Western Digital WDXMS1200TN Passport 120 GB USB 2.0 2.5-Inch Portable Hard Drive

by Western Digital

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 3.2 x 0.6 inches ; 4.8 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000HZGQ9C
• Item model number: WDXMS1200TN
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (334 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: May 2, 2006

Product Description

From the manufacturer

High-performance portable storage for your Mac and PC. Light and rugged, it’s easy to carry and no external power adapter is needed. Comes with sync & encryption and Google software.

Pack up your office files and take them home. Carry thousands of songs or pictures. These drives are simple to use, light and easy to carry, and require no power adapter--they are powered directly through the USB cable.

Key Features

Easy: Installation is a snap because you don't really "install" this drive; you just plug it in and it's ready to use. There is no CD to install; the included software loads from the drive the first time you plug it in.

Smart: Powered by the USB bus, so no separate power supply needed.

Ultra-portable: This ultra-portable drive fits easily in your pocket or purse, weighs only a few ounces and holds tons of valuable data.

Synchronized and Secure: WD Sync synchronization and encryption software lets you save your critical data, and take it with you. Plug your drive into any PC, edit files, read e-mail, and view photos. Then sync all of your changes back to your home or office computer. (Windows only)

Google software: Search your drive, manage your photos, and simplify Web searches with included Google software. (Windows only).

Fast: 5400 RPM hard drive – almost 24% faster than 4200 RPM drives.

Stylish: Elegant glossy black case with soft-touch base

Compatible: Use with Windows and Macintosh computers

Ideal For

• Carrying important files and e-mail between work and home or on the road
• Sharing large files between office and home, between Mac and PC
• Backing up your existing notebook hard drive for extra data safety

Product Description

Fast 5400 RPM 2.5-inch drive performance! Weightsonly 0.2310 lb. Instantly add portable storage for all your business files, music, video, andgames with a Western Digital Passport Portable USB 2.0 Drive. Thishigh-performance, 5400 RPM drive is simple to use, light and easy to carry. WDunderstands the importance of the information on your drive so they've designeda cool, rugged, shock-absorbing case to protect the 2.5-inch WD hard drive andthe data on it. Light and rugged, it s easy to carry and no external power adapter is needed. Comes with sync & encryption and Google software;High-speed, easy-to-use, reliable add-on storage - the portable headquarters foryour digital life. Simply plug in your WD Passport Portable USB Drive to back upand save your valuable digital files; Maximum protection from data losswith a rugged, protective case and highly shock tolerant 2.5-inch hard driveSmall and light. Elegant, energy-absorbing, soft-touch case provides easyhandling Cool-running hard drive and specially designed case make this a cool,safe place for your data Power-conserving design preserves notebook battery lifeProtected by Data Lifeguard Fluid dynamic bearing motor. Carrying important files and e-mail between work and home or on the road, Sharing large files between office and home, between Mac and PC. Backing up your existing notebook hard drive for extra data safety. Easy- Installation is a snap because you don't really "install" this drive; you just plug it in and it's ready to use. There is no CD to install; the included software loads from the drive the first time you plug it in; Smart - Powered by the USB bus, so

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

107 of 111 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worried--- But Rewarded, May 29, 2007

By 

Larry A. Mitchel "lam2" (Roseville, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Western Digital WDXMS1200TN Passport 120 GB USB 2.0 2.5-Inch Portable Hard Drive (Personal Computers)

I read scores of user reviews, on this site and others, then bought a competing product and immediately wished I hadn't. Given my previous experience, I gritted my teeth and ordered this little gem (yes, there were some detractors).

I used this drive as a convenience tool and "security blanket" while on a 9-day trip to New England to find dead relatives (OK, family history research). The point of the tool was to move files from four different digital cameras (did I mention I was traveling with my brother and his gear), to two different laptops (Dell, running W2000 Pro; Mac laptop running OS X). And to cross-back-up folders on both laptops once content was uploaded to them. It sounds more confusing and complicated that it actually was.

