A few years back I bought three of this model's predecessor, the HGST Touro Mobile 1TB, which is a Western Digital brand (although made by Hitachi it seems), and they are still going very well. I needed a fourth external USB 1TB drive, so I bought one of these WD Elements SE's. It soon died and had to be sent back. It was quickly replaced by PB Tech (thank you, guys), and although its replacement does work, its transfer-rate is only about half that of the older HGST drives so backups take twice as long. The HGST's run at about 21MB/sec; the WD Elements starts at about 15MB/sec and steadily slows to about 9MB/sec. The backup software is the...view more A few years back I bought three of this model's predecessor, the HGST Touro Mobile 1TB, which is a Western Digital brand (although made by Hitachi it seems), and they are still going very well. I needed a fourth external USB 1TB drive, so I bought one of these WD Elements SE's. It soon died and had to be sent back. It was quickly replaced by PB Tech (thank you, guys), and although its replacement does work, its transfer-rate is only about half that of the older HGST drives so backups take twice as long. The HGST's run at about 21MB/sec; the WD Elements starts at about 15MB/sec and steadily slows to about 9MB/sec. The backup software is the same, the USB port being used is the same, but the transfer rate is slower and gets even slower as the backup proceeds. That is weird--and no amount of defragging of the source or reformatting of the destination has any effect. Therefore this drive cannot be recommended. I chose WD in its HGST guise because the staffer at PB Tech said WD is more reliable than Seagate, but I am inclined to choose Seagate next time. I would be keen to test a Seagate if it did not mean shelling out $$$s...

For some there is a need for extra working storage space as their working PC may have a small main drive. For others there is a need for sizeable archiving capacity.
Or maybe it's both.
This product is not expensive, it's reliable and easy to use. That makes it ideal for such essential roles. For some there is a need for extra working storage space as their working PC may have a small main drive. For others there is a need for sizeable archiving capacity.
Or maybe it's both.
This product is not expensive, it's reliable and easy to use. That makes it ideal for such essential roles.

using this drive as a backup disk and it does the job. Great value for the price using this drive as a backup disk and it does the job. Great value for the price

Pros: I have this beast running all day and it’s a dignified work horse. The product is self explanatory and once you plug it in, you can store the worlds supply of dank memes and maybe the odd 50gb tainted mkv. I dropped it once and it left a space crater on my desk so I’m fairly convinced that if the world were to end, this magnificent piece of hardcore machinery will survive and go on to reboot the human race (thanks to its storage capacity). Cons: doesn’t come in chrome finish Pros: I have this beast running all day and it’s a dignified work horse. The product is self explanatory and once you plug it in, you can store the worlds supply of dank memes and maybe the odd 50gb tainted mkv. I dropped it once and it left a space crater on my desk so I’m fairly convinced that if the world were to end, this magnificent piece of hardcore machinery will survive and go on to reboot the human race (thanks to its storage capacity). Cons: doesn’t come in chrome finish

Awsome item quick delivery fantastic Awsome item quick delivery fantastic

Good value for money, easy online sale and delivery as always. Used it to back my PS4 up when I replaced the HDD with an SSD, now it is working as additional external storage for my PS4 - so far so good Good value for money, easy online sale and delivery as always. Used it to back my PS4 up when I replaced the HDD with an SSD, now it is working as additional external storage for my PS4 - so far so good

These name brand external drives are bad news. Why? Because most of them incorporate the USB port and drive electronics in the same circuit board. And why is this bad? Because if the any of the electroincs become defective or dies ALL is lost. No way to recover data - well there is but $$$. IFIXIT site is full of people having problems with these proprietary external drives.

The wiser choice is to buy the two componenrts seperately. If the drive enclosure electronics die, for what ever reason, you just take the drive out and put it in another one or a computer and data is all safe. Also, the drive can later be easily upgraded to a lar...view more These name brand external drives are bad news. Why? Because most of them incorporate the USB port and drive electronics in the same circuit board. And why is this bad? Because if the any of the electroincs become defective or dies ALL is lost. No way to recover data - well there is but $$$. IFIXIT site is full of people having problems with these proprietary external drives.

The wiser choice is to buy the two componenrts seperately. If the drive enclosure electronics die, for what ever reason, you just take the drive out and put it in another one or a computer and data is all safe. Also, the drive can later be easily upgraded to a larger capacity and/or SSD. A good chice is the ADATA ED600 - no scews, etc for fast change-over.. IFIXIT site is full of people having problems with these proprietary external drives. Over 7 years I have never personally nor seen any one on the IFIXIT site have a problem with the separate enclosure and drive

A small price to pay for knowing your backup memories are safe. A small price to pay for knowing your backup memories are safe.

At the time of writing I have barely used it, but it is compact and seems to be at least as mechanically robust as might be reasonably expected. Due to my limited use, I cannot attest to its reliability yet. It worked fine for transferring a Windows 10 primary drive image from an old magnetic HDD to a new SSD. The write time of the image to this drive was as expected and the image read time for the new installation was quite good. At the time of writing I have barely used it, but it is compact and seems to be at least as mechanically robust as might be reasonably expected. Due to my limited use, I cannot attest to its reliability yet. It worked fine for transferring a Windows 10 primary drive image from an old magnetic HDD to a new SSD. The write time of the image to this drive was as expected and the image read time for the new installation was quite good.

This drive is easy to use and works well with our apple computer. This drive is easy to use and works well with our apple computer.

Good HDD runs well cheap and reliable. Good HDD runs well cheap and reliable.

A great product to own if you have run out of space on your computer or console. Easy to set up and good quality USB input. A great product to own if you have run out of space on your computer or console. Easy to set up and good quality USB input.

By: JacksonT72 01/06/20

Verified Owner