24TB Elements External Desktop Hard Drive, USB 3.1 Gen 1, Fast transfer rates, Easy add on storage for all your pictures, videos, music and documents, Black

It was less than 2 years ago that I purchased an 8Tb Seagate Backup hub Plus external drive - what I thought then was a "big" drive, but found I had filled that up all too soon. I use this drive to backup my NAS, which stores all my media, so as this slowly grew in size, I needed to get myself a higher capacity drive. Enter the Western Digital 14Tb Elements drive, which at £249 at the time of writing, represents pretty decent value considering I paid £179 for the aforementioned 8Tb Seagate model a couple of years back. Strangely, if I want to buy the equivalent drive as a bare unit i.e not housed in an external enclosure with all the additional electronics that entails, it would actually cost me over £300! Why a less expensive to produce version should cost more than one in an enclosure is beyond me. The WD unit is rather like a heavy book, in that one edge is curved, rather reminding me of the spine of a hard back. On this surface you will find the single power/activity LED, which is quite small. The drive has small rubber feet such that it stands in a vertical orientation - like a book in a book case. This is perhaps the best orientation for air flow given the vented top and rear edges. I personally don't really like drives standing up like this, it's too vulnerable to being knocked if its stood on a busy desk. Lying flat is OK, but I think my unit ran a little hotter like that. I don't know why WD do not provide an optional to fit stand with wider feet to provide better stability. Such a simple plastic stand would cost next to nothing to produce and would give customers the option to have a more secure base. That minor gripe aside, the drive itself is impressive in its performance. Unlike the Seagate which was an SMR type drive and thus termed an "archive" drive that suffered from slow write performance at just 38.7 Mb/sec sequential writes according to my Crystal Disk Mark test, the WD Elements 14Tb drive tested at an impressive 214Mb/sec read and write sequential transfer rate. For reference, the Seagate tested at around 118Mb/sec sequential read as I recall. As with these large capacity drives, the head seek action is quite heavy, far heavier than my internal 2Tb drives and will feel like the drive is suffering from a fit of the shakes when initializing after a power on. Not an issue, but worthy of note to those who may think they have received a faulty unit. The previously mentioned 8Tb Seagate had a heavy seek action too, but not as heavy as this monster from WD, I can only imagine it may have to do with the high platter count such high capacity hard drives have. These external drives actually appear to run warmer than internal drives, so it's advisable to situate the drive somewhere where it is not penned in by other items. The drive performed flawlessly when I backed up my entire NAS to it over my horribly slow USB 2 connection on the NAS (only one I have) and took some 81.5 hours to complete the transfer of some 7.3Tb of data. So, it is certainly able to operate continuously for that length of time without issue. Of course, had I backed up via a USB 3 connection, then the transfer would've been far faster. I suggest that purchasers of this drive, as with all Western Digital drives, register them on the WD website in order to ensure the full warranty cover. The drive comes complete with the required power and USB cables of generous lengths. The drive has no power switch as such, so once connected to power and an active USB port, will power up. This drive seems to be smart enough to power down/enter standby if the connected computer is shut down or goes to sleep. Connected to a Windows 10 PC, the drive reports 12.7Tb available. Of course, 12.7Tb is what I call "proper" Terra bytes despite hard drive manufacturers deeming a Tb to be an even 1,000Gb where as I, being old school, see a Tb as 1,024Gb hence the 12.7Tb shown in Windows. That's fine, not a WD thing as all manufacturers go with this system of measurement. The drive's default volume label is "Elements", but of course you can change this if you so wish. Nothing required to do if using with a Windows based computer, so you can immediately start copying files to it once connected as the drive is pre formatted using NTFS. Mac users will either need to reformat or use a utility to permit use of NTFS file systems. No backup software is supplied with this drive, unlike the My Book series from WD. however, this is a bonus as I generally prefer not to use the software provided by the manufacturer for this purpose anyway. A quick note to those less computer savvy; There are numerous free backup programs for Windows you can use if you need backup software. This Western Digital 14Tb Elements is an impressive drive at an impressive price.

