WD One TeraByte External Drive Delivers

Twenty years ago, a Terabyte of hard drive space would have cost you $1 million - if you could afford a Cray Computer. Today, you can get your own Terabyte (1,000 GB) for under $200.

This Western Digital Hard Drive delivers on all fronts. I bought it at Costco for $200 after a $50 coupon was applied.

The drive connects to my computer via a USB2 cord (iuncluded!) and sits on my desk beside my monitor.

The drive comes formatted as FAT32, so if you want NTFS you should format the drive BEFORE you load any data on it.

I found it very easy to set up the drive as a complete mirror to my internal PC hard drive with weekly back-ups done over night while I sleep. By partioning the hard drive, I can use half as a back up and the other half for storing and organizing photos. You could do music the same way, if you wish. I have hundreds of photos and this drive makes it very easy to access them.

An external, USB drive like this one is slower than an internal drive - be aware of that! I still use my internal HD for my Photoshop and other intensive use programs. The WD drive is a back up and not ideal for daily use.

The size of the drive (footprint) is a major plus, too. To have a terabyte in a package the size of a paperback book is terrific. The drive is portable (bring your USB cable and power cord, too) and can take everything you have on your computer to any other computer. You don't have to buy a laptop if you are going where you can use a PC with this drive. I could visit my dad in Massachusetts (from my home is Arizona) and not have to worry about on-line bill paying, passwords, bookmarks, or anything else.

The documentation for this drive is limited, but that wasn't an issue for me as it told me all I really needed to know. This is a "plug and play" device that is recognized immediately by Windows XP as a new device. I assume the same is true for VISTA (which I do not have).

Overall, I can easily recommend this WD HD as a super back up for all your PC needs.

A terabyte! Imagine!