Very Quick
"Since I am a Mac user, I expected that I would have to reformat the drive and they mentioned this."
"Just in case, here's the messages I received when I tried to mount it and format on my 2014 MBP: WD Elements disk you inserted is not readable by this computer Initialize Opens Disk Utility and runs FirstAid."
"But, the one thing I did notice when connecting to my Windows 7 work HP is that it did not want to read when plugged in via "USB extender" (I have 2 USB ports on this computer and several items that run off USB connections so I picked up a generic USB extender from Amazon a while back) like a normal thumb drive does."
"I knew about external hard drives but they used to be a lot more expensive; I was surprised to see how much they've come down in price since I last looked at them."
"I simply returned the product, and had my money refunded with a vow never to purchase anything from Western Digital ever again."
"Unlike the Synology, which was accessible by WiFi, this won't do backups when I take my laptop away from my desk, but I do my most critical work at my desk in any event."
"(In my case on the shelf below the XBOX) Configuring the drive for use with the XBOX was simple (the only caveat is you need to power off the XBOX completely in order for it to detect the new drive when first connected - but that's an XBOX thing and not specific to this product."
WD 2TB Elements Portable External Hard Drive - USB 3.0 - WDBU6Y0020BBK-WESN (Click to Compare Deals)
Quick
"* For those who get frustrated finding the best portable hard drive with the most positive reviews for the best price, please read this review... I take a lot of videos that require a lot of storage, and I spend way too much time offloading files to thumb drives... Since I am a Mac user, I expected that I would have to reformat the drive and they mentioned this."
"When I turn on Time Machine Preferences window, it sometimes says that the next backup will happen "when the disk is connected," other times it gives me the time when the next back up will happen... Just in case, here's the messages I received when I tried to mount it and format on my 2014 MBP: WD Elements disk you inserted is not readable by this computer Initialize Opens Disk Utility and runs FirstAid... Operation failed INFO: Volume name : Macintosh HD Volume type : Logical Volume BSD device node : disk1 Mount point : / File system : Mac OS Extended (Journaled, Encrypted) Connection : PCI Device tree path : IODeviceTree:/PCI0@0/RP05@1C,4/SSD0@0/PRT0@0/PMP@0 Writable : Yes Is case-sensitive : No File system UUID : 5B762721-D0FE-352B-8704-2B54357587C1 CoreStorage UUID : A1E37DCC-6AD4-44E0-A281-444354E89F15 Parent CoreStorage LVG UUID : A9E77933-CAD0-4CDC-A5DB-CC1B00DADA5A Volume capacity : 999,334,064,128 Available space (Purgeable + Free) : 519,556,299,718 Purgeable space : 63,323,372,486 Free space : 456,232,927,232 Used space : 479,777,764,410 File count : 2,903,563 Owners enabled : Yes Is encrypted : Yes System Integrity Protection supported : Yes Can be verified : Yes Can be repaired : No Bootable : Yes Journaled : Yes Disk number : 1 Media name : Macintosh HD Media type : Generic Ejectable : No Solid state : Yes S."
"* I have read some other reviews on this product that have made many comments about it not being compatible from machine to machine or Windows version to Windows version and I would like to say that I am happy to not have a clue what they are talking about... But, the one thing I did notice when connecting to my Windows 7 work HP is that it did not want to read when plugged in via "USB extender" (I have 2 USB ports on this computer and several items that run off USB connections so I picked up a generic USB extender from Amazon a while back) like a normal thumb drive does... I simply used my many years working on computers (I am 42 and worked on a computer since 2004 in an office setting with only On The Job Training/learning as you go) to employ my common sense and the mantra of "if at first you don't succeed consider that the problem might be 'user error' or a PEBCACK (problem exists between chair and keyboard) issue"."
