• Review: WD My Book Essential 3 TB

    Review: WD My Book Essential 3 TB

    Jayesh Limaye, Jul 01, 2011 2243 hrs IST

    Fast backup with SuperSpeed USB 3.0.

    Very fast speeds; Nice design; backward compatible

    No backup button; No USB 3.0 card included

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WD My Book Essential 3 TB
MRP: Rs 10,999
Street Price: Rs 8,850 (approx.)

While portable hard drives have become larger in capacity, it cannot be denied that backup drives belong to a completely different breed. The only limiting factor with backup drives has been the bottlenecked data transfer speed of the USB 2.0 interface. Things have changed for the better with the introduction of USB 3.0 SuperSpeed interface, guaranteeing speeds rivalling those of SATA hard drives. WD has provided us with a review sample of the 3 TB version of their new My Book Essential backup drive. We have tested this with USB 3.0, as well as USB 2.0 interface.

The first thing that we noticed on opening the box is that drive comes securely packaged in a box with plastic damping material to protect it from mechanical shock damage while in transit. The accessories are neatly packed, thus reducing the chances of them getting lost.

WD My Book Essential 3 TB


WD My Book Essential 3 TB

Bundle
* WD My Book Essential 3 TB
* USB 3.0 Micro-B cable
* Power adapter with cable
* Quick Install Guide

As is usual, WD has provided all the necessary cables required to be used with this drive. No disk was provided with this product, because the software is on the drive. Unlike the My Book 3.0, this drive does not come with a USB 3.0 card, because it is a value product. A USB 3.0 adapter card is useful for using the drive with older computers with PCI Express slot, which can be instantly upgraded to the newer and faster interface without having to buy a new expensive motherboard.

Design And Features

The My Book Essential is shaped like a small reference book - the reason for its moniker. It has a sturdy black polymer casing with a smooth glossy finish on the larger sides, while there is a shiny WD logo at the front bottom. The spine of the drive has ventilation grills on three sides to facilitate cooling of the 3.5" WD30EZRS 3 TB 3.5-inch SATA hard drive inside.

WD My Book Essential 3 TB (Front)


WD My Book Essential 3 TB  (Front)

There are two rubber feet on the underside of the drive to prevent it from moving around while in use. A power LED present on the front, glows white and blinks during drive activity.

The USB 3.0 port is present at the back of the drive. The new interface is a combination of two interfaces, of which, one is the micro-USB. This can be used to plug in an older USB 2.0 cable if you happen to lose your USB 3.0 cable. Needless to say, the data transfer speeds using the USB 2.0 cable will be similar to what is expected of the older interface. The USB 3.0 cable is thicker than a normal USB cable and seems to be more durable. There is also a socket to connect the power adapter plug, a power button and a Kensington lock at the lower back.

WD My Book Essential 3 TB (Back)


WD My Book Essential 3 TB (Back)


Drive Properties For WD My Book Essential 3 TB shows 3 TB Capacity


The drive boasts of 3 TB capacity, which is enough for most purposes.

If you connect the My Book to a USB 2.0 port, or if you connect it using a USB 2.0 cable, then you get a pop-up message that suggests you to connect it to a SuperSpeed USB 3.0 port.

Popup message warns you that the drive can support faster speeds with SuperSpeed USB 3.0.


Popup message warns you that the drive can support faster speeds with SuperSpeed USB 3.0.

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Discussion Board
(8) Comments
Bill
,springfield, on Jul 27, 2011 07:10 PM
I hate this piece of Shit...I have been WD loyal buyer for more than 4 years I buy one every year. they came up with this one I thought wow Its so slow, it take it forever to read, videos hesitate and freeze, I don;t know if I should invest time and 100$ to install USB3 especially that it seems that fade is not taking off, none of the newer model computers have a USB 3 installed, why did you do us like that WD
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Jeevan
,mumbai, on Jul 04, 2011 02:05 PM
nice article
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Sreekanth
,Mysore, on Jul 04, 2011 12:41 PM
Is this a review? I'm surprised. You filled one and a half page with its details and at the end a graph and given a simple write and read DTS and concluded that USB 3.0 is really better than USB 2.0. The whole world knows the power of USB 3.0. I expect these kind of writings on a user blog not on a tech site like TechTree and definitely not from an expert/review team. I'm sure the tests whihc you made can be even made by a normal user by downloading some freewares. What's special in the review? 1. Is it a 3" or 2.5" HDD? How can a newbie know this looking at your review? The basic point is missed here. 2. What is the configuration of the system that you have tested this drive with? 3. Judgement simply given based on the external results. There has been a question on whether these drives are really showing their capability or is it the internal SATA drives' capability? 4. What is the impact of the file system? 5. Why no practical mention/comparison with the theoretical values of USB 3.0? Theoretically, a USB 3.0 should transfer a 25 GB in 70 seconds. Just a 4 GB took 2.5 Min to you. Alas, the team didn't even bother to mention this!! 6. The pwer consumption review is also very poor. I still can write a lot but let me end here. Surely, this is not a kind of what we expect from a review team or from a tech site.
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Sid
,Hyderabad, on Jul 02, 2011 11:58 AM
Guys, never buy anything from WD. I'd bought a WD My Book Essential 1 TB. It's power adapter had gone kaput a month ahead of using it. But, that's not the problem. The problem is: it's already been a year and they have not yet replaced it. If you call the customer care, it says "Our agents are busy, try later". They never pick up the phone and by chance, if they do, they throw lame excuses like "Our warehouse has been shifted", "We don't have the power adapter in stock". Must be sued. :-x
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Sam
,Gurgaon, on Jul 02, 2011 01:41 PM
@ Sid Really surprised to hear your experience. According to me Western Digital's Customer Service is the best in class, better than all other HDD manufacturers like Seagate, Hitachi, Samsung etc. I have got 3 WD HDDs replaced. They send a courier guy to collect the faulty product within 24-48 hours and within a week's time you get a brand new replaced HDD delivered at your doorstep.
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Jayesh Limaye
, TechTree, on Jul 03, 2011 11:54 AM
I can confirm that from my personal experience that WD indeed has an excellent RMA system in place. All you need to do is fill the RMA form online. WD sends a courier guy to pick up the hard drive and you get a brand new hard drive in around a week's time, all without having to leave the comfort of your home.
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vivek
,law, on Jul 02, 2011 12:51 PM
can you boot os through any external harddrive or through a micro sd 8gb(class 6 nokia) card using cardreader (xp) .is it possible theoritically.
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Jayesh Limaye
, TechTree, on Jul 03, 2011 01:14 AM
Yes, it is possible.
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