Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsVery nice and fast backup drive. Whether using backup software or Drag N Drop.
Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2017
FAST, PORTABLE, SIMPLE!
This drive is great in that it runs off USB power and no extra cables needed. A color coordinated USB cable comes with it, I was surprised it was actually an 18" cord! I was expecting something much shorter from reading reviews. Plenty of length for most uses.
I THOUGHT I ordered a Black drive, but what arrived was Orange! I realized that was MY fault, but now I kinda prefer that Orange. VERY solid. Good weight for an external drive, but that seems to make it more stable, but not heavy. Software for backups is installed in the drive. Windows saw it quickly. Instant recognition. Already formatted as NTFS with software. The White LED activity light is NOT over-bright, but very easy to see without being annoying.
(If you want to run this on Apple iOS then you might have to format it.)
You have to keep in mind that Hard Drives NEVER format to the advertised size due to many formatting reasons. This one was 3.6TB formatted. Pretty much common, no surprise there. Great speed. Easy to use. I like the backup software, but I don't use that much. I primarily drag & drop to the drive. I bought this mainly to back up my D: drive, a 2TB Hybrid drive that holds most of my really important files. (And my USERS folder on the C: drive.) I NEVER keep important files on the Windows drive. Too many things can happen, especially if your Windows crashes and you have to reinstall. It backed up through USB 3.0 really well. I also bought a good case to keep this in. I don't keep it connected all the time. But it is thicker than I expected, just under an inch thick (7/8ths actually) I was concerned, but the newer cases are thicker also for 4TB drives and larger.
I cannot speak to longevity as I bought this about a month ago. But it has worked flawlessly, and I know WD is a good company and their drives are quite reliable. As a tech that builds and repairs Desktops and Laptops, WD has always been good equipment.