"I knew about external hard drives but they used to be a lot more expensive; I was surprised to see how much they've come down in price since I last looked at them... It's extremely simple to use, there's no software to install, you simply plug it into your computer's USB port and voila!... With it plugged in, you can save things to that drive, or copy and paste items using File Explorer, which is what I'm doing in order to have a spare copy of important items."
"I simply returned the product, and had my money refunded with a vow never to purchase anything from Western Digital ever again... But have this happen to you three times in a row, with three different types of hard disks (ex... Sure the pricing is decent, but that's the only benefit you get from this."
"I was using an old Synology 212+ for Time Machine, but after moving, it asked me to reinstall, crashed in the process of doing that, and lost all my data... I've thought about buying a newer, faster NAS, but that's expensive, and decided to go this route at least for the time being. Unlike the Synology, which was accessible by WiFi, this won't do backups when I take my laptop away from my desk, but I do my most critical work at my desk in any event."
"The USB cable that comes with the drive is quite short (pretty standard for these drives I think), so I would highly recommend purchasing a separate USB 3... (In my case on the shelf below the XBOX) Configuring the drive for use with the XBOX was simple (the only caveat is you need to power off the XBOX completely in order for it to detect the new drive when first connected - but that's an XBOX thing and not specific to this product. ) I've installed a lot of my games on the drive and have plenty of room remaining for future downloads, so far I am very pleased with the drives performance, if this changes over time I will return and modify my review accordingly."
Less Quick
"* For those who get frustrated finding the best portable hard drive with the most positive reviews for the best price, please read this review... When you don't expect to use it, eject the disk and power it off - don't leave it spinning when it isn't being used for long periods of time... I take a lot of videos that require a lot of storage, and I spend way too much time offloading files to thumb drives... Since I am a Mac user, I expected that I would have to reformat the drive and they mentioned this... What I had to do was to first plug it into a windows computer and delete the partition. Then I was able to create a new partition with the Mac and format all 4 terabytes of it as exFAT... It is nice to have enough capacity that you don't have to worry about running out of space while on the road!"
"The problem is that it can t be initialized on my 2014 MBP running Sierra OS to be formatted by the Disk Utility... After a few minutes of fiddling with Disk Utility on the older machine and getting "go-to-hell" messages, the Disk Utilities changed its mind and formatted it for Mac. So, I've kept this beauty, and so far it has been doing its job backing up my 600GB of data on my hard drive... When I turn on Time Machine Preferences window, it sometimes says that the next backup will happen "when the disk is connected," other times it gives me the time when the next back up will happen... Just in case, here's the messages I received when I tried to mount it and format on my 2014 MBP: WD Elements disk you inserted is not readable by this computer Initialize Opens Disk Utility and runs FirstAid... Operation failed DiskUtility = Erase Mac OS Extended Journaled Unmounting disk MediaKit reports not enough space on device for requested operation. Operation failed INFO: Volume name : Macintosh HD Volume type : Logical Volume BSD device node : disk1 Mount point : / File system : Mac OS Extended (Journaled, Encrypted) Connection : PCI Device tree path : IODeviceTree:/PCI0@0/RP05@1C,4/SSD0@0/PRT0@0/PMP@0 Writable : Yes Is case-sensitive : No File system UUID : 5B762721-D0FE-352B-8704-2B54357587C1 CoreStorage UUID : A1E37DCC-6AD4-44E0-A281-444354E89F15 Parent CoreStorage LVG UUID : A9E77933-CAD0-4CDC-A5DB-CC1B00DADA5A Volume capacity : 999,334,064,128 Available space (Purgeable + Free) : 519,556,299,718 Purgeable space : 63,323,372,486 Free space : 456,232,927,232 Used space : 479,777,764,410 File count : 2,903,563 Owners enabled : Yes Is encrypted : Yes System Integrity Protection supported : Yes Can be verified : Yes Can be repaired : No Bootable : Yes Journaled : Yes Disk number : 1 Media name : Macintosh HD Media type : Generic Ejectable : No Solid state : Yes S."
