Western Digital My Passport Essential 320 GB USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive WDME3200TN (Midnight Black) Reviews

• Western Digital Passport - A Great Value In Portable External HDs

  
  By A17BUUBOU0598B on 2008-05-08
  The Western Digital My Passport Essential 320GB USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive (Midnight Black) is the largest capacity in the portable essentials line-up. This comes in a variety of colors including Pink, Real Red, Artic White and Intense Blue. They say that this is the update to the regular Western Digital 320 GB Passport Hard Drive and I own both of them. In fact I also own many other portable hard drives in the Western Digital passport lineup and so far I couldn't be happier. All of these are great for mobile backups of data, though slower to copy large backups than their A/C powered MyBook big-brothers.
  
  Some will be considering the Western Digital My Passport Essential 250GB and the Western Digital My Passport Essential 160 GB sizes of these drives. I started with the 160 GB and have owned multiple versions in all sizes, and capacity aside these drives are basically the same. If you are on the fence between a smaller or larger size, the decision will come down to what you really need most. If you need a drive for complete backups, don't box yourself in purchasing a 160 GB model when your hard drive is 120 GB. Give yourself some room and go with the 320 if you can.
  
  For those with backup needs of 80 GB or smaller, look into the other capacities. Periodic specials are being run on some of the smaller sizes, making them very attractive. Plus a 500 GB model should be on the way soon. So if you need the largest size, then by all means get the 320 GB version. But if you can make do with the smaller size, then the value pricing may entice you. Weigh your options but whatever size you pick now make sure it's enough to meet your needs right now and for at least the next 6 months. In fact, some people who are extremely picky like me are going to want to buy at least 2 drives so that they can have 2 copies of their backups, just in case.
  
  Pros
  + Great capacity options at good prices available in this line of products
  + Nice portable form factor that easily connects via USB
  + USB powered, no A/C required, which is great for portability
  + Works well on Windows Vista, XP and Mac OS X
  + Easy to set up disk encryption for security and privacy
  + Nice looks, and cool color options for those that care about that
  + Turns on and off with your computer or easily ejected via system tray
  + Easy plug-and-play installation
  + Integrates nicely with my growing stable of WD MyBook drives
  + Included software may be useful for some novices
  + Drives are sufficiently durable holding up to normal use over time
  + 320 GB capacity is just about right for most users
  
  Cons
  - Somewhat slow file transfer speeds for larger backups
  - Included software not useful for power users
  - Shiny body attracts scratch, fingerprints and dust
  - Only USB, so look to the LaCie 250 GB Rugged Hard Disk if you need fire-wire ports too
  - Only up to 320 GB right now, so look to the LaCie 500 GB Rugged Hard Disk with FireWire and USB if you need more capacity in a portable drive
  - Have to spend your cash to get a case that should have been included
  
  The Looks
  
  The drive has a nice shiny exterior. The case can scratch in transit and the surface also attracts fingerprints and dust. But the look is still nice and you can easily purchase a case or holder for the drive if it bothers you. Most versions don't ship with the case included, but you can pick up the CaseLogic Small External Hard Drive Case (Black) for $10 or $15.
  
  The Features
  
  I had no problem connecting this drive to any computer, including Windows XP, Vista and Mac OS X. Keep in mind this is a USB 2.0 device so ancient computers may not yield the same results.
  
  Transfer speeds are ok but definitely slower than the A/C powered MyBooks. This guy is still limited by the 480 Mbs connection speed of USB 2.0, but performs somewhat slower than this when performing large backups. The USB 2.0 speed rating can not really be achieved in production and you will get a fraction of that. But it's a trade-off that's worth it since it's USB-powered. Check out the LaCie 250 GB Rugged hard disk if you need fire-wire ports too. Or try the LaCie 500 GB Rugged hard disk if you need more portable capacity.
  
  The software utilities included with this device will be most useful for beginners. I tested the backup software in particular but found it to be slow and impractical. I mean REALLY slow. It works, but cutting and pasting is better. Take my advice: don't use these utilities and just do cut and paste backups and saves to this drive.
  
  Reliability
  
  I've had good luck with the passport line of drives. They seem to have lower failure rates than many MyBook drives, though I also own those and haven't had issues there either. Maybe my gentle care has helped me to get lucky with these guys so far. Maybe it's because these drives are generally off when in transit. Regardless, these guys have held up fine.
  
