Price : Too low to display
This powerful, feature-rich Media Center from Western Digital combines a high-capacity USB 2.0/FireWire external hard drive, 8-in-1 memory card reader, and USB 2.0 hub for versatility and space-saving convenience. Dual-option Backup buttons let you choose automatic or on-the-spot backup. The front-mounted power button is equipped with Safe Shutdown, a WD-exclusive feature that ensures all data as been transferred before shutting down the drive. The elegant case can be positioned vertically or horizontally. 8.9ms average seek time Includes Dantz Retrospect Express backup software Built-in USB 2.0 hub for additional drive connections Two IEEE1394 FireWire ports Front-mounted power button with Safe Shutdown for additional data protection Fluid Dynamic Bearing (FDB) motor for near-silent operation with WD's whisper-quiet hard drives Cool running ensured by an elegant, heat-dissipating case Vertical or horizontal placement Kensington security lock Requires available USB 1.1/2.0 or Firewire port on computer running Windows 98SE/Me/2000/XP or Mac OS v9.2.2 or later or Mac OS X v.10.1.3 or later Dimensions - 8.61 (L) x 6.08 (W) x 1.74 (H)
This review is from : Western Digital 250 GB USB 2.0 and FireWire External Hard Drive (WDXF2500JBRNN)
Good roomy backup drives . I bought this drive and it has not failed on me so far (knock on wood). It is spacious, with 250 gigabytes of space.
I had a Maxtor drive which broken down one day.
I guess that a small percentage of all drives - regardless of manufacturer - have a high chance of failing.
So far mine has not been one of them.
I might just buy one more, so I have two copies of my data.
(The firewire adapter cable did not work on my PC-compatible (i.e. non-Mac / differently shaped) firewire port. I suppose the included firewire cable is only meant for Macs. The USB cable worked fine for me.)
Good roomy backup drives . I bought this drive and it has not failed on me so far (knock on wood). It is spacious, with 250 gigabytes of space.
I had a Maxtor drive which broken down one day.
I guess that a small percentage of all drives - regardless of manufacturer - have a high chance of failing.
So far mine has not been one of them.
I might just buy one more, so I have two copies of my data.
(The firewire adapter cable did not work on my PC-compatible (i.e. non-Mac / differently shaped) firewire port. I suppose the included firewire cable is only meant for Macs. The USB cable worked fine for me.)
Western Digital 250 GB USB 2.0 and FireWire External Hard Drive (WDXF2500JBRNN) Reviews
Happy With Drive Beware Fake Reviews . I have been very happy with this drive in the past month i've been using it. No problems. I should caution you that epharm and upset customer (2 of the 3 one star reviewers of this item) have posted around 8 negative reviews to WD hard drives that are copy and pasted identical. They obviously didn't buy 8 different drives and have the same experience, so it's likely either Maxtor or a disgruntled customer who had one bad experience with one drive and so is negatively reviewing them all.
Happy With Drive Beware Fake Reviews . I have been very happy with this drive in the past month i've been using it. No problems. I should caution you that epharm and upset customer (2 of the 3 one star reviewers of this item) have posted around 8 negative reviews to WD hard drives that are copy and pasted identical. They obviously didn't buy 8 different drives and have the same experience, so it's likely either Maxtor or a disgruntled customer who had one bad experience with one drive and so is negatively reviewing them all.
Western Digital 250 GB USB 2.0 and FireWire External Hard Drive (WDXF2500JBRNN) Opinions
Caveat Emptor . Before purchasing, I had read one Amazon reviewer's piece warning that their WD drive had a defective power cord connector that easily came unplugged from the back of the drive. Ignoring this warning, I went ahead and purchased one anyway. I had to learn the hard way that WD indeed has poor QC when it comes to something as simple as ensuring the power cord stays plugged in. This is no small matter, since a power disruption can easily lead to data loss or corruption. What made matters worse -- and motivated this review -- was the fact that WD support failed to respond to my email about the matter.
Poor support on top of poor QC. Buyer beware.
Caveat Emptor . Before purchasing, I had read one Amazon reviewer's piece warning that their WD drive had a defective power cord connector that easily came unplugged from the back of the drive. Ignoring this warning, I went ahead and purchased one anyway. I had to learn the hard way that WD indeed has poor QC when it comes to something as simple as ensuring the power cord stays plugged in. This is no small matter, since a power disruption can easily lead to data loss or corruption. What made matters worse -- and motivated this review -- was the fact that WD support failed to respond to my email about the matter.
Poor support on top of poor QC. Buyer beware.
Take your drive for a...drive? . I must admit, our office has only had 2 of these drives for roughly 1.5-2 months, and they have worked well in a rotating backup system. I am sold on this drive's durability due to the following experience:
Upon taking one of the drives home during the evening after work, I placed it on the roof of my CR-V and forgot it there. I drove over railroad tracks, up a 30 degree hill, and around 15 miles on the interstate (including sharply curved on and off ramps). The drive stayed on the roof the whole time, through the night (and the morning dew) and was still there when I arrived at work in the morning and realized what I had done. If it weren't for the rubber feet I had placed on the base of the drive, it would have been roadkill.
