WD Elements SE 1TB USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive WDBPCK0010BBK-NESN

Pros: I've had this disk now for nearly 2 years. It's quiet and vibration free. It also doesn't come with bloatware - no excess & confusing software. Just basic storage.

Plugged it in and it just worked. It's been filled and emptied several times and currently serves as a media disk.

I like it enough that I'll be picking up another one shortly. Especially now that the price is somewhat reasonable again.

It does not come with a hi-gloss finish. Instead it has a flat/matte texture. This is great because you don't feel guilty about marring a pristine finish. And scuffs & scratches don't stand out on a matte finish as much as they would on a gloss finish.

It also doesn't have the stupid blue lights which were all the rage for a good number of years beginning in the early 2000's.

I recently checked S.M.A.R.T. values on my disk and found them to be within spec. Nice.

Cons: Not many, it's just USB 2.0, so don't expect high-speed performance. Maybe newer models do 3.0. And of course the universal complaint of flimsy connector is never ending. Though mine hasn't gone bad yet.

A word of caution to buyers though, I have several other Elements series which like to power down after 10 seconds. While great for power savings and whatnot, the constant spin-up delay and pauses in drag-n-drop operations are beyond annoying.

So if you get one that does that, exchange it as a defective product as it's not practically usable. Either that, or delegate it to holding backup images. You can also use software to tickle the disk and keep it active. But that's not an elegant workaround.

Other Thoughts: Simplicity & reliability in an ever increasingly complex world is a good thing. This disk is simple. This is a good thing.

Pros: Great Drive! Fast, reliable, super light compared to a WD passport.

I've had one passport fail on me, but this elements drive is going on 9 months with no issues.

Cons: none so far

Other Thoughts: For those readers worried about the "proprietary" USB cable: IT'S NOT PROPRIETARY

All USB 3.0 Male Powered Micro-B connectors look like this. If you take a closer look inside the (blue) connect at the other end of the cable (the end that plugs into the computer), you'll see some copper pins that are not found in the USB 2.0 connectors.

USB 3.0 has pins whereas 2.0 only has 4 pins. This is because in addition to the 5V power pins, 3.0 contains the old 2.0 data channels in addition to completely separate "SuperSpeed" data channels for the 3.0 operation. The 2.0 and 3.0 data components are merely separated out on the micro connector.

Bottom line: don't let the short cable deter you from a great purchase. You can definitely find longer USB 3.0 cables all over the place. Here's a 6-footer from newegg for only $6 shipped!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812119286

Pros: Purchased this as my MacBook Pro Mid 2012 would not work with an external Toshiba 1 TB USB-3 drive. Several others at my work were using the WD external drives without problems on their MAC. I have been using this drive for about 2 months now and it works great.

Cons: None

Pros: USB 3.0, cheap, fast (pulling 107MB/s between my 320GB 7200RPM drive and this external), barebones.

Cons: Proprietary connector on the PCB of the drive itself; no standard SATA plug so if the enclosure dies, you can't pull the drive and plug it into something else like you could with older models.

And, since it's a proprietary end, if you need more than the foot they give you, you're out of luck.

Other Thoughts: I have a USB 2.0 Passport 1TB that I use for work. One of the things that I disliked about it was that every time it got plugged in, it gave me a virtual CD full of stuff I didn't care about. I thought that would happen on this one, but it ended up just being a bare drive, no software, no fluff that I would never use.

Pros: -Tiny! (physically, of course)
-Speedy!
-Plenty of capacity
-Reasonably priced
-USB-powered, so no need to plug into a power outlet

Cons: -Strange, I believe proprietary plug/ USB connector

Other Thoughts: This is a handy little drive, and no mistake.

I needed a larger capacity drive than my old 500GB external, for my backups. My old backup drive was a 3.5" drive that needed to be plugged into the wall; which was a pretty big annoyance, since I don't leave it connected all the time. When I started shopping for a new drive, I made sure to pick one that DIDN'T require A/C power. That was really the main selling point for me. I use this thing once every couple weeks to backup, then it sits in my drawer; I can't be bothered to have to plug a drive into both my machine and the wall outlet, when there are options like this nowadays.

