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Western Digital My Book Essential 1TB $126 Big W

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Small, simple, elegant, and very easy to use. This drive is all about simplicity.

  • USB 2.0 Interface.
  • Smart and energy efficient: Turns itself on and off with your computer.
  • PC and Mac compatible: Works with both Windows® 2000/XP/Vista and Mac® OS X 10.4.8 or later.
  • 3 Year limited warranty.
  • Dimensions: (L x W x H) 5.4" x 2.1" x 6.5".

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

  • Available USB port.
  • Windows® 2000/XP/Vista®.
  • Mac® OS X 10.4.8 or later.

PACKAGE CONTENTS

  • Portable hard drive.
  • USB cable.
  • AC adapter.
  • Quick Install Guide.

I saw this on the Big W catalogue. Officeworks have an identical item for $149. For those who missed out on this deal last time from OW.
Deal available from 1/10/09 to 14/10/09

Mod - Set URL to catalogue page.

Related Stores

BIG W
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closed Comments

  • on another note. i suggest everyone to take advantage of OW 5% off if OW price is $149 by then since Big W and OW are both part of Woolsworth.

    edit: OW not part of woolsworth. but the 5% won't crush competition in this case.

  • +4

    OW belongs to Wesfarmers/Coles.

  • maybe I am looking at the wrong place but I cant seems to find it on BigW's catalogue

  • +2

    Nor me…

    Perhaps the OP got a physical copy of the catalog that is not shown online yet?
    Anyway can't find it either.
    I want to scoot down to Officeworks and get the price match… missed the last one.

    • yes. i got the catalogue in the mail today.

      make sure you go to big w to see if they have it in stock and grab the catalogue showing the price.

      cheers

  • -2

    Sorry but your description is misleading. The My Book Essential is NOT a portable drive. Considering the description also has an AC adapter listed too.

    I will assume this is the same drive that has been on sale recently at HN and I think OW too. Likely to be an end of model runout as the new 2009 models are coming out.

    • i got the description from OW website.

      yes. it is the same drive on sale recently.

    • Hahaha gotta love the negative comment votes when I am stating fact.

  • +4

    Can you enlighten me on how this is NOT a portable hard drive? I assume you know what a portable hard drive means? (anything that's not internal…)?

    • +1

      hahaha …. ;)

    • +1

      Have a look at this deal to get an idea: http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/17174

      They're the same price, they're both external, however one is thin and compact while the other is large and double the storage capacity. They're based on the two standard sizes of HDD: 2.5" (usually found inside laptops), and 3.5" which is more or less only for desktops.

      As the description above says - this one is 2.1" fat… another 0.4" and you've got the width of a portable one. The other restriction with 3.5" is that they almost always need their own power supply and therefore are difficult to use away from home.

    • +1

      (anything that’s not internal…)?

      The word you're looking for is "external".

      I understand that some would not consider any drive that is 3.5" and/or requires an AC power supply (rather than USB powered) as a "portable" drive.

      I own a WD 1TB My Book Essentials myself, and it does not qualify as "portable" in my book.

      • +2

        Well my vote is in the other camp, I have a Seagate FreeAgent 1tb and it is very portable, I routinely lend it to people and use it with various devices around the home (Desktop mainly, Laptop and PS3)

        • +3

          On this basis a desktop computer is also portable as it can be moved around. It too needs to be plugged into AC to work.

          • @theguru1: hahahahaha

            portable desktop computer hahah

  • +1

    If the dates are correct than this will be in the Latest big w catalogue which isn't online as of yet.

  • dont bother with the Elements from OW. I bought two, as everyone has said, the power supplies for these things are garbage.

    plugged mine in after a month of non-use, wont turn on. Have to rip the drive out and use as an internal. Totally defeats the purporse!

    WD power supplies are crap, I'm sure they use the same/similar supplies with the My Book.

    if you do have data you cant afford to lose and power supply goes, you need to break warranty seals just to recover that data. then you're left with a crap internal drive.

    • I just bought another adapter from jaycar, as I was given the mybook free without the power supply. Only cost a few bucks.

    • I don't think the Mybook would have the same power supply. As far as i know, the WD Elements isn't even made by Western Digital, it's just got a WD hard drive in it, and a cheap case. (yes i know it's got the WD logo on the front).

      Go to Office works and get the Mybook 1tb price matched.

      • ooh my bad thought we're talking about the essential! i have no idea about the elements

    • I have to agree that WD power supplies suck… I bought the MyBook Essentials (different from Elements though) from Office Works a few months ago… power supply stopped a week ago - gonna try and get it fixed under warranty. In saying that my brother bought 2 and they seem to work fine but the power adaptor still doesn't work with mine. I google'd it and it looks like a common problem so I recommend you just be very delicate with turning it off and on… I did but looks like there's no real reason why it occurs.

