WD - Easystore 4TB External USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive with 32GB Easystore USB Flash Drive - Black

Got 4TB WD HD at great discount price with Easystore 32 GB usb stick. Why does a plug-USB backup HD need mroe instructions? * Did that title catch your eye * ;-) Well, it comes without specs on paper or online in minimal cardboard box, and there's little for troubleshooting help. Since I'd like to have mine plugged in 24/7 to my simple home file server, I'd like to actually know operating temperture and mean-time-between-failure (MTBF) rates, and USB power requirements. Does it work with Windows (of course), Mac (yes, but has to be reformated to HFS), Linux (yes, probably want to reformat). The bonus Easystore 32GB usb stick seems to be a rebranded Sandisk Cruzer drive, and was a nice extra pushing me to purchase. I wish it had instructions, but it gave me a few issues to realize it came formarted in FAT32. It had to be re-formated (to NTFS), before could copy files over 4GB in size. Minor headache that windows doesn't warn you about when copying large files to a drive formated in a manner that can't handle it (cryptic crash and error after wastes a lot of time). I now realize the FAT32 format is typically better for USB sticks, as if abruptly removed, your fles are less likely to be corrupted, versus the journaled NTFS format. However, sometimes, the user wants to move big 4gb files, and windows won't tell you why it's not working, until it crashes long minutes into a big file copy. Again no instructions. I'm not even sure if the supplied WD file encrytion software works with NTFS. The online manual that came on the USB stick does not mention compatible drive formats, in its 50-some page PDF file. Overall, after figuring out why a Windows 4GB file limit was hit, then the drive and memory stick has been performing admirably for the first month of use. I'd recommend it, but a little first-time instruction would help, for setup to Windows, Mac, or Linux drive format.

I put this drive into use immediately upon receipt. The included in the package, which is quite small, is the drive itself, the connecting cable, and a rudimentary, fold-out sheet of instructions in several languages. The instructions are unnecessary, as setup is extremely simple. Connect one end of the cable to the drive and the other end of a USB port. There's only one way to connect the cable, as you will discover. Wait a few minutes for plug and play to recognize the device and pretty soon it shows up on Windows Explorer (or, as I use it, Q-Dir, with the next consecutive drive letter assigned. Presto, about 4tb of extra space. I use a Targus AWE55US Chill Mat Cooling Stand under my laptop, and this drive fits in the void between the top and bottom of the stand and butts up against the fan. The cable is easily routed to an adjacent USB port. It's small enough to be easily portable in a briefcase, purse, laptop bag. or the pocket of your cargo pants.

Thought this would be a great drive to add to my home media server and the price to storage ratio looked extremely good ($80 for 4tb). Got it at the local BestBuy, came home and plugged it in. Go to open the "Read Me" file just out of curiosity on the drive before I format it and put it in my server, and boom; the drive bricks.. I guess it's a good thing I opened that Read Me file before I formatted and put media on the file. Would have been extremely disappointed if the drive failed at a later date with my media already on it. I have never in my life come across a drive that has died this fast. I'd say stay away though some people have left good reviews on it so I guess I'll say buy at your own risk? I'm gonna go ahead and return this and wait for CyberMonday to get a decent deal on a WD Red.

Great Product, I've purchased this before, works great for all my backup needs (I also have a 2TB for my PS4) but this one I couldn't pass up since I am scanning ALL my photos, and the price was 79.99 for 4TB and a stick thrown in for good measure!!!! Can't beat it. When these are on sale around 99ish GET ONE! You need to back up your important files. You'll be glad you did. If you're a gamer, 4TB will let you install EVERY game on the planet LOL (just about) I have a 2TB and have ALL COD's from Ghost on up, all Destiny's, Fortnite and both Star Wars, and probably 27 games total and am only using 40% of my resources.

I purchased this from my local Best Buy to store the programs for my computerized Christmas light show. I picked it up from the store, brought it home, downloaded my songs, double checked that everything was there, called it good, and put it on a shelf. Today (Thanksgiving) I went to turn everything on and NOPE, nothing! We tried it in four different computers but not a single one recognizes it now. The device buzzes but does no longer functions. I've no clue as to this company's standards but I will avoid this company's products at all costs! I've had the product for 42 days now and I did not purchase the extended warranty (why would I? It's only purpose is to hold information). This was a waste of $90 and 100's of man hours of information lost. Avoid this product and buy something different!!!

The WD Easystore hard drives are not the cheapest options. They are the best built -- rugged, durable and completely reliable. The USB 3.0 interface makes them very fast and they run well on the power provided by the USB 3.0 ports. They are best used for portable backup and provide plenty of space for any kind of data. Coupled with the 32 GB flash drive makes this a wonderful combination. The Black Friday Best Buy deal was too good to pass up. Even when purchasing at regular price, the extra premium for a well built hard drive is worth it. This user owns many of these and none have given any problems even when tossed around (not abusively) in a laptop bag.

I live in rural Nevada. So, when I go to the "big city", I always check out Best Buy, to see what's new, what's on sale, and get caught up on the latest trends. My old backup drives were starting to show signs of wear and tear... also, one recently failed. So I knew I needed to upgrade. This unit just so happened to be on sale... and it came with a handy 32GB USB Flash Drive. What a find. Both are USB 3.0, and seriously faster than my old drives. There's an old saying in real estate, Location, Location, Location! Well, in the digital world, in my humble opinion, it is Backup, Backup, Backup! And, with this unit, you can do just that, and a whole lot more.

Bought this HD for the sole purpose to connect the 4TB drive to my PS4 to expand its storage. I hooked up the drive to the PS4 USB port, followed the directions given by Sony and format the drive by going to the PS4 settings and voila, it worked great without any issues. I expanded my PS4 an additional 4TB on top of the internal 2TB I already had in it. Highly recommend this drive. FYI, this HDD is not a SSD drive. The additional 32GB stick that came with it is just extra, so that was a bonus. Go this on Black Friday, so I got it for a great price.