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Western Digital

Western Digital My Book Home 500GB USB 2.0 / IEEE 1394a / eSATA External Hard Drive WDH1CS5000N - Retail

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Western Digital My Book Home 500GB 3.5" External Hard Drive - Retail
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Western Digital My Book Home 500GB 3.5" External Hard Drive - Retail Western Digital My Book Home 500GB 3.5" External Hard Drive - Retail Western Digital My Book Home 500GB 3.5" External Hard Drive - Retail Western Digital My Book Home 500GB 3.5" External Hard Drive - Retail Western Digital My Book Home 500GB 3.5" External Hard Drive - Retail Western Digital My Book Home 500GB 3.5" External Hard Drive - Retail Western Digital My Book Home 500GB 3.5" External Hard Drive - Retail
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Manufacturer InfoReturn Policies

Manufacturer Warranty

Beyond any applicable Newegg return policy, this item is warranted independently by the product's Manufacturer. Below is a summary provided for convenience only and may not be accurate or current. Use this link for full details.

  • Manufacturer Limited Warranty period (parts): 3 years
  • Manufacturer Limited Warranty period (labor): 3 years

Return Policies

This item is covered by Newegg.com's Standard Return Policy.

  • Return for refund within: 30 days
  • Return for replacement within: 30 days
  • Restocking Fee: Yes
OverviewCustomer ReviewSpecificationsProduct Tour
Western Digital's My Book Home is the latest evolution in their long history of back up devices. This 500GB drive has a triple interface for maximum connectivity. The USB 2.0 and FireWire 400 interfaces allow you to connect to virtually any modern Mac or PC. If you need maximum data transfer rates then you can attach the drive to your system through the eSATA interface.

A capacity gauge on the front panel lets you know how much room you have left on the drive when it is connected to either a USB or FireWire port. The rest of the housing is designed to vent heat away from the drive to keep it cool and save your data. The auto standby mode will save your power bill by kicking in after 10 minutes of inactivity but will be ready to spring back into action immediately.

Review Summary (read more reviews)

5
newegg
40%
4
newegg
16%
3
newegg
9%
2
newegg
15%
1
newegg
20%
Product Rating:
Total Reviews: 94

Been through 3 in 1 year

white Reviewed By: on 6/2/2009
Rating + 3
Tech Level Tech Level: high - Ownership: more than 1 year
Pros: Holds a lot of information. Quick data transfer rate. Customer support is decent with 1-2 business day responses.
Cons: Poorly made, high chance of bad drive
Other Thoughts: I bought the 500GB external HDD back in January of 08 to keep as a backup for my desktop and laptop. After about 8 months of use the drive will no longer turn on. Tried different power cables and everything. The solder holding the plugin to the board broke off and there I was with a drive that worked, just a broken plug in. I emailed WD giving info about my case, and they said to do an RMA and get it replaced under warranty. Okay that's great that you will replace it, what about my data. Well, unless you go to one of those authorized dealers of theirs, your data is history. Taking one of these babies apart without them knowing you did, is nigh impossible as well. I said the hell with it, lost all 376GB of data I had, pics, music, and movies, to get a new one.

The new drive lasted a whole two months before it went bad. They wanted me to do another RMA. Which I did, only to receive another drive and have it be DOA. WD did a poor job creating this drive.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Works Great

white Reviewed By: Yenrah on 5/12/2009
Rating + 5
Tech Level Tech Level: average - Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
This user purchased this item from Newegg
Pros: Super Fast, Easy Installation, Quiet as a mouse, reasonably priced.
Cons: I have found none
Other Thoughts: I use this in my recording studio with a Mac Mini and pro tools software. I record straight to it with no problem. Will soon buy another for backup purposes. Best value for your money.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Did you? Yes No

Quick Specs (view all30)

ModelWDH1CS5000N
InterfaceUSB 2.0 / IEEE 1394a / eSATA
Capacity500GB
RPM7200 RPM
Form Factor3.5"

Review Summary (read all 94 Reviews)

5
newegg
40%
4
newegg
16%
3
newegg
9%
2
newegg
15%
1
newegg
20%
Product Rating:
Total Reviews: 94

Died in under a year

white Reviewed By: on 9/14/2009
Rating + 2
Tech Level Tech Level: high - Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
Pros: Drive seems quiet; was plug and play on the Mac (which should be the norm anyway but isn't always due to manufacturer silliness)
Cons: I recommended this to my mom for use as a backup disk with her iMac. The drive died after about six months. While it would be under warranty, mom can't find the receipt or order info - so I can't speak to the quality of Western Digital's repair/warranty service. Incidentally this is why I'm giving this two stars instead of one, since it's possible WD has stellar repair service.
Other Thoughts: Since she's out the money anyway, I'm recommending she replace this with a LaCie external disk. I've owned a half dozen of those over the past few years, and have never had a problem.
Did you find this review helpful? Yes No

Works via USB

white Reviewed By: Brian S on 9/11/2009
Rating + 3
Tech Level Tech Level: somewhat high - Ownership: more than 1 year
Pros: Looks good, lots of ports, economical price.
Cons: Still haven't been able to get the eSATA port to work. Seems like a problem with drivers and my mobo.
Other Thoughts: I did try the firewire port, but the windows would loose the drive after a couple minutes and the only way to get the drive back was to unplug the power cord and restart the computer.
Wish the World edition ones wern't so expensive.
Did you find this review helpful? Yes No