  Conclusion
  
  This drive is great or those who want a portable drive for backups on the run. It's nice getting the 320GB capacity in one drive. There are smaller drives but other than capacity there is no real difference between them. Watch the price changes and choose the sized drive that's right for you.
  
  Enjoy!
  
  
  

• Disappointing data transfer rate, although improved from the older generation Passport HDD

  
  By AYCAIHABPYWVJ on 2008-06-18
  This product is indeed excellent for its intended purpose, other than the data transfer rate. I realized that this review is listed as most helpful *critical* review. Although I urge the manufacturer to improve the data transfer rate to match that achieved by some competitors, I don't mean to discourage potential buyers.
  
  One improvement made compared to an older version of Passport is that this drive spins down during inactivity. The previous ones (mine is 120GB in silver color case) didn't spin down, even when the host computer was in the sleep mode. Another improvement is the power requirement. This product worked fine with a MacBook on a single USB port, even when the Macbook is operated on the battery, not the AC power.
  
  For Mac users, like any external hard drive, I recommend to format this drive in MacOS Extended filesystem with journaling option. You can do this with Disk Utility of MacOS X, found in /Applications/Utilities.
  
  Between the old 120GB model (silver) and this 320GB model (Passport Essential series), I also noticed that this model is slightly smaller and thinner. Sure, it is easier to slide into a briefcase, but I will have to see how well it takes the normal shocks from daily transportation.
  
  Now, the data transfer rate issue.
  
  This drive ships formatted in FAT32. In that format, I get a benchmark of 16.8MB/s transfer rate when I write a single 2.0GB file into this drive. I formatted this disk in MacOS Extended (Journaled), which is a lot more modern file system, and run the identical benchmark. The result is 18.0MB/s. Both of the tests were performed when the drive is empty (hard drive slows down when the filesystem is nearing full capacity). My computer is an 8-core Mac Pro, and the speed of the host computer is not the limiting factor. This is a hugely disappointing result, indicating that they used a cheap chipset to interface the drive to the USB 2.0 port.
  
  In comparison, my Western Digital SATA 2.5" 320GB laptop hard drive (which is in this product) achieves 35-50MB/s with the same benchmark when installed directly in a MacBook. Also, this same hard drive in a different USB interface case delivered 22-27MB/s in the same benchmark.
  
  I would give this product 4.5 stars if the product delivered 35MB/s.
  
  Also as a comparison, Passport 120GB drive delivered only 8MB/s while an average laptop HDD of that size delivered 25MB/s.
  
  I routinely copy a lot of data in and out of my portable hard drives every day, and any slight improvement in the data transfer rate can save minutes every time I use it, and to me, this difference is worth paying extra few dollars to use a faster interface chip. I truly wish that the manufacturers print the actual data transfer rate rather than the 480Mbit/s nonsense for USB 2.0 interface, which no one expects to see.
  
  

• Quiet, Easy to Use, and SUPER Small ... An Amazing Product!

  
  By A2LW5AL0KQ9P1M on 2008-05-24
  The Western Digital Passport reduced my 388 CD rack to a pocket-sized miracle. Likewise, all the photos, lesson plans, and Power-Point presentations that were cluttering my computer are now on my Passport.
  
  Here's the low-down. I was a bit worried that I might have difficultly setting-up this little guy. My fears were alleviated in about 15 seconds. About a month ago, I downgraded from Vista to XP and had NO PROBLEMS with the installation of this product ... whatsoever (seems some people who run Vista have been having some trouble). It could not have been easier. (Thank you Western Digital!)
  
  Now, the pre-installed software is REALLLLLY bad (that part is true). Western Digital should rethink this approach since nearly everyone removes it (and it deters some people from even purchasing their products). Minus one-star for being SERIOUSLY annoying!!
  
  As mentioned by other reviewers, the product is whisper-quiet. And, while some folks found that they need an USB Power Adapter Y Cable, I did not. I have a two-year old Alien Area 51 m5550 and experienced no problems with power (regarding this product). I would advise that you purchase the Passport without the substitute cable and give it a try before you invest the extra cash.
  
