Western Digital Elements 2TB – Excellent Value in Desktop Hard Drives
The Western Digital Elements 2TB (model # WDBAAU0020HBK-NESN) is a plug-and-play external hard drive designed for use with your desktop PC. Its capacity and affordability make it one of the best-selling drives on the market today.
Western Digital Elements 2TB
The Elements is the perfect solution for anyone wanting simple, reliable storage. It also has several “green” features, including energy-saving power management and recyclable packaging (the box itself is made from recycled materials).
The WD Elements has made its way onto several of our “best of” lists:
- Top 5 External Hard Drives – Desktop
- Best 2 TB External Hard Drives
- Top 5 Drives Priced $100 – $200
To learn more about how these lists were compiled, visit the page explaining our research methodology.
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Product prices and availability are accurate as of 2013-05-19 11:07:00 GMT but are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on the merchant site at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Deal Alert
The Price at this moment is 50% lower and you will save $90.00 if you buy todayTable of Contents
You can read the review top-to-bottom or jump to the section most relevant to you.
- Overview
- Capacity
- Price
- Interface
- Specs
- Physical Characteristics
- Features
- Operational Characteristics
- Warranty
- What’s in the Box
- Video – Unboxing the Drive
- Customer Reviews
- Pros
- Cons
- Summary
Overview
Here is a quick overview of the WD Elements 2TB drive:
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Capacity
The WD Elements has 2 Terabytes (TB) of capacity, which means you can store a lot of data on this drive. The 2 TB model is the most popular, followed closely by the 1 TB drive. But the Elements drive is available in several other capacities including:
- 500 GB
- 1 TB
- 1.5 TB
- 2.5 TB
- 3 TB
Price
The Western Digital Elements is priced between $129.99 and $159.99, which puts it in the low to mid range on the pricing scale for desktop drives. Desktop drives in our research sample averaged just over $181, with the least expensive drive costing $79.99 and the most expensive drive costing $439.99.
Interface
This drive runs over USB 2.0. Users report in customer reviews that the speed is sufficient for everyday operations, including data transfer of video. While there are faster drives, this one seems to do the job well enough to satisfy the vast majority of needs.
Specs
Compatibility
- PCs, Macs, and other multimedia devices
- Comes pre-formatted for Windows
- Must reformat to use with Mac
Operating systems supported:
- Formatted NTFS for Windows XP
- Windows Vista
- Windows 7
- Mac OS X
- Tiger
- Leopard
- Snow Leopard™ (requires reformatting)
Performance
- Data Transfer Rate
- Up to 480 Mb/sec
- Seek Time
- Manufacturer does not specify
- Rotational Speed
- Manufacturer does not specify
Physical Characteristics
The outer casing is made of plastic, which is not much of an issue for a desktop drive that is designed to primarily sit in one place. Many users reported liking the sleek, modern design.
Form Factor
- 3.5″ form factor
Dimensions
- 7.01″D x 4.59″W x 1.42″H
Weight
- 2.24 lbs
Colors
- Black
Length of Cable and Power Cord
- Manufacturer does not specify. So we contacted Western Digital to ask about the length of their cables and power cords and their support desk replied with the following:
“The USB cables bundled with our units are normally 18 inches long, and 6-foot DC power cord for our desktop drives. Nonetheless, this may vary depending on the drive”.
Other Info
The drive sits horizontally (see picture above), which makes it more stable. It does not have a stand (which some people find annoying), but does come with rubberized feet to keep it from slipping around.
The drive is smaller than many of its desktop competitors, but if the footprint is still too large for your tastes, some people feel comfortable setting the drive on its side. You will have to decide for yourself.
There is a small LED activity light on the back panel that is lit when the drive is operational. Most people appreciated that the light was in the back and didn’t light up the room at night.
Features
Power Management
- Powered with separate AC power adapter (included)
- WD does not recommend using a third-party power adapter.
- If your adapter fails and the drive is still under warranty, contact WD Support.
- Otherwise, WD recommends that you purchase a replacement adapter from them that is specifically designed for the Elements drive.
- Powered with WD GreenPower Technology™
- Yields a 30% reduction in power usage
- Has a sleep mode to reduce power consumption when not in use
- Drive turns on and off with your computer
- There is no power button, which a few people complain about
What the Drive Doesn’t Have
The drive does not come with several of the features commonly found in other WD drives, which is one of the things that makes this drive so “simple” (something several customer reviews mention as a positive):
- WD SmartWare™ (for managing your data backups). This is actually a selling point for some people who either don’t like the software (they prefer to use the backup utilities that come with their operating system) or they use the drive with a multi-media device so that backup software is unnecessary. It includes automatic continuous backup
- Password protection and data encryption
- Visual capacity gauge (indicates how much room you have left on your drive)
- Custom e-label (allows you to put your own text in a digital display. Can be used, for example, to remind you what you’ve stored on the drive)
Should you feel so inclined, you can find more useful information at WD’s website:
Product Overview
http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/library/AAG/ENG/4178-705026.pdf
Features and Specifications
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=260
Operational Characteristics
Noise
- Fairly quiet, especially compared to some other drives on the market.
Heat
- No holes or slats for ventilation (there is no fan), but the drive runs surprisingly cool – even when lots of data is being transferred. Although it’s probably not built for 24/7 operation.
Warranty
- 1 year in US (depends on country in which purchased)
- Limited
- Warranty period starts on date shown on your receipt
- Only applicable to new products
What’s in the Box
- The 2 TB Elements drive
- USB cable
- AC adapter
- Quick Install Guide
Video – Un-boxing the Drive
A picture is worth a thousand words… Here is a YouTube clip showing an Elements 2TB external hard drive being un-boxed. You’ll see all the components that are included when the drive is shipped. These include the drive itself, the USB cable, the power cord, and some documentation. Note that the power cord will be appropriate for your country.
Customer Reviews
Here is a summary of the customer reviews for the WD Elements external hard drive:
- Only 4 of the 5 vendors surveyed had this drive available for purchase
- There were over 3000 reviews altogether (Amazon had the vast number of these)
- The average rating was 4.18 stars
As evidenced by the rating, the vast majority of customers were pleased with their purchase. They talked about the great price, the reliability of the drive, and its simplicity. Many reported being repeat customers because of positive experiences with Western Digital drives in the past.
Most of the negative reviews were complaints that the drive failed either out of the box or in a short period of time. While we don’t want to downplay these customer’s experiences, it is important to view them in context. Keep in mind that people who have had a bad experience are more likely to post a review than people who were satisfied with the product. On Amazon, there are over 3 times as many 5 star ratings as there are 1 star ratings. This suggests that the overwhelming majority of customers are happy with their purchase.
There are things you can do to minimize the risk of hard drive failure.
First, be sure to test the drive before you store any of your valuable data on it. Second, always be sure to keep a backup copy of your important files on a separate device. Third, know the warning signs of hard drive failure.
Click the link below to check out some of the reviews for yourself:
See Customer Reviews at Amazon
Pros 
- You get 2 TB of extra storage at an affordable price
- No backup software comes resident on the drive
- Runs cool and quiet
- Fast data transfer rate for everyday operations
Cons 
- Warranty period is only 1 year
Summary
Most customers are quite pleased with their purchase of this drive. If you’re looking for an external hard drive that offers reliable, high-capacity storage at an affordable price, you should seriously consider the Western Digital Elements 2TB drive.