New
#1
Western Digital Drives: Elite vs Essential vs Element
Dear guys,
new thread.
I just returned from Best Buy, looking for a simple 2 TB drive.
I gave up.
Looked at Western Digital, SeaGate, Iomega and a few others.
Boiled it down to one manufacturer, to keep comparisons possible.
So i looked at Western Digital Drives , 2 TB. This is what they had stocked:
WD 2 TB "Elite" : $ 199
WD 2 TB "Essential" : $ 179
WD 2 TB "Element": $ 169
I stood there for 20 minutes, with two other customers, and a clerk (who actually appeared to have a clue) and based on the micro-small-font on the box, accompanied by the micro-small font on the Best Buy shelf label, it was not obvious what the differences were / are.
I discovered a 4th flavor of hard drives , WD 1 TB "Passport" and was eventually able to figure out that "Passport" means that the USB cable between the laptop and the external drive does dual duty as the data link *and* the power , where as the "Element", the "Elite" and the "Essential" all have separate power lines that you plug into your wall. OK, that's good, i get it.
But as for figuring out the differences between the "Element", the "Elite" and the "Essential", all WD 2 TB external drives, we all (all 3 customers) gave up and decided to go home and buy it on Amazon (which i plan to do next, after i conclude this rant !!! - ps why is the g** d*** font so small and why can't the manufacturers make the KEY PRODUCT PARAMETERS OBVIOUS on the front of the box so that cusomters who need their product will figure out what it is EASILY and then give them their money.......??? who runs these companies???). And i'm young, healthy and got 20/20 vision !! (ok, rant REALLY over).
I am grateful for discovering this great group, and thanks in advance for your intelligent, unemotional and enlightened replies !
jm : )