  And yes, the product is glossy, so it shows fingerprints and can scratch easily. Amazon currently recommends the CaseLogic Small External Hard Drive Case (Black) but the case is much too large and the Passport remains too loosely confined. Instead, I bought the Caselogic Neoprene LHDC-1 Portable Hard Drive Case (Dark Gray). (It is soft and protects the product's appearance while in transit). If anyone finds a better fit, please feel free to comment on this post.
  
  Bottomline: Regardless of the unwanted pre-installed software, this product exceeded my expectations. It is quiet, petite, and pretty amazing! It handled a tremendous volume of work fairly quickly (I was prepared for some lag, of course) and makes my life much tidier. Highly recommended!!
  
  

• Only four stars from a techie

  
  By A2QEZU2SHYBHM5 on 2008-04-30
  Here's the problem from a techie's perspective: the drive loads software automatically. This is not what most techies (understood as Information Technology geek) want. We like to plug in the drive and then use our tools to work with it. However, the fix is simple - you just have to delete the files off the drive when you first connect it.
  
  This is probably not an issued for the average user and the drive is fast, quiet, and small. Perfect for connecting to my laptop at the front of a training or seminar room when I'm teaching a class. The portability is great since I travel a lot. Great device once the software is removed ;-)
  
  

• Don't buy this hard drive

  
  By A3G12DJ0J5NKIT on 2008-05-20
  I bought this to back up my hard drive. Go figure. Makes sense, right? Well when I plugged it in, there is software pre-installed. That is kind of cool. I let it do its thing. Then it asks you which folders to back up. I told it, and it started copying all my songs, pictures, documents, etc. That was easy (though it does take about 12 hours).
  
  The pre-loaded software is junk. It doesn't actually explain WHAT it does. Worse part- it is not compatible within operating systems. My work computer uses Vista, my lap top has XP. I called tech support and after being on hold for 10 minutes they confirmed that it only works from XP to XP or Vista to Vista. In my opinion, the info should be accessible from ANY computer.
  
  The directions that come in the package are entirely useless. Here is what it says: "Should you encounter any problem, please do not return this product to the store before carefully reading your use manual."
  
  Good advice. I did that. Here is what the user manual says (via diagrams):
  
  -Your product contains a drive, a cable, and a user manual
  -Plug one end of the cable into the drive and the other into your computer's USB slot.
  -On your computer download the software
  
  THAT IS IT. It is entirely useless.
  
  The reviews made it seem like this is a good product. I thought Western Digital was a good company to buy in to. I was wrong. You could tell they may've made a good product, but they didn't think it all the way through.
  
  I'm not sure if I made this clear, but seriously- save your money. Buy something else.
  
  love
  nick
  
  
• junk
  By A1Z7C9SBLC3QPB on 2008-09-12
  I purchased 2 of these units for backup of data. 0ne failed in 13 months and the other failed in 16 months all data was lost. They want $100 to evaluate the drive and $500 plus to recover the data if in fact it is recoverable.
  
  
• DO NOT BUY THIS ITEM BEFORE READING THE CONTENTS!
  By A1WL6363ZKIHCK on 2008-05-01
  The title of this item is "320GB My Passport Essential 2.5IN Blue". But the description clearly states that the item is ONLY 250GB of storage space. I almost purchased this item because it was listed as close to $30.00 less expensive than another Western Digital 320GB. I figured it was less expensive because the color Blue was in less demand. Instead it is because it is a totally different product with fewer gigabytes of storage. READ UP BEFORE YOU OPEN UP (your wallet that is).
  
  
• Nice drive
  By A34CFG3JR0IKB8 on 2008-05-22
  I have this drive for about half-a year now. It is recognized both by Windows XP and Mac OS X (Leopard). I did not use any software to do backups, just grab the files myself and drag them to the drive, or use a script (.bat file). Operation is exceptionally simple: you connect it - it is recognized by the computer, you use it, and then use disconnect/eject command (I am guilty of not always doing this, but no problems so far) and disconnect it. The drive comes in a soft case, does not have and require any power supply, works via USB cable, and no problems whatsoever so far. I am thinking about buying another one, maybe slightly bigger (there is a 320G version).
  