I allowed the drive to dry over the course of the day and the next night before connecting it to the server, and lo and behold, it booted up!
Now taking into account we've only had the drive for a limited time period, take this review with a grain of salt (and notice only 4/5 stars), but know that this commando is quite rugged.
Upon taking one of the drives home during the evening after work, I placed it on the roof of my CR-V and forgot it there. I drove over railroad tracks, up a 30 degree hill, and around 15 miles on the interstate (including sharply curved on and off ramps). The drive stayed on the roof the whole time, through the night (and the morning dew) and was still there when I arrived at work in the morning and realized what I had done. If it weren't for the rubber feet I had placed on the base of the drive, it would have been roadkill.
I allowed the drive to dry over the course of the day and the next night before connecting it to the server, and lo and behold, it booted up!
Now taking into account we've only had the drive for a limited time period, take this review with a grain of salt (and notice only 4/5 stars), but know that this commando is quite rugged.
No problems so far... . I ordered this drive refurbished from Western Digital and got a good deal on it. I've had it for about 2 months and haven't had any issues.
Since I purchased this "recertified" it didn't come with any software. That didn't matter to me at first, since I didn't plan to use this for backup, but rather as a storage device. The problem was that there is no driver available for this on Western Digital's web site. XP would recognize the drive and I could use it, but the Device Wizard would come up every time I restarted and there was a (!) in the Device Manager. I called Western Digital and they refused to provide me with a driver at first. When I threatened to return the entire drive for a refund, they agreed to send me the software CD for free. You need to install the entire backup suite for the driver to install. Kind of silly that I had to install all that junk just to install the driver.
Besides the initial software problem, I like this drive. The drive is very quiet. I can't hear it over the noise of my PC. At first I didn't think I would use the USB hub, firewire port, or media card features this drive has, but have found I use them all. There is a USB port on the front, which I use since it's easier to reach than the port on the front of my PC. I use the firewire port for the same reason to attach my camcorder. I'm finally able to get rid of the smartmedia reader that I had, that only worked 50% of the time. I use the 5-in-1 reader on this drive for the card from my digital camera and the Compact Flash reader for my PDA flash.
I use this drive for media storage. Home videos, home recording music, MP3s etc. I have it connected via firewire and haven't had any issues with speed. I access the music over a wireless network from my media center device and notice little, if any, delay accessing the drive.
The other reviews on this site scare me a bit. If this drive does go out, I will be very, very upset and probably will not purchase another Western Digital product. If that happens, I will update this review for sure.
4 out of 5 stars due to the driver issues.
Since I purchased this "recertified" it didn't come with any software. That didn't matter to me at first, since I didn't plan to use this for backup, but rather as a storage device. The problem was that there is no driver available for this on Western Digital's web site. XP would recognize the drive and I could use it, but the Device Wizard would come up every time I restarted and there was a (!) in the Device Manager. I called Western Digital and they refused to provide me with a driver at first. When I threatened to return the entire drive for a refund, they agreed to send me the software CD for free. You need to install the entire backup suite for the driver to install. Kind of silly that I had to install all that junk just to install the driver.
Besides the initial software problem, I like this drive. The drive is very quiet. I can't hear it over the noise of my PC. At first I didn't think I would use the USB hub, firewire port, or media card features this drive has, but have found I use them all. There is a USB port on the front, which I use since it's easier to reach than the port on the front of my PC. I use the firewire port for the same reason to attach my camcorder. I'm finally able to get rid of the smartmedia reader that I had, that only worked 50% of the time. I use the 5-in-1 reader on this drive for the card from my digital camera and the Compact Flash reader for my PDA flash.
I use this drive for media storage. Home videos, home recording music, MP3s etc. I have it connected via firewire and haven't had any issues with speed. I access the music over a wireless network from my media center device and notice little, if any, delay accessing the drive.
The other reviews on this site scare me a bit. If this drive does go out, I will be very, very upset and probably will not purchase another Western Digital product. If that happens, I will update this review for sure.
4 out of 5 stars due to the driver issues.
Western Digitals the Best!!! . I have had my Western Digital external hard drive for over two years and have never had a problem with it! I would recommend it to anyone and have. I like Western Digital products because they are reliable and well built. In fact the reason I'm on Amazon's website is to shop for another Western Digital external hard drive, except this time I think I'm going to get a 500gb My Book.
Good amount of USB ports bad power connector . I was attracted to this drive mainly by the FW and USB hub capabilities. With all the external HDD's, printers, mice, scanners, USB drives, and whatever else I need to plug into my computer, there simply aren't enough ports on my PC, so this adds 4 more (2 FW, 2 USB). Drives w/ FW connectors are typically more expensive than regular USB drives, but most people won't be able to tell the difference as far as speed goes.
As for performance and reliability, I can't say that this drive is better or worse than any other external. They all seem the same to me, as I use mine only to store movies. I don't use the included backup software or other data management features. This drive is pre-formatted as FAT32 so you can save yourself the trouble of doing it if you plan to use it on a Mac.
