# Western Digital MyBook 3.0 USB 3.0 1TB External Storage Drive



## The Sorcerer (Jan 21, 2011)

USB 3.0 devices have started coming in and Western Digital sends one for evaluation to make a good impression. 

*img80.imageshack.us/img80/35/dsc02869e.jpg​ As you can see on the picture itself, Western Digital bundles a USB 3.0 PCIE X1 card powering up 2 ports. If that wasn't enough to get your attention, then the fact that it comes with a Western Digital Black series drive will do the honours.
*Packaging and contents*

*img98.imageshack.us/img98/9082/frntwd.jpg*img37.imageshack.us/img37/5210/rearwd.jpg​ 
*img25.imageshack.us/img25/3773/contentswd.jpg​ The disk contains the driver for the USB 3.0 pcie x1 card and an soft copy for the manual. Western digital provides a low profile PCI bracket as well, bundling with a 48 inch long USB cable with the usual Power Adapter.

* Specifications and First Impressions*

*img819.imageshack.us/img819/3076/wdmybook30advspecs.jpg​ Emphasizing more on the drive itself:

*img842.imageshack.us/img842/3108/dsc02875u.jpg​ 
*img262.imageshack.us/img262/2149/dsc02873y.jpg​ 
*img801.imageshack.us/img801/1268/dsc02871d.jpg*img140.imageshack.us/img140/9276/dsc02872p.jpg​ All the 3 sides (Bottom, rear and top) of the casing come with vents. The power button is on the back of the drive itself, alongwith the lock, AC and USB sable connector. The drive comes with a rubber feet.

*img522.imageshack.us/img522/4480/cdiwdmybook30.jpg​ As said, the hard drive inside is a Western Digital Black series "WD1001FAES" drive with 64MB cache.I am not too sure if this is available in the market, but I think currently you're getting FAEX versions(?).

Moving on towards the bundled 3.0 PCIE X1 card:

*img602.imageshack.us/img602/5625/usb30wd.jpg​ 

*img402.imageshack.us/img402/7872/necchipwd.jpg​ 
The drive comes with a The NEC D720200F1 chip powering up 2 slots. Motherboards like the sabertooth x58 comes with this chip. 


*Benchmarks*
AIDA 64- Disk Benchmark
*img152.imageshack.us/img152/6057/aida64readtestsuitewdmy.jpg​  -
AS SSD Benchmark 
*img192.imageshack.us/img192/5277/asssdwdmybook30.jpg​  -
Crystal Disk Benchmark 
*img534.imageshack.us/img534/3420/cdmwdmybook30.jpg​  -
HD Tach 
*img692.imageshack.us/img692/619/hdtachwdmybook30.jpg​  -
HD Tune Pro 

*img35.imageshack.us/img35/1705/hdtunefilebcwdmybook30.th.jpg*img194.imageshack.us/img194/4046/hdtunerandomaccessreadw.th.jpg*img403.imageshack.us/img403/1171/hdtunerandomaccesswrite.th.jpg*img831.imageshack.us/img831/8708/hdtunereadbcwdmybook30.th.jpg*img7.imageshack.us/img7/5456/hdtunewritebcwdmybook30.th.jpg​ -


> Observation: The drive was pretty silent during the sequential read/write tests but when it came to initial power ON and on 4k tests, the drive started to make a humming noise. Similarly:
> ​


*img340.imageshack.us/img340/3980/trnst.jpg​ 1.27 GB transfer went up smoothly but somewhere in the middle of the transfer of 11.3GB ISO file, the drive started to make the same humming noise but it did not affect the transfer speed nor the performance. Usually its ignored when a 3.5 inch drives are in a pc case, but it gets noticed easily in a silent room.

*Conclusion*
USB 3.0 now will be an expensive investment. But on the bright side, you're getting a USB 3.0 pcie x1 card. Not sure if other manufacturers are giving one with their USB 3.0 storage drive, but if they don't- huge 1up for buyers who want a USB 3.0 device without changing their motherboard with USB 3.0 support or an extra PCIe card which would most likely be a premium.

My brother had a Western Digital MyBook 2.0 (which he seemed to have misplaced) 1TB that he bought couple of years ago and that came with a Western Digital green series drive. Despite the physical appearence and most probably the dimensions being the same, thanks to Western Digital for ditching the Glossy casing. Also, they have removed the blue LED light and replaced with a pin-hole type white coloured LED. 

Folks at Western Digital probably thought that its best that this device is much better being with a black series drive for faster transfer speeds. Possibility also exists that motherboard chipsets with native USB 3.0 support could give better transfer speeds- so they're most likely going to keep the MyBook series with the Black series drive.

Using this drive on a USB 2.0 is seriously not something one will consider as the transfer speed is dramatically chopped down compared to the USB 3.0 mode. 

I've been told that the price for this is Rs. 11,190

Do Note: 1. This is MRP of the price. 2. The MRP is with the PCIE card. If you want to buy without PCIE card, its costs Rs. 9,990 MRP.

USB 3.0 device+ Black Series drive+ PCIE card that powers up 2 USB 3.0 ports will command a premium but for a 1TB external storage without a backup software is something I wouldn't really want to see. For an external drive this  large and for the premium you're going to pay, backup software is something one will expect. Most likely when Western Digital puts up a newer versions of MyBook 3.0, we should see backup software bundled with it.  Power button is always useful. Keep in mind your will need to press and hold the power button to turn it off. Price drop is inevitable, but I am sure this drive will not drop from the dealer's shelf for a pretty long time.


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## Symbianlover (Mar 13, 2011)

good review.
But I think this device is overpriced


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