Aside from that convenience, this drive has been great all-around. Read and write speeds were both usually around 100MB/s, though it varied, and sometimes went as high as 125 and sometimes as low as 50. Either way, this drive is quite fast if you've got USB3.0 support on your machine, and I'm sure is sufficiently quick even if you only have USB2.0

The only con i marked down is indeed a pretty minor one. It has a standard USB plug on the end you plug into your system, and an unfamiliar connector that plugs into the drive itself. It's neither Mini nor micro USB. It has no apparent impact on performance, it just might be more difficult to replace if your cable is ever lost.

Pros: USB 3! gets ~120mb copying something over,
1tb HDD so loads of space
light weight
i love this drive!

Cons: only 5400RPM HDD
1st came damaged
somewhat short USB cable

Other Thoughts: all in all good drive and good price point

Pros: Great small form factor, no external power supply needed, quiet, and fast. No bloatware, also recognized as WD drive by the WD Acronis True Image software, so you can use it on all your PCs when connected with this drive.

Cons: Short 1-y warranty, cable is kinda short

Other Thoughts: I bought this from Newegg during their December $60 sale. It has been a great drive. It is less than half the size of one of my older WD external drive, but double the capacity, and it is faster and quieter. This is not much bigger than a deck of cards. Easily fits in a laptop bag.

For those who are not seeing at least 70MB/s sustained transfer speeds, you must remember that you have to have a USB3.0 capable motherboard AND have the appropriate USB3.0 drivers installed. I have seen 85MB/s sustained read and write speeds with this drive using Crystal Disk Benchmarks.

If you are not hooked up to a true USB3.0 connection, you won't see those speeds and its not WDs fault.

As I mentioned in my Pros, this works perfectly with the WD Special Edition (ie limited in functionality) of Acronis True Image. Even though its a reduced functionality program, it does all the essential functions. Very easy to do full disc backups, restore full disk, clone disc, or restore files. Due to the somewhat flakey nature of Acronis, I prefer to just use the bootable media to do my backups and restores. The software has been 100% reliable so far in doing several SSD clones, backups and restores.

Pros: Got it at a good price.

Cons: Uses a power cable which isn't a problem.

As good as after about 2 years with only light use.

Other Thoughts: Sounds like the HD is stuck in a loop with a constant click, I can open the HD up but it's crazy slow just to navigate and I don't know if I'll be able to salvage anything :(

Manufacturer Response:

We appreciate your feedback and apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced with the WD Elements SE 1 TB, as this is not the typical experience with the product.
There are many variables that could amount to a drive emitting unusual sounds when powered on. In the case of external hard drives, please always connect the included USB cable directly to the computer; avoid the use of USB extension cables or USB hubs. To test our drives health, we have our Data Lifeguard Diagnostics for Windows (WinDLG) utility, and Mac users can of course use Disk Utility and First Aid. For information on how to use the WinDLG utility, please view the information provided by the following link.
How to tell if the noise or sound the drive is making is normal
http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/568
How to test a drive for problems using Data Lifeguard Diagnostics for Windows
http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/940
How to access Disk Utility on a Mac computer
http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1362
We would appreciate the opportunity to further assist you, and resolve any further concerns you may have with the device and/or your experience. You may contact us at 1 (800) 275-4932, or via our support website at: http://support.wdc.com/rs/. Please indicate within the online case creation or with the first support agent you speak with, that you are responding to a Newegg review, so we route you and your information to the correct team members.

Pros: Very small, as with most passports. High transfer speed when using USB 3.0 as expected. Doesn't get hot during mass amount of data transfer prolonged over a couple of hours.

Cons: Short cable (it's a passport).

Other Thoughts: 4 eggs just because 5 means perfect, I mean come on, what's really PERFECT?

Pros: Western Digital makes quality stuff. Bought this to back up my Macbook. Formatted for Windows out of the box but easily formatted for Mac with Disk Utility. Price was right. Bloatware free! Small size for easy transport. 5 eggs.

Cons: The cable is a bit short and stiff.