One very bad design flaw is the power plug. A slight tug on the cord can make it come right out. I've done it several times by accident, walking into the cable. This is very dangerous to your data if it's doing a write operation, like a defrag (which was what i was doing).
To be fair, enough force will make any connector come out, but the plug on this device is especially flimsy. The pins and supporting end don't go into the drive deep enough to provide a snug and reliable connection. You can easily wiggle it around, and it just looks unsteady. You can see that it sags out the back, due to the weight of the cord.
If you keep this drive in a clutter-free environment, then it's prob not a problem. If you're a klutz, you probably want to buy one with a better plug, or even one that has a power plug integrated into the unit.
As for performance and reliability, I can't say that this drive is better or worse than any other external. They all seem the same to me, as I use mine only to store movies. I don't use the included backup software or other data management features. This drive is pre-formatted as FAT32 so you can save yourself the trouble of doing it if you plan to use it on a Mac.
One very bad design flaw is the power plug. A slight tug on the cord can make it come right out. I've done it several times by accident, walking into the cable. This is very dangerous to your data if it's doing a write operation, like a defrag (which was what i was doing).
To be fair, enough force will make any connector come out, but the plug on this device is especially flimsy. The pins and supporting end don't go into the drive deep enough to provide a snug and reliable connection. You can easily wiggle it around, and it just looks unsteady. You can see that it sags out the back, due to the weight of the cord.
If you keep this drive in a clutter-free environment, then it's prob not a problem. If you're a klutz, you probably want to buy one with a better plug, or even one that has a power plug integrated into the unit.
External Hard drive . Very reliable and exceptionally quiet.
Have it hooked up to my G5. Reformatted it for the Mac and works without a hitch.
Have it hooked up to my G5. Reformatted it for the Mac and works without a hitch.
Cons Review
Not very Mac friendly... . When the USB cord is connected to the WD external hard drive, my computer will not sleep properly. The screen goes black and the internal hard drive spins down but the fan continues and the lights never begin to pulse as when the computer is in sleep mode. It won't wake from this state and the only thing that I can do is hold the power button until the computer shuts off. This only happens when the USB cord is connected, it doesn't matter if the WD hard drive is on or off. Firewire doesn't cause this problem and I use it for data transfer but I need the USB for the memory card reader.
Also, The WD hard drive won't shut off unless I push and hold the power button. I eject the disk from my computer as intructed but the problem remains. When I push the power button on the WD drive the light flashes for a moment then remains on. I never transferred data to the drive so I don't think that it is transferring data when I try to shut it off.
It sometimes won't show up on my desktop after waking from sleep mode. I have to go into utilities and unmount then re-mount the drive in order for it to show up.
Besides all that it seems to work fine. The software is terrible so I just manually tranfer data to it.
I have emailed Western Digital about this but haven't gotten a response from them.
Machine Name: Power Mac G4
Number Of CPUs: 2
CPU Speed: 1.25 GHz
Memory: 1 GB
OS Version 10.4.9
Also, The WD hard drive won't shut off unless I push and hold the power button. I eject the disk from my computer as intructed but the problem remains. When I push the power button on the WD drive the light flashes for a moment then remains on. I never transferred data to the drive so I don't think that it is transferring data when I try to shut it off.
It sometimes won't show up on my desktop after waking from sleep mode. I have to go into utilities and unmount then re-mount the drive in order for it to show up.
Besides all that it seems to work fine. The software is terrible so I just manually tranfer data to it.
I have emailed Western Digital about this but haven't gotten a response from them.
Machine Name: Power Mac G4
Number Of CPUs: 2
CPU Speed: 1.25 GHz
Memory: 1 GB
OS Version 10.4.9
Horrible product - even worse customer service . I bought three of these external hard drives. Two of them stopped powering up. When I contacted the company they said and I quote
[...]
Nice. Product is faulty and they do NOTHING for the customer. I would stay as far away from this product and company as possible. I will not waste my money on them again!
[...]
Nice. Product is faulty and they do NOTHING for the customer. I would stay as far away from this product and company as possible. I will not waste my money on them again!
Feature Western Digital 250 GB USB 2.0 and FireWire External Hard Drive (WDXF2500JBRNN)
- 250 GB external hard drive
- 7200 RPM rotational speed and 8 MB cache for maximum storage performance.
- Built-in USB 2.0 hub with two ports for additional drive connections; two Firewire ports
- Dual-option Backup--automatic or on-demand
- Connects to PCs and Macs
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Product Details
EAN : 0718037106090UPC : 718037106090
MPN : WDXF2500JBRNN
Brand : Western Digital
Weight : 6 pounds
Height : 7 inches
Length : 13 inches
Width : 9 inches
Binding : Personal Computers
Hardware Platform : Mac
Manufacturer : Western Digital
Model : WDXF2500JBRNN
Publisher : Western Digital
SKU : DHWDXF2500JBR
Studio : Western Digital
Where To Buy
You can buy Western Digital 250 GB USB 2.0 and FireWire External Hard Drive (WDXF2500JBRNN) on Amazon . Click here to Read More
