Western Digital My Book Essential USB3

Overview

TechSpot Metascore

Based on 11 expert reviews

Excellent:

5
Good:

5
Average:

0
Bad:

1

Pros:

Good Performance.
USB 3.0 interface.
Full capacity is available out of the box.

Cons:

Expensive.
No backup button.

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Last revision on December 12, 2012

Reviewers Liked

Good Performance
USB 3.0 interface
Full capacity is available out of the box
Very fast
Quiet operations due to fanless design
Large 3TB capacity is good value for money
Compact
This drive secures data with several different avenues of encryption

Reviewers Didn't Like

Expensive
No backup button
No USB 3.0 card included
Limited backup software
Glossy surface attracts fingerprints
Not recommended for anything other than storage & backup as it's running at 5400rpm
When reformatted to use with a Mac, only USB 2.0 connectivity is available

Expert reviews and ratings

See how the Western Digital My Book Essential fares against other USB 3.0 hard disks on the market....

By PC Authority on March 14, 2012

Name: Type: Specifications: As far as external hard drives go, the My Book Essential looks pretty snazzy, with its gloss black plastic casing and curved front. Three edges house discrete venting, with the front curved edge a white LED light that...

By Tech Digest on February 10, 2012

The performance of this My Book 3.0 TB drive is appreciation worthy, being a 5400rpm HDD inside a USB 3.0 enclosure. The platter density does the rest and lands up giving it some of the best speeds seen on a spinning USB 3.0 drive....

By PCWorld India on November 16, 2011

If you've set yourself up with a USB 3.0 connection, the My Book Essential is a decent desktop drive to complement it, and shows promise for the interface in the times...

By CNET Australia on September 30, 2011

The Western Digital My Book series of external hard drives have been a part of our daily lives since a good part of the last decade. The WD My Book hard drives are the household standard for data storage and backup, easily available in every high...

By Tbreak.com on August 13, 2011

100

A good-quality, good-value disk that comes with useful software...

By Computeractive on July 20, 2011

The WD My Book Essential 3 TB proves that USB 3.0 is the best thing that has happened to external backup drives in a very long time. Along with the transfer speeds as good as an internal SATA hard drive or an eSATA hard drive, there is the convenience...

By TechTree on July 01, 2011

100

My Book Essential provides a strong balance of performance, security and...

By TopTenREVIEWS on June 01, 2010

I was an early adopter to USB 3.0 on my PC and I’ve been using Western Digital USB 3.0 drives since shortly after they became available. I’ve been more than happy with with performance, price and durability of these drives over the past...

By Photography Bay on July 19, 2011

This review was our first look into the performance of the USB3, and what we found was very impressive. USB2.0 has really been killing the performance of the external storage, but the introduction of USB3 has brought the transfer rates back up to...

By Metku.net on February 06, 2011

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