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Why are these still so expensive???!!??
3TB is out, can be had for about $120.
This is the same price found at Amazon right now:
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Elements-Desktop-External/dp/B002QEBMCI/ref=s11?ie=UTF8&qid=1313613708&sr=8-1
I'd like to know why the 500GB version of this drive is still $69.99. I found the 500GB version on sale at Target for $35 about a year ago. Got the 2TB version at Target for $70 on Black Friday last year.
And I agree with turtles above, if the 3TB is only $120, the rest of the family of drives should be:
3TB 2.5TB 2TB 1.5TB 1TB 0.5TB
$120 $90 $70 $60 $50 $40
WD drives have serious powering issues. Company says plug the hard drive to every outlet in the house and see of the drive powers up. I can't believe this nonsense. Thousands are complaining and yet no recall. BEWARE do not buy WD products.
I have 2 WD externals, 2TB and an old 250GB, no problems.
I also have 8 different sized WD Elements drives and have never had any problems with them... Most reliable external drive I have used over the past 4 years.
I do note that the 2TB and higher capacity drives are slower to wake and spin up than the smaller versions. It is annoying when you turn on your TV and have to wait 2-3 minutes for the harddrive to finally show up.
^ WTF? Higher capacity model only takes a second or two longer.
#3, if your drive isn't powering up properly, try with a different (yet still compatible, same voltage /regulated type PSU with same or higher current rating), and check that the power connector is fully seated and its contacts aren't fouled with manufacturing *residue*.
However, with a prebuilt external you have to crack it open potentially voiding the warranty to do the latter.
Regarding price... 2TB bare internal drive is usually $70 on sale, rarely $60 on sale. Add on $15 for the enclosure and PSU and $85 is entirely reasonable.
I disagree about capacity vs price. 2TB uses two platters, jumping to 2.5TB and needing another platter, read/write head, should be a larger jump in price than from 2.5TB to 3TB which only requires another added read/write heads. Of course to offset this we always see the highest capacity version costing disproportionately more, but frankly I don't really want the highest capacity version for a passively cooled external running off an anemic wall wart PSU, it just won't last as long all else being equal.
I have had a few WD hard drives and they've always been great. I can't add anymore to what Dave said though. The man seems to know his stuff.
I think anything over 1Tb is a bad idea incase of data loss b/c I read many review saying that it has a higher chance of malfunctioning...
I have (2) 1.5, (1) 2 and just recently snagged a 2.5 as well. Never a bit of trouble with any of them. Run cooler than the seagate and iomega drives I have. Also bought a bunch of 1TB WD portables for work, no problems with them either. All in all, I'd have to say I am now a WD fan.