WD Elements SE 750GB Portable Hard Drive for 98$

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  sonicentropy on 20/02/2011 - 07:13

  2.5 or 3.5"?

  • 

    ozhunter on 20/02/2011 - 07:21

    It's 2.5".

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  stealthmatt on 20/02/2011 - 08:20

  Don't do it - These new western digital hdd's are the worst! they have this special firmware on it, that automatically looks like another partition and mounts a second drive, on top of that it asks to install drivers (other than the standard USB drivers) I think its for its temp monitoring software etc. There is ways to remove the extra partion/hdd mount, but it still will insist on install third party drivers, which is annoying every time u plug into different computers (forget installing those drivers if u dont have admin rights either)

  I have this exact same drive, and all u need to do is google western digital hdd + drivers and u will see what people are saying.

  Also it uses a non standard mini usb connector on the HDD so if the cable becomes loose/brakes or you loose it, u need to find another western digital one.

  Western digital's old portable hdd's had none of these problems, its only there recent 500gb and 750gb+ that have all these crappy new firmware and issues

  So this is a word of caution, look at other vendors drives and don't be suckered into western digital.

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    dy4me on 20/02/2011 - 08:34

    what about WD new usb 3.0 drives?

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    agrajag42 on 20/02/2011 - 08:54

    Thanks for the info. I certainly would be annoyed by that info.

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    Damo on 20/02/2011 - 08:59

    It's cheap, for that price I'm happy to throw it away in 12 months

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    sparkles on 20/02/2011 - 09:00

    After having one WD I will never buy another one again either. It flat out just died. I lost everything. My HP one which was about two years older is still going strong.

    • 

      Damo on 20/02/2011 - 09:07

      I have has a WD for about 3 years with no issues

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        stealthmatt on 20/02/2011 - 09:10

        +1

        yep the old ones are fine - no issues what soever, and its such a shame they tried to make them more user friendly when they just made them more annoying…

        I can't comment on the USB 3 versions, but I would assume they would be the same

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      sonicentropy on 20/02/2011 - 15:44

      +1

      that is purely just bad luck, it could be said about any brand drive. such is the nature of the beast. with my job i use a lot of portable drives, most of the are WD's and all have performed flawlessly the only drive I have that has died was a HP 120Gb 2.5" USB. My advise dont put all your eggs in one basket.

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        Damo on 20/02/2011 - 20:15

        +1

        I like eggs

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    dyziplen on 20/02/2011 - 09:23

    +3

    1. its a element, not a passport, so no fancy crapware or hidden partitions.
    2. microusb is a standard connector, sure it is still rare on external hdds, but its prevelent in other areas.

    Also, it has been at this price for at least a couple of month.

    • 

      timhn on 20/02/2011 - 10:32

      Re 2)
      Agreed. Microusb is the defacto standard now. I have about a dozen of such cables at home. Virtually, all new phones use it for charge/data transfer (can't said about the iphone). It can be purchase for few dollars
      http://www.dealextreme.com/p/micro-usb-data-transferring-cab…

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    infinite on 20/02/2011 - 11:17

    Your thinking of the wrong external hard drive, stealthmatt.

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  BenMHarvey on 20/02/2011 - 10:18

  The crappy firmware can be removed by a handy utility on their website however this drives doesnt have it the passports do

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    sonicentropy on 20/02/2011 - 15:29

    +1 I have a few WD drives and the driver partition is easily removed, as for using micro USB so does 3/4 my HDD's, my HTC phone, My vodafone pocket 3G. It is mini USB that is now the non standard.