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THE GLITCH REVIEWS

This is a review of the Western Digital My Book World Edition Network Hard Drive.
 

 

Western Digital My Book World Edition Network Hard Drive
 

Dimensions: 58 x 173 x 147 mm ( W x H x L )
 

Western
Digital
My Book

World Edition
Network Hard Drive

  Over the years Western Digital has proved itself a reliable and innovative hard drive manufacturer.

Their latest 'My Book World Edition' Network Hard Drive or NAS (Network Attached Storage) is yet another example of Western Digital's continuing ability to produce modern, high quality products.

First impressions are important, and the Western Digital drive does not disappoint, from it's all white (Apple'esk) livery to it's gentle curves, the device immediately fills you with confidence. As looks alone are never enough you will be glad to know that when you actually start to handle the device the feeling of quality is maintained.

The good news continues when you turn on the device, as the Western Digital neither lights up like a Christmas tree nor sounds like a hair dryer. In fact the drive is very quite in operation, and has but a thin strip of white activity LEDs on it's front (less is more)!

The back of the drive also remains uncluttered, with an on/off button, power input socket, Gigabit capable network (RJ45) connection and USB port. The inclusion of the USB port is a nice touch as it accepts any standard USB memory stick or other USB based storage device, allowing you to either expand the drive's already generous storage capacity or simply share (across your network) an additional USB based storage resource.

The drive does not have a built-in power supply, thus it comes supplied with a small, external power brick instead. This is expected for a small device, as the added bulk of a built-in PSU would have increased the overall size of the device significantly.

The supplied software is very good,  the main 'WD Discovery' application is able to locate the WD drive on your network in a matter of seconds, and once recognised allow you to perform a number of tasks from it's 'Things To Do' list, including drive configuration and mapping. The drives internal setup menus are also clear and well laid out, which helps greatly when you start to create new users and shared directories etc.

Another piece of useful software is the 'WD Anywhere Backup' application. Allowing you to quickly and easily create a backup of your files , in fact the software will even backup your entire hard drive should you so wish!

Unfortunately I did not get a chance to use the remote access feature of the device, so I am unable to comment on it's operation.

Now to performance; the drive's overall performance is good; On a Gigabit capable network connection I was able to transfer a group of 18 files, (all around 640MBs in size - 11.4GB in total), in around 25 minutes. Another test saw a single 5GB file transfer in 11 minutes.  Both these tests indicate a sustained transfer speed of around 7.5MB per second!

*The above tests show the product is able to achieve a good rate of data transfer, but it is important to remember these results were conducted using an ideal setup that supported full Gigabit transfers. If your computer and/or router/switch do not support the Gigabit standard then your file transfer speeds will be much slower. This is not the Western Digital drive's fault, as all Gigabit capable network storage devices that are connected to standard non-Gigabit equipment will suffer with slower transfer speeds.

 

 

Western Digital My Book World Edition Network Hard Drive

 

Western Digital My Book World Edition Network Hard Drive

Western Digital My Book World Edition Network Hard Drive

Ultimately it is very difficult to find fault with the device; the only minor gripe I can think of is that the supplied network cable is a little on the short side; which limits the distance you can sight the device from your network connection. Saying this, network cables are cheap, so  purchasing a longer cable should not be too much of a hardship, should you need one.

Prices start at around £140 (1TB version), which you may think it's a little on the expensive side, especially when you compare it with Western Digital's other types of storage devices, but it's important to remember that network based storage devices are still relatively expensive, thus the Western Digital Network Drive does actually represent pretty good value for money.

Advantages:

Good sustained transfer rates*
Small physical dimensions
Large storage capacity (1TB & 2TB Options)
Quiet in operation
Great ergonomics & build-quality
Good value for money
 

Disadvantages:

Short network cable supplied in box
Gigabit capable setup needed to attain fastest transfer speeds.

Conclusion: The Western Digital 'My Book World Edition' drive was one of the easiest network hard drives to get up and running that I have come across. It's software suite is excellent and transfer rates as good as a network drive gets. All in all this is a great little device!

The Glitch Five Star Award
Glitch StarGlitch StarGlitch StarGlitch StarGlitch Star

 

Overall Score

85%


For more information and latest pricing visit my Hard Drives page.
 

 

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