  
• Compact, sleek and works great
  By A1ODOGXEYECQQ8 on 2008-05-16
  Works with my PCs and Macbook. (Make sure you are using the correct USB plug on your Mac laptop. Not all of the USB outlets in Mac laptops have sufficient power to drive an external drive. Read the manual to find which is which).
  
  No review for the included software. Since most of my experience with softwares that comes with products like camera, external drives are rarely satisfactory, software was not installed in the first place.
  
  Pros:
  - Lowest price I found for a 2.5" external drive
  - No need for a power brick. It is powered by the USB 2.
  - So quiet, Just like an Ipod.
  - Small enough to fit in your pocket. 0.59" (H) x 5" (L) x 3" (W)
  - Comes with the USB cable
  
  Cons:
  - Shiny Black finish is easy to scratch
  - No case included
  
  
  
  
  
• Warning! please read. bad company policy
  By A29MYCAT2RJG5F on 2008-07-10
  I just want to write and let the world know what kind of company this is. I have owned 3 Western digital (WD) hard drives. All 3 have not lasted longer then 2 years, the most recent has only lasted 1 yr.. 4 months. But the kicker of this situation is the external hard drive WD make have a warranty of 1 year. but the internal Hard drives that are inside the units have a 3-5 year warranty. So I called WD because the hard drive inside the case went bad. So this is how the call went.
  The phone rang, and I got contacted to someone over sea's and could barely speak english. I told him my problem and he said sorry it's out of warranty and there is nothing he could do. So i said the hard drive inside the unit has a 3 year warranty. he said well you bought the external hard drive so you only get a 1 year warranty. I was going no where with him so I asked to speak to a manager.
  Mind you it's bad enough I lost all my info, but now I couldn't get a replacement. so the manager comes on and says there is nothing he can do. I said to him because I buy the complete package the WD makes I get punished. and if i went out and bought a internal hard drive and put it in a case i'd get a 3-5 year warranty? he responded back, yea. I said dont you think this is a little unfair? and he said sorry. So then trying to be slick I said ok so what if I take the Hard drive out will i get the 3-5 year warranty? he said no you'll void the warranty because they marry the case and the hard drive as 1 unit so they know the hard drive came out of it. But his way of solving the situation he said is they offer a service to recover the data, I asked how much does that cost. he said about $3k. I asked to talk to his manager and he sad it would take 48 hours for them to call me back. (still waiting)
  Long story short, if you are interested in buying a western digital I recommend buying a internal hard drive and putting it in a case which are very cheap. Just search external hard drive case, and tons will pop up. by doing this you'll get a real warranty.
  I hope this helps others from getting screwed. Good luck
  
  
• power surge
  By A17VW4AR8KRRXB on 2008-07-12
  I used smaller passport external hard drive for years, it worked perfectly. However this one did not work at all. When I connected it with Dell Inspiron PC, an error message about power surge was generated. If this is a compatibility issue, it would be very helpful if the manufacturer could give some kind of information on compatibility so that we could check before buying the product. I used many USB products with this Dell PC, and this passport hard drive is the only one causing the power surge problem.
  
  
• Awesome portable hard drive
  By A1GBT4UN2RW7XY on 2008-04-07
  This is my second WD Passport drive as the first (160GB) has been very reliable. I bought the 320GB to back up and share files between my home and office PCs. The speed is a bit lacking, but this is a portable drive and it doesn't require external AC, so I can forgive its slowness. Its convenience factor is just great, and 320GB (~=298GB as reported by Windows) is lots of storage for on-the-go needs. I recommend this highly as a portable storage solution -- and the drive is quite stylish.
  
  
• Small and quiet
  By A2NNBXKXOGVNHK on 2008-06-02
  -software package prevents me from giving this a 5 star review.
  
  The drive comes in a shiny black plastic case which appears to be very vulnerable to scratches. The drive has a small connectivity/activity LED light at the back of the unit so you can tell if it is on and functioning. Included with the drive is a couple of nearly useless programs. Seagate's Free agent software included with their drive is a bit more useful then this although if you are really serious about backing up your system you will need to invest in some decent backup and imaging software like Norton Ghost or Acronis True Image.
  