Western Digital make great quality external hard drives and I have never had any issues with any of them...so far! touch wood I would always recommend getting a smaller size hard drive (4tb max size) if possible as they can fail and losing so much data (6tb+) can be difficult to take. I've also read that larger size hard drives are more likely to fail but cannot confirm this. These devices are incredibly easy to setup and use. Just plug in the USB cable and you're away. Note: I would highly recommend using a 3.0 usb slot when transferring large files. USB 3.0 does downgrade to USB 2.0 slots but the speeds are so much slower. If you dont have a usb 3.0 lot then use the 2.0 slot but if your desktop pc has multiple drives then make sure you use the faster 3.0 slot. As mentioned before, I can't fault these drives so far. My only concern is the varying write speeds. A few of the hard drives I have purchased seem to have much faster write speeds than others despite being the same model. I do not know why this is but others have mentioned possible cost cutting and use of slower drives/materials. It can be frustrating but isn't too bad on the whole, it just means waiting a few minutes more. Lastly, PLEASE DO NOT leave your hard drive on all the time! The heat generated will impact the drive and can lead to problems. These drives shouldn't be left unused for a long time but should NOT be used constantly as a seperate drive. They are for storage/backup of larger files to decrease file space on your pc/laptop. If you feel like the hard drive is getting hot or been on for a long time, then please safely eject the device and allow it to cool down. Overall I'm very happy with my purchase. Delivery was very fast and Amazon were much cheaper than any where else. I will definitely be buying another one in the future and hope Western Digital continue making high quality but affordable products like this.

The 18TB drive is absolutely fantastically priced for its size! The drive is a little noisey as it awakens from its slumber, it’s also a relatively slow drive and doesn’t try to hide that. However it’s space and value far exceed the perceived downsides of the speed and noise of the drive as you won’t be using this daily of you are using it in its USB form factor. However when you crack it open, that’s when this drive really comes alive. Inside the slow plastic USB shell lies a 7200rpm WDC WD180EDGZ which when connected directly to an array or PC is silent and really rather impressive performance. If used as a USB drive Its sheer size alone will allow you and the entire family to back up all of your important data such as photos, videos documents safely in one east to access place. If you are cracking this open and putting inside a sinology, raid array or simply a PC the 7200rpm WDC WD180EDGZ really does hold its own against smaller drives, theoretically faster drives. Overall this is a reliable, great value drive that is designed for backup and storage (not for high speed gaming or searching) and If you understand that going in you won’t be disappointed! These are also the same drives that the extremely handsome “Richard” form Digital Foundry purchased and recommended during the Black Friday sales (2021) and we all know that recommendations don’t come much higher or more prestigious than that. A fantastic purchase!

A competitively priced external hard drive that's ideal for backing up one's data and photos.

Excellent price for a reliable, quality product. Very happy customer here.

