Western Digital My Book Premium Edition 250GB External Hard Drive

The good: The MyBook Premium edition is compact, employs an innovative design, has an external capacity gauge, comes with backup software, and is a speedy data reader.

The bad: The MyBook Premium edition is slow to write data, over both USB 2.0 and FireWire 400.

The bottom line: If write speed isn't a top priority, the Western Digital MyBook is a good deal at around $300 for a 500GB drive. It'll look good on your desk or bookshelf, too.

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Description: This Western Digital My Book Premium Edition External Hard Drive is a 250GB, external hard disk drive. Compared to other external hard drives on the market, it is relatively inexpensive at around $135. Can connect with both FireWire and USB 2.0 for increased portability. This is a 7200 rpm drive and comes with an 8MB cache.

Pros: Has a 250GB capacity, which is larger than some similarly priced hard drives. In fact, the typical cost of a product with this large a capacity is $245. Connects to your PC via high speed USB 2.0 or FireWire cables. This product can also connect to older USB ports, but the transfer rates will be fairly slow.

Cons: None noted, given available product data.

Suitability: Suited for those who don't want to take apart their computer to add another hard drive -- just plug it in.

Value: Given its relatively inexpensive price, this hard drive has good features for the money.