This product lasted all of 45 minutes. It was plugged into a Mac, formatted, and then used to back up customer and project data. I then plugged it into a second device to archive more data only for the device to start clicking and whirring its inevitable demise. Try as I might, it wouldn't start again. I am now left with a $280 dollar brick that I cannot return to the seller for repairs or a replacement as it contains customer data that cannot be shared for legal reasons. And to be clear, there is nothing wrong with my devices, or the USB ports I am using. This is not the first time a WD product has failed on me. But I can say with confidence it is the very last time I buy a WD product.

As usual with WD drives, the hardware is solid. I just hate the archaic lock software on PC. You have no easy way to toggle different computers to auto unlock without password. It's been YEARS and still doesn't work right. You have to remove the password and can only autounlock 1 computer, usually. It should be a simple toggle after typing in the password, and then possible ask for the password again or some second measure per computer. The software needs to be updated. I NEVER buy a WD drive without hardware encryption, but the software behind it lacks, always. WD, HIRE some good people to refresh this and make more options and make it user friendly.

I have an embarrassingly large number of backup drives. Part of it is as a commercial photographer it’s a necessity – at last count I have something approaching a quarter of a million photos in my lifetime file. The other reason is I’ve learned the hard way to back up all of my work, then back it up again, and then make sure to make another backup to take off premises for safety. This is my third WD MyBook. There’s no real reason this product exists, there are cheaper ways to get a backup drive and use it with a computer, but these are convenient, dependable and reasonably priced. I bought this one to do a mega consolidation of everything I have on many different media, except for my photography. WHAT I LIKE The form factor is simple, just a plastic monolith case ... MoreI have an embarrassingly large number of backup drives. Part of it is as a commercial photographer it’s a necessity – at last count I have something approaching a quarter of a million photos in my lifetime file. The other reason is I’ve learned the hard way to back up all of my work, then back it up again, and then make sure to make another backup to take off premises for safety. This is my third WD MyBook. There’s no real reason this product exists, there are cheaper ways to get a backup drive and use it with a computer, but these are convenient, dependable and reasonably priced. I bought this one to do a mega consolidation of everything I have on many different media, except for my photography. WHAT I LIKE The form factor is simple, just a plastic monolith case that can be used either horizontal or vertical. I choose to use it vertical to take up a minimal amount of desk space. I like to keep it right there in front of me as a visual reminder to be sure to do a daily backup. IMPROVEMENTS WD seems to have this product line down pat, it’s old technology that has proven itself and there’s not a lot they can do to make it better. The most positive thing I can say about it is that they wisely don’t load it with a lot of useless bloatware to try to make it look more important to you. There are just two relatively small apps, one for PC and one for Mac for those who like to use backup software. Both files are easily deleted in seconds if you don’t want them. I choose not to use automated backup software, I simply copy entire files and folders from one drive to another so there’s no guessing where they are or what they’re named. OPINION I find it unfortunate that here we are deep into the twenty-first century and there are still reviews about how noisy or slow these drives are. Your’re not saying anything new by bringing that up, yes they are, if that bothers you don’t buy a hard drive with a spinning platter. There are those who will say, and count me in on that, mechanical hard drives continue to be used because they are the safest media we can use, the chances of recovering a corrupt or lost data file is highest with these than any other media. The method being used to use a moving recording head back and forth on a revolving disk is going to cause some noise and it’s also going to be a bit on the slow side. I find that the speed is only a factor when I first get a drive and I’m copying huge amounts of data to it, and yes that can take hours. After that most backups are cumulative and how long they take has never been an issue for me. And like I said, I keep my WD right in front of me on my desk and they’ve reduced the vibration and noise to the point that it is almost imperceptible. Because this product does exactly what I expect it to do and because of my positive experience with the MyBook product line I believe this earns a full five stars.