Habe die FP bei Amazon "gebraucht" gekauft. In der Regel sind das Kaufgegenstände, die Kunden zurückgegeben haben, weil sie nicht gefallen, aber keine Mangelprodukte. So sollte das jedenfalls sein. Der Zustand wurde als "sehr gut" bezeichnet. Nur die Verpackung habe Mängel. Verpackung ist mir wurst. Es ist nicht der günstigere Preis, sondern der Nachhaltigkeitsgedanke, dass solche Dinge nicht auf den Schrott sollen. Aber es ging nach dem Anschluss der FP an den PC gar nichts. Ich habe alles mehrfach geprüft. Zuletzt war es nur ein Spaßgedanke: Nimm doch mal das Netzgerät von der alten FP. Habe die technischen Daten verglichen, die identisch waren, das Netzgerät ausgetauscht und alles lief. ACHTUNG: wer so agiert, sollte immer prüfen, ob die Spannungsdaten identisch sind, sonst nimmt das Gerät evetuell Schaden. Es steht zu vermuten, dass der erste Kunde das Gerät deshalb wieder zurückgeschickt hat, weil er die FP wegen des defekten Netzgerätes nicht zum Laufen gebracht hat. Wie Amazon das Gerät als "sehr gut" wieder in den Handel zurückgeben kann? Das ist zumindest unseriös, denn wenn es als "sehr gut" bezeichnet wurde, lag diesem Urteil eine individuelle Prüfung zugrunde. Jetzt kann das Netzgerät nur noch zwischen der Prüfung und dem Verkauf an mich kaputt gegangen sein, aber mal ehrlich: Das ist zwar denkbar, aber wer will das ernsthaft annehmen, und das auch noch bei einem Netzgerät? Mit dem Netzgerät von meiner alten FP lief dann alles sehr gut. Die FP wurde extrem schnell erkannt und war quasi sofort gebrauchsfähig. Wenn ich einen neuen Stick einstecke, braucht es bis zu einer Minute, bis er erkannt wird, meist, weil die Treibersoftware auf ihm erst (automatisch) heruntergeladen werden muss. Das war hier nicht nötig. Vielleicht war die Software schon auf dem PC. In erster Linie benötige ich die FP für Datensicherung von meinem NAS-Server mit 4 TB. Meine LaCie "Porsche Design" 4 TB hatte den Geist nach 3 oder mehr Jahren aufgegeben. Mit der hatte ich kurz vorher Datensicherung betrieben. Daher ist mit nahezu demselben Datenbestand ein guter Vergleich möglich: Installation: WD wird an W7, 64, sofort erkannt. La Cie muss konfiguriert werden nach Betriebssystemanbieter. Das ist etwas komplizierter, war aber mit Anleitung nicht sehr schwer. Und hat Vorteile gebracht, denke ich, denn: Habe heute rund 180.000 Dateien aller Couleur mit ungefähr 800 GB Lan-gestützt aus dem NAS in der Zeit von rund 4,5 Stunden übertragen. Die La Cie hat dasselbe Datenvolumen in rund 2,5 - 3 Stunden aufgenommen. Ich schreibe die deutlich höhere Schnelligkeit der LaCie - ausdrücklich als Laie rein vermutend - der Konfiguration von LaCie eigens auf das Betriebssystem zu. Aber was soll's, denn die Sicherung läuft ohnehin nebenher. Und wenn mal ein größeres Video abgegriffen wird, ist es es ohne Belang, ob es 5 Sekunden länger dauert. Die FP wurde heute nur mäßig warm, als sie gearbeitet hat. Das Gehäuse besteht aus glänzendem schwarzen Kunststoff, auf dem man leider Staub gut sieht, doch Fingerabdrücke nimmt es nicht überdeutlich an. Es lädt sich auch nicht statisch auf, so dass es nicht schnell verstaubt aussieht. Es ist deutlich mächtiger als die LaCie und wahrscheinlich andere FPn, wenn man sich die Bilder so ansieht. Das Gerät ist wie gesagt schwarzglänzend, deshalb aber nicht elegant. Wer eine FP als Designschmuckstück auf dem Schreibtisch begreift, sollte sich dieses Gerät nicht nehmen. Das Gehäuse hat sehr gute Belüftungseigenschaften. Die FP läuft leise. Und sie hat - für mich wesentlich - einen An-/Ausschalter, den man auf den Bildern von Amazon kaum sieht. Auch die Hinweise auf ihn sind, so weit ich das erinnere, spärlich. Die stecknadelkopfgroße Leuchtdiode vorne leuchtet im Betriebszustand weiß, und das sehr, sehr dezent. Sie nervt in keiner Weise auf dem Schreibtisch, auch wenn sie im Datenstream stets blinkt und sich damit arbeitend zeigt - sehr gut! Insgesamt vermittelt die FP den Eindruck eines guten Arbeitspferdes. Wenn sie jetzt noch lange hält, dann will ich sehr zufrieden sein.

At this price how can you not get it. Wish I had had bought a couple of them because you do not see them at this price. HDD is fast (same as other USB 3.0 external HDD's). If you see it for the AU$274 price again, jump on it. Usually goes for over AU$400 elsewhere. Again, wish I'd bought a couple of them.

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After months of needing an external hard drive, I finally decided to purchase this one, and I'm glad I did. Here are my thoughts after using it for a few months: Reliability: The most important aspect of an external hard drive for me is reliability, and this product delivers. I use this HDD to store backups of my photos, videos, and important files, including precious family memories. Knowing that these irreplaceable files are safe and secure gives me peace of mind. The drive has proven to be dependable, and I trust it to stand the test of time. Performance: The read and write speeds are mediocre, but this is not a deal-breaker for me. Unlike a solid-state drive (SSD), where speed is crucial, an HDD is more about capacity and reliability. The transfer speeds are adequate for my needs, and I haven't encountered any issues with data transfer. Noise Level: The HDD does make some noise during operation, but this is expected with any mechanical hard drive. The sound is not intrusive and is a small trade-off for the large storage capacity and reliability. It's a reminder that the drive is working hard to keep my data safe. Overall Impression: This external hard drive has met my expectations in terms of reliability and storage capacity. While the speeds are not exceptional, they are sufficient for backup purposes. The slight noise is a minor inconvenience compared to the peace of mind that comes with knowing my important files are secure. I would recommend this HDD to anyone looking for a reliable and spacious storage solution.