User Reviews

1. Review Date: 2009-10-18

   Just a quick chat about my initial impression of the WD My Book for Mac 1TB USB2 edition, but first, a word on my current environment. I have an early 2009 iMac with 4GB RAM running Mac OS X 10.6.x and plan on using this drive exclusively for TimeMachine backups.
   
   My first impression was actually pretty negative in that I was surprised at how low-rent the case is for the My Book. Compared to the aluminum skinned previous WD external USB/FW400 drive I have, this My Book represents the worst in Chinese manufacturing. Also contributing to my woes, is the included wall-wort being the typical "too big to fit any normal powerstrip" size. Again, all my previous external drives had external powerbricks with regular wall plugs making extremely convenient to plug into a powerstrip or UPS.
   
   With the overall aesthetics out of the way, I was happy to see a USB2 cable included for the single USB ported device and it seems to live up to the USB bandwidth rating one would expect. Yes, it would be nice if Apple had some type of eSATA connection for the iMacs and one must give up the first born child to afford a FW800 enclosure right now (about 40% more as I write this). But with all that being said, USB2 does fine for archival purposes and should be thought of as such.
   
   A note regarding the sound, this is not an especially loud drive but its far from silent. Somebody made a comment about it sounding like mice trying to gnaw their way out of the crappy case their stuck in and I would agree with that. But again, its not all that bad and especially for TimeMachine purposes.
   
   Finally, I am convinced that one could skip installing the WDsmartware software that comes with the drive. Outside of the encryption part, there doesn't seem to be anything here better than what TimeMachine delivers in OS X 10.5 or 10.6 and I have chosen to uninstall the software (of course it now want to fill my logs with launchd warnings but I'll take care of that soon enough). I think the only reason one would want this bloat is if they want to mirror files on the local drive with this external drive because one may carry this drive from machine X to machine Y and have the files 'restored' to a similar directory on machine Y? I don't know but that's my only guess.
   
   User: winningham.2
   Rating:
   Summary: Average first impression
   Helpful Votes: 13
   Total Votes: 14
   

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Editorial Reviews

Our best-selling My Book for Mac external drive is an elegant, high-capacity storage solution for all the chapters of your digital life. Our latest edition, formatted for Mac, now features visual, easy-to-use, automatic, continuous backup software and drive lock security protection.

Mac-ready. Formatted for Mac and compatible with Apple® Time Machine™, this drive is plug-and-play ready for Mac computer users.	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.	Password protection. An extra level of security with password protection and 256-bit hardware-based encryption.

Features at a glance Automatic, continous backup Visual backup control center Hardware encryption, password protection Compatible with Apple® TimeMachine™ 2-years limited warranty

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.

Designed for Mac - Formatted for Mac and compatible with Apple® TimeMachine™, 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.

Illuminated capacity gauge - See at a glance how much space is available on your drive.

USB 2.0 interface - Powered directly from the USB port on your PC. No separate power supply is needed*.
* An optional cable is available for the few computers that limit power from the USB port.

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

• Protecting your data with automatic, continous backup
• Retrieving lost data effortlessly
• Adding extra storage space for photos, videos and music
• Securing private or sensitive data
• Using with Apple TimeMachine

Compatibility

Formatted HFS+ Journaled
Mac OS® X Tiger®, Leopard®, Snow Leopard™

Note: Compatibility may vary depending on user's hardware configuration and operating system.

What's in the box

External hard drive, WD SmartWare software, 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...