Customer Reviews

Western Digital Passport 120GB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I got this drive a couple of weeks ago and love it. I do a lot of database work and also run a number of virtual machines which require a considerable amount of disk space. My Dell laptop came with a 80 GB drive and this was simply not enough space to do everything I needed. It is super compact, easy to use, durable and the access speed is reasonable for a USB powered drive. I have mine velcroed to the top of my laptop so I hardly even notice it. It comes with a 2 ft. USB cable. Be sure to use the provided cable because longer lengths of cable will not provide enough power to the drive and it will not work. Also be aware that some older laptops (and possibly some newer though I haven't encountered any) may not provide enough power to the USB port to power the drive. Another thing to keep in mind is that when running your laptop off battery your battery life will be shorter because the external hard drive is taking power from the laptop battery over the USB port as well. All in all a great little drive for those who need portable storage or for those who like a compact format without the hastle of additional power cords.

Before you buy this drive, be sure to Google "Cypress AT2LP RC42" and "western digital".

Until yesterday, I recommended this drive to everyone. Then my drive failed, prompting me for new hardware and to install a driver for Cypress AT2LP RC42. It appears that there is a chip in the drive housing manufactured by Cypress that is failing in drives left and right. (Class action suit anyone?)

The Western Digital support staff is no help. Act like they have never heard of this error. Offer no option to just switch out the housing. Will replace drive- but you lose all the data. There are $30 replacement housings available - but you void your warranty.

Bottom line - if you buy this drive, be prepared for it to fail. Keep everything backed up, because there will come a day that this drive will fail.

I bought this great looking external hard drive for my Mac Powerbook G4. The objective was to have a portable little drive. However, it requires a lot of current. My Mac's USB current is not enough for it. So it needs to be pluged in with an external power supply (extra purchase) or with an external powered USB adapter.

Things i like about this player:
1: Form Factor
a) it is surprisingly lightweight.
b) the size, its 5.25in X 3.0in, and .75in for the depth.
c) Operates really fast with USB 2.0
d) ive so far got 3,200 songs on it and a ton of pics and a few documents and still have 96gbs left... so im a happy camper
e) Rubberized bottom, does it protect it from water? i dont know but it sure looks cool and it also preovides an anti-slip/slide coating for it.
f) (if bought at costco) it comes with a case which acutally provides protection, considering the fact that it came with the player for free!
g) quiet, it only makes minor noises at which can only be heard when placing your ear right next to it.
h) No need for a power supple jack or wall outlet, this gets power from your USB port:D

There, however, are a few minor issues that arent the greatest with this HD...such as:

i) the USB cable that it comes with is a foot or 2 long, so you have limitations as to where you place it on your desktop.
j) there is no "off" switch, you have to unplug it in order to turn it off.
k) as another reviewer stated, you only get 111gb of space after the formating process (but that is the same with EVERY HD. so its not really a down side)

But overall i can say that this is the best PORTABLE harddrive you can buy on the market. However, i would reccumend getting this unit at Costco Wholesale, they offer this same HD but for 150 and it comes with a case, and as i mentioned before this case actually serves a purpose.

Mario

I got 2 of these to do backups at work. I rotate them so one
goes home with me each night. They work well for this because
they are small, durable and light-weight. The fact that they are
completely bus-powered makes it easy to swap them out each day.

This drive is gorgeous and it feels like it can take a beating.

I had no problems running the drive on my MacBook, PowerMac G4 and PowerMac G5. But I tried running it on my friends 15inch G4 1.5GHZ PowerBook and it didn't work without a power adapter.

Its a really cool drive and I just bought another one for my wife.

This is a great drive. There is no software to install -- it's included on the drive, and set-up is as easy as plugging the USB cable into your computer. The sync software is easy to use; you basically see a Windows Explorer tree and check off the folders you want to sync. A step-by-step wizard will also guide you through backing up e-mail (I didn't use this feature because I use Internet e-mail) with Outlook or Outlook Express. You can save your settings as a "Profile" to avoid having to go through the wizard each time you want to back up.

The drive is small, light and sleek -- perfect for laptop users like me who don't have a workspace. I also bought mine at Costco ($139), and I'm glad to have the matching case for storage. If you have a workspace where it can live or if you won't be traveling with the drive, it probably won't matter to you.

I power this drive with no problems using my Compaq Presario laptop that is about 1 year old.

Compact and easy to use with just a USB cable and no complicated new sorftware to master. And with more storage space than the hard drives on both my 3 year old desktop and 2 year old laptop combined. It has proven to be the perfect solution for my storage needs. I couldn't be happier.

Worked create plugged into my work desktop computer, but needed the power adaptor for use on my notebook computer. Too bad. It's common knowledge that external drives advertised to work without a power adaptor end up not working with notebooks. It stated on the box that it may not work with "some" computers. Really it should say: power adaptor required for most notebooks.

Otherwise, this is stylish, small drive I was looking forward to using. But had to return it--I've got enough extra cables in my life as it is without having to shell out ten more dollars to Western Digital.

This device does exactly what it's advertised to do. It works (on my HP desktop pc) without an a/c adapter. It runs quietly and cool. Transfers are rapid. I would highly recommend this device to anyone.