a non-standard connection. Seems strange as usually WD have MiniB connections on their external drives but this seems unique to WD. Also B: The supplied cable is very short. I have it sat right at the back of my desktop tower and the cable barely reaches down below the PSU to the first set of USB ports. For a laptop user I assume this would be fine but keep in mind if you are a desktop user with the tower below your desk - the cable won't reach to allow you to sit the drive on the desk unless you use a USB extension cable.
Overall for the fact that it is simple, low priced, WD have a good reputation (in my eyes) for reliability and it works straight out of the box formatted to NTFS I give this 5 stars.
| Brand | WD |
|---|---|
| Product Dimensions | 25 x 15 x 20 cm; 209 Grams |
| Batteries | 1 Lithium ion batteries required. |
| Item model number | WDBPCK5000ABK-EESN |
| Manufacturer | WD |
| Form Factor | 2.5 inches |
| Standing screen display size | 2.5 Inches |
| Hard Drive Size | 500 GB |
| Number of USB 2.0 Ports | 1 |
| Are Batteries Included | No |
| Lithium Battery Energy Content | 50 Watt Hours |
| Lithium Battery Packaging | Batteries packed with equipment |
| Item Weight | 209 g |