"* I have read some other reviews on this product that have made many comments about it not being compatible from machine to machine or Windows version to Windows version and I would like to say that I am happy to not have a clue what they are talking about... My Tasks: I am attempting to back up all of my personal files as well as a few business ones so I am continually taking this external hard drive from one PC to the next. It is truly plug and play and those that say moving from different Windows versions gives them trouble must be doing something different than me... But, the one thing I did notice when connecting to my Windows 7 work HP is that it did not want to read when plugged in via "USB extender" (I have 2 USB ports on this computer and several items that run off USB connections so I picked up a generic USB extender from Amazon a while back) like a normal thumb drive does... Now, I did not have to google, I did not have to install updates, I did not have to format, or change the drive in any way other than how it arrived in the box. I simply used my many years working on computers (I am 42 and worked on a computer since 2004 in an office setting with only On The Job Training/learning as you go) to employ my common sense and the mantra of "if at first you don't succeed consider that the problem might be 'user error' or a PEBCACK (problem exists between chair and keyboard) issue". In fact, I have discovered that most of the time when something doesn't work like its "supposed to" it is usually something I have done wrong by over thinking it."
"I knew about external hard drives but they used to be a lot more expensive; I was surprised to see how much they've come down in price since I last looked at them... The company I was using backed up *everything*, but that isn't really necessary for me... It's extremely simple to use, there's no software to install, you simply plug it into your computer's USB port and voila!... With it plugged in, you can save things to that drive, or copy and paste items using File Explorer, which is what I'm doing in order to have a spare copy of important items... It's small enough to take places, so I can share photos and files when I visit family without trying to fit things on a thumb drive, 3. the backup company only covered a single device for the price I paid, now I can back items up to this drive from my desktop AND my laptop, 4... The online backup software really bogged down my computer as it constantly backed up files, now that annoyance is gone."
"I simply returned the product, and had my money refunded with a vow never to purchase anything from Western Digital ever again... But have this happen to you three times in a row, with three different types of hard disks (ex. internal, external & portable for your desktops, laptops, etc. ), bought from three different sellers, and which are all developed by the same manufacturer... Because that is exactly the state of mind I am in right now after my experience with them... Do not buy from Western Digital until they improve on their products 100%. Sure the pricing is decent, but that's the only benefit you get from this."
"I keep it plugged into the USB hub that I connect my computer to when it is on my desk. From reviews, I see that some people have had disk failures, but I also do a cloud-based backup... Time Machine gives me hourly backups for the last 24 hours, so I can recover something I've inadvertently overwritten. I was using an old Synology 212+ for Time Machine, but after moving, it asked me to reinstall, crashed in the process of doing that, and lost all my data... I've thought about buying a newer, faster NAS, but that's expensive, and decided to go this route at least for the time being. Unlike the Synology, which was accessible by WiFi, this won't do backups when I take my laptop away from my desk, but I do my most critical work at my desk in any event... Amazing that 4TB can fit into such a tiny form factor and be such a reasonable price."
"* I researched several external drives for my XBOX One on which to store downloaded games after maxing out the onboard 500GB drive. I decided on the 4TB version of this drive based on other reviews. The drive is actually quite a bit smaller (physically) than I was expecting (even though I knew it would be small), very sleek looking and lightweight. The USB cable that comes with the drive is quite short (pretty standard for these drives I think), so I would highly recommend purchasing a separate USB 3... com/gp/product/B00P0C4MBQ), that's longer if you intend to sit this HDD away from the connected device. (In my case on the shelf below the XBOX) Configuring the drive for use with the XBOX was simple (the only caveat is you need to power off the XBOX completely in order for it to detect the new drive when first connected - but that's an XBOX thing and not specific to this product. ) I've installed a lot of my games on the drive and have plenty of room remaining for future downloads, so far I am very pleased with the drives performance, if this changes over time I will return and modify my review accordingly."