One Great Buy

white Reviewed By: FRKI on 9/4/2009
Rating + 5
Tech Level Tech Level: high - Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
Pros: Transfer Rates! Theyre fast, I use both Firewire and USB, Desktop and Laptop respectively, and they are not slow whatsoever. I keep all my music on the HDD and I can listen to it for hours. Has a built in Fan, most people don't know its there, but it operates very quietly whenever the heat starts to rise, it usually only gets hot if I'm watching a movie, or listening to music. The morse code design of the case is brilliant! It works great to dissipate heat and looks amazing. Information light is handy, it allows you to know when the drive is gathering info, how much space is left, and when its on standby, and usually turns off when the computer does.
Cons: Not a 1Tb. Really wish I would've gone with the 1Tb because now I only have 50gigs left on my 500, and I've had it for only 8 months now. The info light in the front can tend to get rather annoying at night, its really bright, I just usually cover it with a shirt or something when I go to sleep listening to music.
Other Thoughts: Its a solid drive. I have recommended it to friends when it comes to performance, but, it is rather pricey when up against other contenders. But nevertheless, I would recommend the drive any day. One of the best buys Ive ever had. IF you do decide to buy the drive, I recommend formatting it when you get it, since it comes standard with the FAT32 system, which is ok, but you can't put a file larger than 4Gigs on it, and since I backup my DVD's, i commonly put +4Gig files on there. Recommend formatting it to use the NTFS system. Also, the onboard software, is basically dirt, don't keep it.
Did you find this review helpful? Yes No
Model
Brand Western Digital
Series My Book Home
Model WDH1CS5000N
Performance
Interface USB 2.0 / IEEE 1394a / eSATA
Capacity 500GB
RPM 7200 RPM
Physical Spec
Form Factor 3.5"
Dimensions 6.5" x 5.4" x 2.1"
Weight 2.5 lbs.
Features
Features Easy to set up, easy to use - Installation is a snap because you don't really install this drive, you just plug it in and it's ready to use. There is no CD to install; the included software loads from the drive the first time you plug it in.
Automatic backup - Save a copy of your photos to an online sharing service, duplicate your e-mail and contacts to your iPod, and back up all your precious files to your My Book. Set it and forget it; every time you save something it's automatically backed up.
Fits right in - Takes no more space than a paperback book. Collect two or more and they nest neatly together like volumes on a shelf.
Capacity gauge - See at a glance how much space is available on your drive. (Works with the USB and FireWire connection only.)
Smart and energy efficient - Turns itself on and off with your computer and Safe Shutdown prevents the drive from being powered down until all your data has been written. (Works with the USB and FireWire connection only.)
Designed to keep the drive inside cool - The My Book enclosure’s heat dissipating design with Morse Code prevents heat buildup… a notorious data killer. How cool is that?
Environmentally friendly - Our environmentally-friendly drive is designed to save power by going into standby mode after 10 minutes of inactivity. When you’re ready to use it, it wakes up automatically.
Manufacturer Warranty
Parts 3 years limited
Labor 3 years limited

Introduction

Western Digital's My Book Home is the latest evolution in their long history of back up devices. This 500GB drive has a triple interface for maximum connectivity. The USB 2.0 and FireWire 400 interfaces allow you to connect to virtually any modern Mac or PC. If you need maximum data transfer rates then you can attach the drive to your system through the eSATA interface.

A capacity gauge on the front panel lets you know how much room you have left on the drive when it is connected to either a USB or FireWire port. The rest of the housing is designed to vent heat away from the drive to keep it cool and save your data. The auto standby mode will save your power bill by kicking in after 10 minutes of inactivity but will be ready to spring back into action immediately.

Highlights

newegg High Performance Hard Drive
The Western Digital My Book Home (Model WDH1CS5000N) features a high performance 7200 RPM, 500GB hard drive so you can store your movies, music, applications and documents for easy sharing with your friends and even back up your system.
newegg Triple Interfaces
The Western Digital My Book Home (Model WDH1CS5000N) combines three industry-leading external hard drive interfaces (IEEE 1394a, eSATA and USB 2.0) for maximum performance and universal connectivity.
newegg WD Safe Shutdown
The power button is equipped with WD's exclusive Safe Shutdown to ensure that all the data is safely transferred prior to shutdown.
newegg Power/Activity and Capacity Gauge
The unique Power/Activity and Capacity Gauge LED on the front panel indicates power/activity status and space used on the drive so you can easily know how much space is available on your storage system.

Photo Gallery

Western Digital My Book Home 500GB 3.5" External Hard Drive - Retail
Western Digital My Book Home 500GB 3.5" External Hard Drive - Retail Western Digital My Book Home 500GB 3.5" External Hard Drive - Retail Western Digital My Book Home 500GB 3.5" External Hard Drive - Retail

Quick Specs

BrandWestern Digital
SeriesMy Book Home
Form Factor3.5"
Capacity500GB
RPM7200 RPM
InterfaceUSB 2.0 / IEEE 1394a / eSATA
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