SAVE $40 - Western Digital WD Elements 1.5 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive WDBAAU0015HBK-NESN $129.99

not - compatible with my Mac After spending a GREAT deal of time examining external hard drives I decided to get this WD elements 500GB drive. It wasn't exactly what I wanted in terms of specs but it seemed to be the one with the best performance, all things considered. When I started this up on my iBook OS10.4.11 laptop I soon discovered that it was not compatible with my computer. It was recognized by my computer but it would not partition itself correctly. I followed the Mac installation guide that WD provides on their site but I had no luck. I kept getting the message "partition failed with input/output error." I contacted WD but they only led me back to what I had already tried, they don't seem very helpful. It has been a headache and I don't want to spend more time on it. I don't know if it just my computer, it could be, it's sketchy at times, but I'm going to return the product. Pros: small, seems quiet. Runs off of external power source so it won't burn out your USB port, powers down when not in use (to reduce overheating). No software needed for installation, some configuration needed for Macs though. Cons: Wasn't compatible with my iBook running on 10.4.11, no fan or slots/holes for air to circulate. AC power cord uses large block plug so it has to go on the end of a power strip or take up 2 spots Rating: 2 (zbrown, 2010-02-08) Product reviewed: Western Digital WD Elements 1.5 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive WDBAAU0015HBK-NESN

Great Product This product does everything that I need it do. I have never had any problems with it, and it's plenty of space. And the price was just right. Rating: 5 (Dexter L. Mackie, 2010-02-08) Product reviewed: Western Digital WD Elements 1.5 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive WDBAAU0015HBK-NESN

Great external drive for the money The WD Elements replaced a Seagate that just ran out of space. I liked the Seagate and thought I really needed a drive with an on/off switch. So I was a little hesitant about getting a drive with no switch. I discovered that it was OK for the drive to be on all the time since the drive shuts itself down when not in use. You also have to get used to this tiny white LED that is on all the time and blinks with disk activity. When I work with files it is as responsive as working with my C drive files. Please keep in mind that it IS a USB2 interface so don't expect blazingly fast transfer rates. When you first see the drive you may wonder how this drive cools itself with no vents in the case. Even with extended disk activity the unit will only get warm to the touch. Rating: 4 (RAS, 2010-02-05) Product reviewed: Western Digital WD Elements 1.5 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive WDBAAU0015HBK-NESN

Not swappable with other hard drives, but is a nice drive. This is a great hard drive, roomy, worked right on plugging it up to my USB drive and hooking it into my surge protector, and the like. However, one thing I did NOT know was that there were no screws or removability to the hard drive casing in case I wanted to swap my hard drive down the road. Also, my internal hard drive on my gaming rig is 640GB (also a Western Digital Caviar), and I really intended on getting this drive so I could make that my external drive, and swap this and make this 1.5TB HDD my new internal drive, considering that it was cheaper getting this vs. getting an internal hard drive and a case a la carte. Guess I should've looked at the specs to determine whether the case could've been opened or not. Oh well, I'll keep the drive, maybe use it for backups and such... Rating: 3 (Robert A. Morin, 2010-02-05) Product reviewed: Western Digital WD Elements 1.5 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive WDBAAU0015HBK-NESN

Review by a non-tech recreational user I have multiple computers at home. I basically use computers for home use such as keeping financial records, word processing, E-mails, and surfing the internet. I read the reviews and thought that this would be a good hard drive for back up. I wanted to image my hard drive weekly in case there was a problem. I use Vista Home. According to the reviews it seemed that this was the best option. I found out that the basic vista does not have a complete backup center. After about an hour of backing up everything froze. I sent the hard drive back to WD and they replaced it, but I still had the same problem. This will not work for me as a backup drive. This hard drive may be an option for someone who has significant computer knowledge,but if you are not very computer savy this is not a good device for regular backing up of your computer Rating: 1 (Louis H. Hirshberg, 2010-02-05) Product reviewed: Western Digital WD Elements 1.5 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive WDBAAU0015HBK-NESN