  The drive is Formated FAT32 which really won't do this day and age. This will limit the max file size to 4 GB. The very first thing that I needed to do was format the drive to NTFS. This allowed me to comfortably backup my laptop using Norton Ghost without worrying about file size limitations. Ok lets move to the pros and cons
  
  Pros- This hard drive provides a great deal of space and is very quiet. It is very lightweight and compact. USB powered is a nice plus. Overall a very nice piece of hardware.
  
  Cons- Poor software package with drive. Does anyone really use this stuff? Small USB cable. Scratchable plastic case. A front mounted LED conectivity/activity light would have been nice. The rear mount light is just awkward to use.
  
  With the right backup software this is great for backing up your laptop!
  
  
• Handy little drive, reliable and quiet, included sync software is not too good.
  By A6VPK7X53QNAQ on 2008-06-11
  The Hardware: The Passport drive is roughly the size of a passport and about 3/4th inch thick, very easy to carry and use. It comes with a very short USB cable to connect it and works off the power from your computer. The transfer speed to a Windows XP system was respectable, but when used with a Vista based system it really took off. I was able to transfer 7GB of MP3 files from the passport drive to a laptop running Vista in about 4-5 minutes.
  
  The Software: There is some WD syncing software preinstalled on the drive that automatically asks you which folders you want to sync to the drive. This software is not very user friendly and it does not help that there is no manual. However, it's not too difficult to figure out. Once you select the folders on your computer that you want to sync it will ask if you want to autosync each time you connect this drive. The first time I synced my computer it took about 8-10 hours. The copy of your files on the passport drive is encrypted and is accessible only through the software that asks you for a password each time. I would have given this drive 5 stars if it wasn't for the clumsy and slow software.
  
  You can also copy folders through Windows "drag and drop" onto this drive. This method is a easier and faster way of getting your files on the drive although they will not be encrypted. This is useful for the folders that you don't want to auto sync each time as the auto sync program will delete any files that you delete from the computer from the drive as well.
  
  I use this drive on Windows XP and I was able to use the drive to upload my files on a Vista system without any problems. Overall, a great product!
  
  Update 7/30: Bad news!
  Unfortunately, the drive has failed after 2 months of usage, I called WD customer service who were very helpful and suggested some trouble shooting tips. None of them worked and the drive would not be recognized by any system. I have no idea how it happened as I never knocked it or dropped it. The only reason may have been that I had pulled out its USB cord out of my laptop without a proper shut down through the Windows tool. In my defense, I did try to shut it down through the system tool but it could not shut down the drive. So I closed all programs and made sure the drive was not in the read/write mode and then pulled out the plug. Usually, this should not cause a problem but who knows what went wrong.
  
  The WD customer service said that they'll replace my drive with a refurbished one if I send it out to them, or I could just return it to the store. I was able to return it to the "C" warehouse and decided I would go with another brand this time round. I've now got the SimpleTech SP-U25/250L 250 GB Portable Hard Drive - Blue which is working well for me. It comes with a power boost cable and also has a separate light which goes on when it's reading or writing. I'm glad I had my data backed up on another external (non-portable) hard drive as the data retreival services are very expensive.
  
  
• A good looking, slow transferring, extremelly portable hard drive
  By A1SC5OXLQNGPLN on 2008-03-12
  This is my third external portable hard drive. This is a very light and good looking drive. I really love its look. Once it was plugged in my laptop pc, it was recognized right away. It works constantly well with one of my three usb ports of my T60 laptop. But for the other two ports, it lost the connection very frequently. I guess this is a power issue. I bet this drive will be super fast if it uses a line using two usb ports as my the other one. This is why I rate it as 4 instead of 5 stars. The transferring speed of this drive is way slower than my Seagate free agent desk external hard drive, as well as my old hard drive with Macally PHR-250CC FireWire enclosure (it requires two usb ports or one 6pin firewire port). It took more than half hours to move 30G media file from Seagate external drive to this one while it took less than 10 minutes easily for my other two drives to move these big files. But it is acceptable as long as you don't want to copy big files from one to this one urgently. I also run a Warcraft computer game from this drive. It works smoothly.
  
  It should be noted that the blue light indicator on the back of the old version passort disappears on this new version. Instead, A usb white light indicator is placed right besides the usb connection port.
  