      • how do you be delicate with turning it off and on?

        i've just remembered that this was the main reason i decided not to bother with 3.5" external drives anymore. untrustworthy psu.

        the 3.5inch Laser unit i still have, i'm powering it off the computer's PSU. I cut off the DC cord from the original hdd psu, found out which one is 5V which one is 12v, and did some soldering work onto a molex connection inside the computer.

        so now the external hdd is permanently fixed to that one computer. like a parasite.

        • +1

          "so now the external hdd is permanently fixed to that one computer. like a parasite."

          Feel free to point out anything I'm missing here, but doesn't that seem rather pointless, especially if it's USB? You've taken the performance drop for no gain in portability, IMHO you'd be better served by just having another drive in your system! ;)

          • @StewBalls: lol its a microatx case. could only hold 2hdds. that would be my 3rd one.

            and yes you're exactly right - i dont think 3.5inch external hdd are worth my trouble, since its essentially useless if the psu isnt around or breaks down.

  • Great price, I bought a 1TB WD Elements just last week for $150 so you're getting quite a deal.

    • keep all data you want on another drive too mate, I have two and they aren't much chop!

      of course warranty makes the claim they don't care about or cover data, etc etc, but the power supplies absolutely blow and unless you want to break your warranty (by opening it up and taking your data off the drive) you will lose it by sending it in.

      fyi.

  • It's on page 27 of the catalogue.

    Awesome find!

    Have to wait till 1/10 to pick one up.

    So if this is $126, then won't Officeworks beat the price by 5%? Bringing it down to just under $120?

  • Great price… but FYI, i bought this same drive from Officeworks for $127 about 2 weeks ago… i got no idea why but seems like their price has gone back to $149 (online at least, haven't checked in store).

    Edit: found it http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/16637
    Price has definitely gone back up :(

    Snap this up while you can guys! Great hard drive… best one i've used. Very quiet and love the "sleep" mode when not in use.

  • only if it had the eSATA port, which the ALDI one has ($129) but unknown HDD inside

  • do they have anything on their web site ?
    i have checked it and could not find this deal.

  • I have heard terrible things about these hard drives, has anyone here tried the Lacie range?

  • i've got one (not sure if it is absolutely the same model or not though).
    bought it ~6 months ago. works fine so far.

    • Same here, haven't had any problems with mine. :)

  • Good deal for a 1TB drive if you don't have any spare slots in your computer's HDD cage. Otherwise, I'd spend an extra $25 to get that internal drive with SATA interface instead of USB.

  • bummer… i bit the bullet and bought this at OW with the 5% off the JB price of 149.

    i waited for the price to drop for ages and gave up!

    my power supply blew after plugging it into the laptop while the laptop was on. something shorted while plugging in and blew the power supply!!!

    Dick Smiths didnt have a powerful enuff power supply so i got one from jaycar for $30.

    oh wells.

  • I was fairly certain that when 12 midnight 1st of October came, that the Officeworks website would list their hard drive as $126 as well, but it's still showing $149, which means I'm going there today to price match it to $119.70. Will let people know if anything changes once I've gotten it. The only other problem is that the Big W catalogue doesn't give the exact specification / model number of what they're selling, and you know how sometimes OW is picky about that, so I might have to ring Big W first and see if I can get a model number off them.

  • Was in my local OW toay, they had none in stock, since the $127 deal they had last week, they cleaned them all out. The guy said it was discontinued stock. My try another store.

    • Same thing happened to me, couldn't get one :(

  • +1

    Bought one today in OW for $119.70, the one in Victoria Park, WA. They had about 5 or so left.

  • None left at Milton or Oxley in Brisbane, at OfficeWorks.

  • Bought 3 from Big W today, OW out of stock

  • +1

    JB Hi-Fi also have them listed at $126.
    Get in quickly guys 'n' gals…
    \_/7

    • +1

      Yep can confirm what Earl Grey said - $126 and in store.

      Plenty of stock at JB Hifi in Pitt St Mall Sydney.

      • I was going shopping at Carindale (Brisbane) on Monday, but I may have to bring that forward to tomorrow now!!!
        Perhaps calls to OW Garden City & Buranda 1st just in case they miraculously have some stock…
        \_/7

        • Called OW Garden City & Buranda (Brisbane) - all long gone (sold out the other week @ $127 & no new stock coming)…
          JB Hi-Fi MacGregor have stock @ $126, so guess where I'm off to right now!

          Edit - They had a stack of them (literally) @ JB MacGregor - Now a slightly smaller stack…

          Live Long and Prosper,
          Jean-Luc.
          \_/7

  • BigW Carindale (Brisbane) had 1 left @ this morning.
    JB @ Carindale had the 1TB MyBook Essential for $147 today , even though it's still $126 on the web site.
    What JB C'dale DID have,, was the WD 1TB MyBook Home (USB + Firewire + eSATA) for $169!!!
    I was sorta kicking myself for rushing out and getting the 1TB Essential last Friday…
    \_/7

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