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Western Digital Elements 500GB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive | 
 enlarge | Brand: Western Digital
Category: CE
Buy New: £49.99
New (17) from £49.99
Rating:  46 reviews
Media: Electronics
Fragile: No
Batteries Included: No
Hard Drive Size: 500
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.2
Dimensions (in): 8.6 x 6.1 x 1.7
Legal Disclaimer: IFILE
MPN: WDE1U5000U
Model: WDE1U5000U
UPC: 718037119588
EAN: 0718037119588
ASIN: B000OS54TA
Release Date: March 25, 2007
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Features:
| • | HDD 500GB ELEMENTS BY WD | | • | USB2.0 7200RPM UK VERSION IN |
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| Accessories:
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| Similar Items:
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| Editorial Reviews:
Box Content
- External 3.5" USB 2.0 hard drive
- 6 foot (1.8m) USB 2.0 certified interface cable
- AC adapter with power cord
- Quick Install Guide
Product Description
Western Digital 500GB Elements hard disk drive, 7200rpm, USB 2.0, external.Main Features:Easy plug and play storageUSB 2.0 interface high-speed connection for maximum throughputCool, compact, metal caseFast, simple, reliable add-on storage for PC and Macintosh computersPreformatted for immediate useRoHS compliantManufactuer's Warranty: 1 year warranty...
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| Customer Reviews:
 An absolute bargain June 13, 2007
N Mistry (UK)
92 out of 95 found this review helpful
I bought this a few weeks ago from Amazon. It's the cheapest 500GB I could find.
I don't neccessarily think it's the most beautiful drive in the world, but it certainly does the job.
It comes pre-formatted in FAT32, and took a few hours to reformat to NTFS. The case got quite warm in this time, as you would expect for continual drive access.
The Good:
- Cheap
- Large capacity (465GB formatted)
- Has a standby mode:
- Powers on and off with your machine (but it is mains powered)
- Powers down when you do "Safely remove hardware" from XP
- Blue LED for Power/Disk Access
- Not overly noisy
The Bad:
- Perhaps not the fastest drive out there (however it's still quick enough as a major backup drive)
- No separate power switch (I prefer to have one rather than pull the power lead out)
The Ugly:
- Not the most attractive drive imho, but then again, that's subjective anyway
Overall:
- Definitely worth buying: the cheapest 500GB out there.
Does what it says on the tin July 4, 2007
B. Pearson (UK)
72 out of 75 found this review helpful
Bought this hard drive as it was the one of the cheaper Western Digital drives around. Recognised by WinXP straight away. Reformatted to NTFS in about 60 seconds. Tip. In WinXP format, tick the Quick Format option. This works OK on a new bare drive and takes a lot less time than a full format which would be more appropriate if the drive contained confidential data. The drive looks good, has a substantial feel to it and is quick. The case gets mildly warm, but will not damage a delicate surface thanks to the silicone end shields, which also serve as a non slip "stand" for the drive. Very pleased with the purchase.
Good Value External Drive July 21, 2007
C. W. Swallow (Leeds UK)
48 out of 51 found this review helpful
First time with an external hard drive. Did not require any advanced technical knowledge to install. Found it fast and quiet. Recognised immediately by Windows XP. Already formatted to NTFS.
Would recommend this to all levels of user. Cheap data storage ideal as a back up.
What a touch - the cheapest 500GB on the Market !!!! May 4, 2007
i.pod (London)
40 out of 45 found this review helpful
i bought the 250gb version afew months ago and its been a surperb piece of kit - went to buy another for work and noticed this BARGIN of the decade - I have trawled Etail and Retail and i cannot find anything at this price point let alone a premium brand such as WD. At this price I might buy 2!!! Nice one Amazon once again Amazon has the best deals backed up with the best service on the internet in my opinion!!!
Great and updated!! June 24, 2007
M. J. Garvin
40 out of 41 found this review helpful
Bought this from Ebuyer a while ago and I'm really happy with it. I had bought other WD external drives before but only the "MyBook" drives and although these are nice looking and stack well, they don't keep the drive very cool with the plastic housing. This drive has a nice rugged aluminium housing which conducts the heat pretty well, causing it to dissipate. Which is a good thing. It has a rubber cap on each end of the drive to reduce slip and give it a bit more protection.
The transfer rates are pretty good for USB 2.0 and accessing it with lots of smallish files (15mb-30mb) contained on it doesn't take too long although it isn't fast but this is pretty normal. The cables are pretty good quality and fit snugly. As was said in another review there is no on/off switch but unplugging the USB lead turns it off and it doesn't have any ill effects.
All in all this is a very good drive and a lot cheaper than buying an internal drive and housing. It does come formatted in FAT32 but this is for compatibility issues and is normal for most external drives, especially the Western Digital drives. Formatting the drive to NTFS doesn't have to take hours as long as you check the "Quick Format" check box when formatting, this does the same as a full format for new "clean" HDD and only takes a couple of seconds using XP or higher.
***UPDATE:***
Bought another one of these for a backup of all my MP3 files and other things (just in case), got it for the nice price of 74 (it's gone up now) and thought I had a bargain. I do but a nice surprise is that this seems to be an updated version of the drive and has a power switch now. That makes me happy and a little more reassured that I can keep it all plugged in but switch it off when not in use.
Hope that's useful to someone, unfortunately I can't see anything on the box that indicates it is an updated model, nothing different from my other drives box, I'm just assuming that the newer batches are coming with a power switch now.
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