  Overall, I think this is good drive with large enough capacity. I wish some day usb port can provide more power though.
  
  
  
• Get a drive with a power supply!
  By A1GCAXV8DVF1HB on 2008-10-18
  Perhaps handy for carrying around and the occasional backup, but as a general use drive about worthless for me--USB power only feature STINKS. Even with a powered USB hub in combination with my Mac Powerbook, this thing spontaneously 'ejects' and disappears from the desktop multiple times per day. (Without a powered drive my laptop cannot even recognize this drive, not enough power via USB.) Even with my G5 desktop the same problem--often loses power and disappears from the desktop, I must disconnect/reconnect and it appears again...for a little while at least.
  
  
• Unreliable and Irresponsible
  By A139Z4ULOH6XVJ on 2008-07-11
  I am a PhD student. I purchased this product 3 weeks ago to minimize the number of times that I would need to bike to campus with my laptop - instead, the plan went, I would be able to access all of the files on my laptop on a university computer through my WD external harddrive. When
  devising this plan, I assumed an external hard-drive would be as dependable as their internal counterparts or even a 'thumb drive'.
  Eeek! The product boasts a certain encryption feature that 'protects'
  the content of your files during the 'syncing' process. My experience,
  though, is that the encryption/syncing process regularly corrupts my word
  documents. I now find myself at the library unable to work because
  "synchronization was unable to transfer your data successfully". This
  isn't the first time (nor the only problem). What's more alarming is
  that the original files on my laptop become 'corrupted' as well/are no
  longer accessible. With my WD external hard drive, I expect to lose 1 important file a week do to 'synchronization errors'(either on my laptop or on the WD). It just so happens that on this week, I lost two files in two consecutive days. Both of which important. I find the product unreliable. I find WD borderline irresponsible for putting this technology onto the market before its ready. I would stick with thumb drives which, in my last four years of using those, have never once given me trouble.
  
  
• Convinient but VERY DANGEROUS
  By A3Q5S9VH832QW5 on 2008-08-16
  I will be brief.
  The good part - compact, sleek, very portable and quite easy to work with.
  
  The bad part - VERY VERY VERY primitive software that overwrites your sensitive data without warning leading to loss of important files in a way that they can't be recovered!!
  If you are trying to synchronize your computer and the drive, and if you have created new files on computer that now should be copied over to the drive, Passport software starts overwriting files on your computer!!! I lost several GBs of sensitive emails, almost an years worth of communication that was extremely important. My coworkers started reporting similar experience and collectively we decided our corporate cannot afford the sloppy Passport software.
  Final Take: Buy at your own risk
  
  
• Good drive, lousy software
  By A1YELVG03O68F8 on 2008-05-01
  I do like this little tiny drive for making backups. The Western-Digital software is nowhere as good as the Dantz Retrospect software that I had on the last one. If you're "DOS-savvy", just go to the command prompt and do a "xcopy c:\*.* f:\*.* /d/s/c/y/h" and you don't need their software.
  
  
• Not a solid product
  By AY5CASF4CIP04 on 2008-06-24
  1. Only one of the three computers I have recognized the drive. All three computers recognized the drive when self powered USB hub was used.
  2. Copied about 20 GB of files to the drive, then a couple files were corrupted and unable to delete.
  3. The transfer speed was somewhat slow.
  
  The return to Amazon process was painless, though.
  
  
• piece of junk: or the making of a doorstop...
  By A1OGTCWY8MB79F on 2008-07-15
  I bought this MyBook 320GB about 3 months ago... it was always a drag on my system, but last eve it got to be an anchor... today it is nothing more than a doorstop!!! I will never buy (after over 10 years of buying WD HD's mind you!) another WD product, not if it is the last HD on the face of the Earth!
  "What's your back-up plan?" says their website, I notice no customer comments allowed! My back-up is the 93GB of data on the disc that quit working for me last night and is now dead in the water. DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT. I am so mad I could eat 16d nails and spit tacks.
  
