Home > Consumer Reviews > Western Digital Elements 640GB USB 2.0 External DeskTop Hard Drive

I have had this drive for about a week now and it seems to work really well. I paid £60 which seems good value but it's now a bit cheaper.

It comes formatted as FAT32 so it's compatible with more systems, but I have reformatted it as EXT3 as I use Ubuntu (Linux) rather than Windows. (I could have used NTFS if I wanted to use it with both operating systems).

I like the silicon plastic bits that protect each end of the disk and stop it sliding around on my glass top desk.

It powers up and down automatically when I switch my laptop on and off which is handy. I have not tested how it copes with being accidentally switched off or unplugged while in use!

arrived well before expected,plugged unit in ,transferred all my movies in next to no time,very impressed and 640gb for £55 this is an absolute bargain

This USB drive is an absolute bargain, costing no more than an internal drive of the same capacity. It is large enough to requre the use of an AC power supply, in case anyone was wondering. The case is very neat and the rubber protective ends are very functional. The best feature however is that it powers itself down when my laptop goes into sleep mode. Making it ideal for playing music, or even large batch tasks, it will simply turn off with the pc after a period of inactivity.

The purchase of this external hard drive is simple, do you have the spare readies to throw at a nicer looking unit or do you simply need a job done without concern for aesthetics? I found this a doddle to set up with my i-mac. A simple case of plugging in the USB 2 cable and then I'm being asked if I want to use it for 'Time machine' & thats it! It is conveniently small & can be easily hidden, ( I have a WD 'my book' HD that looks nicer but is not so easily stashed away),.
I use this to back up everything and I cannot stress too much how, if you save photo's, music & files, you really do need to back up to an external HD regularly. My macs hard drive had to be replaced not long after I bought this & it was a relief to just go into the WD & get back all my 'lost' info. once the mac had been repaired.
You can buy models that offer firewire & a nicer design but you simply cannot buy one that offers better value for money. 640GB for £65? Brilliant. This does exactly what it should & it does it well for a great price.
No external hard drive is really that sturdy & all need to be treated with some respect if you want to avoid disaster and this is no exception but neither is it any worse than any other.
A simple brushed aluminium case with rubber end caps is simple but effective. Pretty much the same as the product as a whole.
If you need the quickest possible speeds or want to show off then look elsewhere but if you simply want a backup and extra storage then this is hard to beat for price, convenience, £ per GB & usability.

I bought this as it was great value for money to store my downloads of movies and mp3s. But the biggest bonus for me is the ease of use - I've tried plugging this into my PS3 via USB and I can play my MP3s and DIVX movies through my TV and amp.