WD Elements Desktop 640GB USB 2.0 3.5" External Hard Drive WDE1UBK6400N Black

Pros: This is a very attractive external drive; the best I've seen in a while. I was about to get the white one and I instantly canceled that order to get the black one. This just looks sleek sitting on my desk.

You get 595GB after format which I was aware I would get. There is a formula that you can use to figure out how much you space you’d get after format. I, however, figured out that the answer always equals 93% of total space for these types of hard drives; the 3.5” and 2.5” platter HDs.

This means that you simply multiply .93 by total space of HD, in this case 640GB x .93 = 595GB.

Trust me, this will always work. A 500GB HD, for example, will yield 500 x .93 = 465GB usable space.

Just a little lesson for noobs who’ll give this HD a low rating because of their lack of knowledge but will most likely claim “high” tech knowledge when they write their review.

Cons: None. I've transfered a little over 220GB worth of files to back up and the drive runs pretty cool.

Overall Review: Get this HD, it is very nice perormance wise and looks wise.

Pros: Survived being ran over by the UPS steamroller (seriously, what is it with those guys...EVERY package I get from them is crushed whether it is shipped 50 miles or 5000)

Cons: No power switch! No activity LED! Includes AUTORUN.INF and an EXE! What on earth could it possibly need to load when you connect it to your PC (answer...it needs to load NOTHING AT ALL, so what's it up to?) Only a one year warrenty? How is it that when WD puts a 3 year drive in an aluminum enclosure it suddenly becomes a 1 year drive? This is how: The drive spins up and down on it's own accord. Plug it in, it spins up IN YOUR HAND for 5 seconds (hold still!), then spins down. Spins up on access, then spins down after a couple minutes. A spinning HD should never ever be handled, and constant starts and stops are extremely hard on a HDD!

Overall Review: Shame on WD! An LED, power switch, and a completley blank disk are all things that should be mandatory and are taken for granted for this type of product. I bet nobody ever notices the absence of these items in the picture...I sure didn't...and the box says nothing about the lack of these items either. The autorun files are a great means to autoload malware (intentional or not) installed by the factory (google "Picture Frame Virus"). Since they serve no clear purpose and are not required to begin with, your best bet is to disable autorun, plug it in, then completely reformat the drive. If I bought another I would not get this one. Look closer at the Hitachi. Same price, same capacity, hopefully a more intelligent implimentation (not sure it could be worse).