Customer Reviews

Western Digital My Passport Essential 160 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive (Vibrant Pink)

5 star:		(402)
4 star:		(131)
3 star:		(32)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(69)

 

 

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!!

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

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.

The Western Digital My Passport Essential 500 GB USB Portable Drive adds a larger capacity to a brand of hard-drive I have come to rely on. For the longest time, I have used these WD passport drives for my portable backups. Finally a 500 GB model is here. The Western Digital My Passport Essential 320GB was the largest capacity you could get for a while.

WD has been increasing variety by adding a variety of colors including black, red, yellow, white and blue. But other than that these drives are basically all the same. Considering how I've been buying different brands lately to get larger storage, I was happy to get my hands on this drive.

PROS:
+ Largest current capacity available in this line of products
+ Turns on and off with your computer or via system tray
+ Nice looks, though it does collect finger prints
+ USB powered, no A/C required
+ Works well on Windows Vista, XP and Mac OS X
+ Easy plug-and-play installation
+ Nice portable form factor that easily connects via USB
+ Integrates nicely with my growing stable of WD MyBook drives
+ Included software may be useful for some novices
+ Easy to set up disk encryption for security and privacy

CONS
- Slow file transfer speeds for larger backups
- Included software not useful for power users
- Shiny body attracts scratch, fingerprints and dust
- No case included

FEATURES

I have owned a bunch of these drives and used them with no problems on computers running Windows XP, Vista and Mac OS X. 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 included case, but you can pick it up the CaseLogic Small External Hard Drive Case for $10 to $15.

Transfer speeds are still limited by the 480 Mps connection speed of USB 2.0, but performs somewhat slower than this when performing large backups. The USB2.0 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.

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.

I've had good luck with the passport line of drives. They seem to have lower failure rates than many MyBook drives, though I only had one issue with one of those. But these guys have held up fine.

CONCLUSION

It's nice to finally get the 500GB capacity in one of these drives. This drive is perfect for portable drive for backups on the run. There are smaller drives but other than capacity there is no real difference between them. I also own a LaCie Rugged 500GB Portable Hard Drive, and that drive seems more durable. It includes an additional fire-wire interface, but it does cost a little more. Considering how many of these I have to buy, I don't mind having a mix and match of both.

Enjoy!

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.

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).

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.

Quick summery, Works as advertised, easy to format to ntfs usable drive space on 500 is 465 the same as the previous My Book, it needs no external (additional power). The heat generated is not really noticeable at all.

potential negative: little white flashing light, there is no more disc noise than an IPOD. The only warning I would give is the lack of a case, it really needs protection and should (in my opinion) only be transported or even stored in a case. However this can't be held against the drive as far as its performance.

A little more commentary on reliability, and Price value.

I have purchased half a dozen passport drives in the last 90 days all but one are 320. So as a measure of reliability all of these drives have so far worked very well. They have not become louder or slower they are like they were in the beginning. I use some as dedicated backups and some for consolidation and centralization. As far as durability I have taken one with me on a few trips the first one I acquired. It functions without any noticeable difference as well.

Commentary about Price difference to follow.

No drive is 100% reliable few are in the high 90's for that long. This is of course my opinion, but when compared to the prior My Book 500 GB models of which a few each with power supplies etc. It is so great to not have to deal with big heavy drives with power supplies. When comparing that difference I believe this is certainly worth the price.

A final word on the drive. Not in recent memory have I seen the price for something like the passport drives be so different (in percent) due to color. If there is any difference in any of the WD passport models in color or stainless steel etc please let me know. If it is just aesthetics then as far as I am concerned who cares. Buy the color of your choice but if you are choosing based on price make sure to be aware that color or metal instead of plastic can make a huge difference. In the case of the 320 and 250 passport there seemed to be not just a very big price difference, often 15-35 percent, and this price would change based upon new models etc.

In the short time that I have had mine it has broken twice inexplicably, the first time the warranty replaced the defective product, but this time I do not even care to return it seeing as I cannot trust it to work for over a month.

I would defiantly warn any shoppers that Western Digital's low prices are the result of poor quality manufacturing.

This USB drive is exactly what I was looking for, large capacity (500 GB), feels durable, compact and light, and simple to use on my Dell or Mac. Requires no electric power, and is so compact that it doesn't feel like I have anything else in my brief bag.

I bought in combination with the rubber skin (Premium Silicone Sleeve Case for Western Digital WD Passport Essential Elements Portable 2.5" Hard Drive - (Hard Drive NOT included!!)) - which added no "bulk" - only protection.

All of my work colleagues loved the combination....

Highest rating!