Western Digital My Book Live Review

Value for money: 6, "Highly Commended"

Fitting in with the brand's usual designs, the Western Digital My Book Live 1TB has a simple, book-like shape. Micro Mart experienced some problems when trying to set the drive up but once it was sorted, they found it to be very impressive. You can set up a Personal Cloud and there are excellent Android and iOS remote access apps - great for business travellers.

The Western Digital My Book Live may not seem different from other similar devices on first appearances, as it connects to your network, works with Time Machine, acts as an iTunes server and offers cloud storage. Macworld say that it's the ease of use which makes the device stand out, as it automatically shows up in Time Machine and the bundled software provides excellent advice.

CNet heartily recommends this fantastic NAS, describing it as speedy, stylish, and providing ample storage. It's also very user-friendly, and offers a wide array of useful media features, such as online photo storage, and compatibility with Twonky and iTunes. Its only drawback is that it's not a mirrored system, which limits its ability to protect against disk failure.

Expert Reviews say this NAS device enables simple, no-fuss network file sharing that's ideal for first-time users. The well thought-out minimalist design features fast transfer speeds and plenty of storage. Since it's a small device aimed at home users, there is no RAID protection. However, extras such as SmartWare backup utility and a few helpful monitoring tools are included.

If you need a really simple, no-frills drive that won't be leaving your house, in order to manage something like your music collection, then the Western Digital My Book Live is a perfect choice. Register Hardware do mention, though, that it's not particularly speedy, and remote access with servers you already have will be tricky, plus the design makes it likely to topple over.