  
• compact design makes it worth the purchase
  By AZTLRSOS0M9T6 on 2008-08-29
  I really like the stylistic aspects of this hard drive. It is small enough to take anywhere you want to take it. The drive itself is very easy to use. It does have a significant weakness and that is the fact that it solely depends on the usb port for its power source. My laptop could not actually handle the power that the passport hard drive required and I kept getting an error message about a power surge. I fixed that problem by buying a powered usb hub to plug into my computer and then connected the portable hard drive to my laptop that way. That is my one complaint about the portable hard drive, but it was a simple fix that added about $25 dollars to what I spent on the hard drive itself.
  
  
• mac compatible -- sort of...
  By A3A1ICUKQD25QH on 2008-09-21
  Nice little drive. No set-up required. I would give it a 5 out of 5 BUT. . . WD bills it as Mac OS compatible. Strictly speaking, this is true. What they don't tell you and you don't find out until you're trying to back up your files is that this drive has the same restrictive naming conventions as PCs. The result is that unless you restrict your name length and don't use characters such as dash or backslash when labeling your files, the process stalls out and you have to rename each file individually. It's a serious PIA. I would recommend that anyone using Mac look elsewhere.
  
  
• A Great Addition for any PC
  By A270XXONKJ2BAU on 2008-05-07
  This was just purchased a few days ago, and so far it's been a tremendous addition for a PC hard drive that was crowded with media files. In minutes, I was able to transfer more than 40GB of files to this WD external drive (and still have 270GB+ of space left to use). Accessing the files for various reasons is as easy as when they were on the main drive. The very compact design plugs into a rear USB and sits atop the tower, making no sounds and creating very little heat. It spins down when not in use and is ready to go when I bring the PC out of standby every day. Definitely worth having if you store image, music or video files on your PC. Freeing up your hard drive will do wonders for the computer's performance. Recommended
  
  
• Two times I lost data.
  By A2OMNXEE08881I on 2008-05-20
  Generally I am happy with WD disks. I am using Western Digital My Book Premium 2TB External Hard Drive and 1 TB without any problem. This disk orinally came with Fat, I change it NTFS. Probab because of USB at least two times this external drive lost some directory files. I used chkdsk. One time it solved the problem. But second time I lost data. Until this I can not trust this disk. If it is possible I plan to use disk as internal hard drive.
  
  
  
  
• Western Digital My Passport Essential 160GB USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive (Midnight Black)
  By AAXPB8G4CJ4O9 on 2008-06-13
  product is not bed for the price, but when transfering data, I lost some file content. File itself was copied, but not what was in it. I can not say about product in general, becouse I never had problem with company before, but i am not happy with this item.
  
  
• Wrap it with bubble plastic, glue the usb cable in AND glue it in your PC as well.
  By A8OON20R5QV6G on 2008-08-12
  Why? Because I accidentally removed it from my computer while transferring data. So what, you may say - you get yourself some corrupted files.
  
  No, all I got was physically damage sections in my hard drive. In other words, it rendered my Western MyPassport 320gb pretty much USELESS.
  
  Well, I know I'm not supposed to remove it without properly ejecting it. But it wasn't my fault. It wouldn't be my fault either if by any chances the power went down, or my computer froze. Now, physically damage the hard drive for that? My computer froze and shut down a dozen times and it's internal hard drive is still doing fine thank you very much.
  
  It would make a fine HDD - it's size is just right (not much bigger than an iPhone, not too small to lose it around the house). 320gb is a fair enough amount for my backups. Looks nice.
  
  But now a few other cons to it: it scratches (its plastic case) too easily and the usb cable is SHORT. At least is a common usb cable, but then again, it should have come with a larger one so I wouldn't have disconnected it accidentally thanks to its freaking short cable.
  
  After that incident, I tried to format it. You name it. I tried using its own recovery software - it wouldn't pass the initial tests - too much sectors were damaged. I tried formating it both Mac OS Extended Journaled and FAT32. I tried NTFS. Results: it would work for a few files, then after a large one it would simply crash. Or after a week or so of use, suddenly the data were all lost and it would tell "The Hard disk is in use and cannot be ejected". Oh great.
  
  I tried to write 0s (zeroes) on it. I tried the secure erase (7 times writing zeroes on it). I even tried 32 times-secure erasing process. It wouldn't pass the first 10% - too much damaged sectors. Now, for a simply and accidental removal? I mean, come on! A freaking flash drive can be removed without being ejected and still work fine. Any other kind of removable usb gadget can be without any physical harm. It could simply lose its system files or something. It could have just fragmented the files. But no...
  
