Western Digital WDG2NC10000N My Book World Edition II 1 TB Ethernet External Hard Drive

This drive is simply unreliable, a bad thing for a backup drive, and would rate zero stars if such a rating was available. Within the past year, I have had to replace the drive three times (I've just requested my fourth.) The first two did not work at all and had to be returned immediately. The third was reliable for about eleven months, then simply stopped working. Technical support was useless, their ideas limited to making sure the unit was plugged into the wall and trying a replacement power cord. What's even more annoying, Western Digital's replacement policy requires that you pay for the replacement drive before you return the defective one. Finally, the defective drive is replaced by a "refurbished" one, the warranty on which only extends to the same date as that of your original drive. One interesting sidebar is that four of the five support people I've spoken with have made it fairly obvious that they know this product is a piece of junk, unworthy of anything beyond the most rudimentary troubleshooting. In summary, once the warranty expires on this unit, presuming I get a replacement that lasts that long, I will never buy another product from Western Digital.

Purchased one of these for use as a backup device. It has NO way of using USB to connect to it. The USB port is only for expanding the space by adding another drive. The network link requires you to have an internet connection so you can register and create an account. Without the account, you cannot run the software that will allow you to actually connect to the box. Our firewall/internet security package would not allow an automated connection to the web site. I also do not want to have to make a web conncetion when all I want to do is backup a file to a local box. I understand this may be more oriented to the home users who wants to connect to this thing from afar, but it also should come with software, running locally, that allows me to manage this thing without signing up for some account someplace. I understand you need to pay $50 for a year long account. So, this thing is really meant to generate a revenue stream, not to backup your data. I took it back to BB, where it was $320. Amazon has a better price, but if you look at the comments, it turns out not to be a good deal. The build in drm is also a non-starter. None of this is clear from the outside of the box, excecpt the USB problem.

Suggest you pass this by. It looks like a good product, but there are some flaws. I'm not saying that WD drives are bad, but this product is. If you are thinking about a network attached drive which can be used to back up all of the PCs on your home network, and your laptop while you are away, this is not the answer.

It sets up easy with the first PC, but you can't get connected to the rest.

Also, WD sells this network application which costs $80 per year per computer. The basic claim is that you can access this drive via the internet, but they fail to tell you that you need to purchase this application (MIONET). There appears to be a link that will let you access the drive without the application, but the link is broken, and the folks at WD can't tell you how to fix it.

Would like to compliment the WD support staff. Wait times are short, and the personnel are knowledgeable. However, someone invented a re-set procedure which would make a Chiropractor very happy.

To effect a re-set, you will need a paper clip. You must disconnect the CAT5 cord from both the router and the Disk Drive. Then disconnect the power cord at the outlet, not the back of the enclosure. The insert the paperclip in the re-set hole. Hold this in place for 90 seconds. After 90 seconds, while holding the clip in place, plug in the power cord at the outlet. Continue holding the paper clip in place for another 90 seconds. Release and wait for two circles to become fully illuminated, then re-connect the CAT 5 cable first to the Drive, and then to the router.

I'd like to find the author of that procedure.

This item will not hook direct to your USB, it has to go through your router. This means its real slow, I was able to copy 2.5 gigabyts and then the drive said I didnt have permission to use it. Tech support (two calls to them - the upper and lower levels) told me the drive was faulty and to go get a new one). I really wanted this to work, it sounded great even if it was slow.

Well the store had them on the bottom shelf, they were 100 dollars more than anything else. So far I havent had luck with anything 1tb in size. The my book home failed the first day, and a seagate free agent. I don't think I am doing anything too insane here.... back up mp3's and a simple back up. I cant hardly say it was user error, because lets face it, plug and play hard drives really aint that complicated.

Happy computing!

J

We purchased a Book World Edition II for our office to use as external storage to be shared across multiple computers (Macs and PCs). It has been a nightmare.

There is no OS X support. None. Although there are some hacks out there for accessing the drive using SMB for OS X, it is not a simple procedure and should not be considered a solution but more of a workaround.

Also, although the Book World Edition II has a gigabit ethernet port, the backplane (the board that connects the hard drives to the ethernet port) is NOT gigabit. So don;t expect gigabit speeds from this drive.

All in all, it advertises itself poorly and is difficult to set up and maintain. There are other options out there, and I suggest you research them.