Western Digital Elements Desktop

I have had 2 WD external hard drives but never again. After a certain amount of time the company just stops supporting each drive so you have to buy a new one. I'm afraid I wouldn't use WD if it was free.

On Friday 13th October 2023 I purchased this from JW Computers so I could put heaps of Documents, Photos and Videos on it using my iMac and my iMac Business. On Thursday 6th March 2025 the hard drive failed so I had to get it replaced by Western Digital so I would definitely avoid buying this hard drive. Show details

Second hard drive failed; goodbye WD – I had two WD Elements external drives fail within a few months of each other, and am about to pay about NZ$1500 to recover years of backups. I went online to see others' experiences with those models, and discovered plenty of people had them fail after weeks or months. I don't know if I'm lucky that they lasted years, or incredibly unlucky I… Read more

didn't find out sooner. Both my TimeMachine backup for 5+ years and my manual backup for those same years of photos & work files both died. Western Digital's phone support offered nothing in the way of advice or support when I said they were out of warranty, & seems to ignore its own web forums on the topic. They've manufactured duds, and are doing nothing to try to keep customers who've been burned from leaving.

Do Not Buy – I bought the 12TB WD Elements external hard drive. I have put all of my company data on it with the intention of backing it up to several smaller hard drives. That will no longer be possible as it just stopped working. I only had it for a couple of weeks before it failed. Be warned, do not buy this brand. I wish I had have read the reviews prior to purchasing. The company is no help at all. Show details

Excellent speeds – Purchased this hard drive early this year from officeworks. Has good hard drive storage capacity for office and home files. Only problem is the connectivity because it needs a power source from wall adapter unlike other hard drives which connect via USB source only. Overall the file transfer speeds were fast and convenient and build quality is high quality Show details

I will Never, ever, NEVER EVER buy another WD Product – After purchasing WD Back up drive, with 2 Hard Drives Raided I loaded up my last, lifetimes worth of photos, wedding vids, every other thing. Drive fails, I cannot replace it because it has to be WD Specific Model match, can't use another machine because its locked up to WD. Everything ties you into a product that will not be supported EVER...… Read more

and then you lose you stuff without any support. Shame on you WD for your lack of everything a customer would want.

Western Digital 10TB Elements Desktop Hard Drive - USB 3.0 - The Good and Bad – WD 10TB Elements Desktop Hard Drive - USB 3.0 The Good: Plug and Play set up, no program to install to run. Great Unit to store information USB 3.0 typical of most new External Hard Drives. The Bad: Advertised as 10TB, actually, you get 9.09TB. You normally lose some space, but 1TB seemed a lot. Drive speed is 5200rpm, The speed is… Read more

rarely mentioned as many similar units run at 7200rpm

Video's: Make sure you run a video player that shuts down at end of the movie, otherwise the Hard Drive will wear out quickly.

Price: I looked at 8TB to 12TB units, The WD 10TB was the best-priced unit for its size and use.

I paid $356.00 + Postage

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this is the 'Ford' of Hard drives, sturdy, hefty and reliable – this is the 'Ford' of Hard drives, sturdy, hefty and reliable Does the job! Transfers files in good time. It is reliable, does not flip out or freeze. Although a little bigger than other brands, it is good value for money. I would buy this brand again. Would be good if WD offered different colours so as not to get lost in storage draws – you know, be a little creative, why just black?  Show details

very large and bulky – While the 4TB storage is adequate, this is a very large unit and heavy. It is simple to set up - needs its own power source and a USB to the computer. WD is a decent brand and this was the cheapest of the portable hard drives compared to the other brands.  Show details