  I'm not here to rant about whether the warranty policy should be and even if I had returned it I wouldn't be happy with this purchase. And that's what my review is about - an unfortunate purchase. I was expecting more from this, a bit more reliable than it actually is.
  
  Again, if you wanna buy this, make sure you put it on an altar away from hands, dogs and natural phenomena such as wind, fire and rain. And make sure you use a super-duper long range usb cable glued on both ends - glue it on your HDD and on your computer. Don't ever, never, for any reason, even being your power, remove this piece of junk from your computer without ejecting it first. And if by any chances it freezes or corrupt data while using it and then it tells you that "USB Mass Storage is in use and C A N N O T be ejected", well my friend I wish you good luck. You never know what lies ahead with this worthless piece of junk.
  
  
• Excellent value for the money and portable to boot
  By A680RUE1FDO8B on 2008-09-15
  For the price, you can't beat the capacity and portability of these Western Digital My Passport Essential Portable Hard Drives.
  
  Western Digital has a long history of producing dependable drives.ss
  
  The housings are well designed and, with a bit of care, you can dissemble them should the need or desire arise. The drives themselves are workhorses. They are not the fastest, but they are more than adequate for most purposes.
  
  I generally don't comment on other reviews of the same product, but there seem to be a number of misconceptions about this product thst should be clarified.
  
  First, these portable hard drives are for usse only with USB 2.0 ports. Period. Machines three years old and older may not have USB 2.0 ports.
  
  Second, hard drives are electro-mechanical devices. Hard drives do fail unexpectedly whether they are a day or year or more old. Hard drive failure is not predictable. So it you plan on using this or any hard drive to back up your precious family photos, financial records or doctoral thesis, make sure you have a second or third backup!
  
  
  
  A couple of minor criticisms of the product. The supplied USB cable is on the short side. On the other hand, how long a cable do you need with a portable drive? In any event, USB cables are readily available and relatively inexpensive. A bigger and more important criticism is that Western Digital does not provide a cable with a second USB connector for use on those computers where a single USB port doesn't provide enough power. Finally, WD doesn't include a carrying case. Small things, to be sure, that wouldn't cost Western Digital a lot of money to include, but they don't.
  
  You won't find any competent network administrator who doesn't have multiple backups and the reason for this is that hard drives do fail!
  
  So if you entrust your valuable data to a single hard drive, you are making a big mistake. Always have at least two and preferably three backups that you update frequently. And don't assume that your backups are reliable. Test recovering data from them from time to time.
  
  You might be able to recover some or all the data from a failed hard drive, but it can be a very expensive or troublesome process.
  
  Just remember: if it's worth backing up, it's worth backing up at least twice. That's what the IT pros do - and it's what you should do with your valuable data as well.
  
  Sorry for the digression, but I just wanted to correct the misimpressions that some people have left about these drives.
  
  The Western Digital My Passport Essentials are solid, inexpensive, portable and very useful hard drives.
  
  Jerry
  
  
• Great drive, but, not exactly comaptible with older laptops
  By A3VB9B2H81VYC5 on 2008-04-28
  This drive is a great product. It's compact size makes it perfect for use while traveling, especially since it does not require a power supply. Watch out, however, if you plan to use it with an older laptop. The drive consumes more power than some USB ports provide. You can get around this by purchasing a special cable that pulls power from an additional USB port, which is not too convenient if you only have two ports and use other USB products.
  
  
• Don't do it
  By AZXPMWE0LIOGS on 2008-05-15
  Unless you want to spend more money after buying this item, find a hard disk that will actually work as advertised. It won't work on either of my laptops, and I had to buy from Western Digital's online store (the only place the device is available) a power cord for $10 + $7 shipping. Western Digital ended up charging me twice for said cord, so that so far it's cost me $35 and the item has not even shipped. The drive seems cheaply made, too. I'm regretting I wasted my money on it when I could have had something better from Seagate or Toshiba. You might think you are saving money by buying a Passport, but if you have to be overcharged and frustrated when nothing is done about the extra charges, and the device doesn't work on your computer, you are not saving a thing, but looking to buy yourself a large helping of animosity.
  
  
  
  

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