I must say, the WD Passport gave me everything I'd expected. The old Dell I was using had a USB 1.x interface, so that was SLOW (not the Passport's fault). However, with the Mac, and with my USB 2.0 systems at home--- blazing fast.

If you use a laptop, be prepared to carry along a powered USB hub. As advertised, a lot of laptops don't generate enough power through their USB jacks to run the Passport. This was especially true of the older Dell I was using; the Mac powered the drive fine without assistance. But that was a minor irritant, given the overall performance of this drive.

Would I repeat this purchase? In a heartbeat.

***UPDATE*** [23 July 2009] I've taken this drive on 10-15 multi-day trips. I use it as a triple-backup system for digital photographs and digital scans. It continues to perform flawlessly.

35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Works out-of-the-box with Mac, December 21, 2006

By 

Spartacus (Lyndhurst, New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Western Digital WDXMS1200TN Passport 120 GB USB 2.0 2.5-Inch Portable Hard Drive (Personal Computers)

This is my 3rd WD external drive (the first was a 120 GB bought about a year and a half ago. never failed without even formatting, works with both windows and mac/ the 2nd is a 320 GB with card reader which i formatted for mac, so windows cannot read it, works flawlessly). This one is extremely small, needless to say, it comes without the power cord. So one USB connection and you are all set. I did not format it, nor do i intend to (so i can use it while i dual boot on the macbook pro from OS X to windows and vice versa).
I do not know how other reviewers could not have their macs read it. I just got it so i cannot judge whether it will eventually fail on me. But judging from my past with WD, all their hard drives work perfectly. Highly recommended for both mac and windows users, who (1) need their files on the go (media, documents, applications, etc.) and (2) those who want to save space, and work without the always-intruding power cord. The hard drive also looks pretty sleek. Check the Western Digital website for the carrying case.

Update: ok, turns out, the drive was flawed. I started hearing squeeky noises, and the loading speed on the drive was fantastically slow. So i called customer service up. Judging from two replacements i underwent at the same time, WD customer service is trash. Here is what happened (the other being a PS3):
Phone-holding times were way too long on both sides, but I believe it is to be expected for Sony, given that it is a new product.
I had to pay shipping for WD which was twenty dollars to have it one day and tracked. They never collected the drive from the courier for several days. Why? I have no idea. It took Sony about a week to deliver the empty box in which I would put the PS3.
The replacement drive took about 3 weeks to show up since the beginning of the nuisance. It wasn't even in its retail box. It was just bubble wrapped and in a dirty-looking, punched-in cardboard box. For my PS3 however, after shipping it on a Wedn. (with a free supplied one day UPS shipping label), I received the brand new replacement (in its brand new box) on Friday morning.
I understand i was one of the few unlucky ones to receive a flawed WD hard drive, and i really did not mind. But, after dealing with their customer service, I will defintely think again before buying another one of their products. For an alternative, check Seagate's new portable hard drives (up to 750 GB).

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simple Needs Met Superbly, October 27, 2007

By 

Ethan A. Winning "ewin64" (Walnut Creek, CA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Western Digital WDXMS1200TN Passport 120 GB USB 2.0 2.5-Inch Portable Hard Drive (Personal Computers)

Okay, after 20 years of working with PCs (and an Apple or two), I'm unique in that I've never used up a full drive. In the early days, most of what I saved was word processing and spreadsheets. Today, I'm all the way up to 2 gb pix of my grandchildren and nature photos. Maybe a few QuickTime and MS MediaPlayer "movies," but I'm selective so on my primary hard drive, I've used 40 of 60 GB.

When I first got this Western Digital drive, I used it primarily for backup for my laptop. But then, with at least 80 GB left over, it became a second hard drive (most programs can be run off the drive) and it became a secondary storage drive for those pictures I wasn't sue about keeping.

I haven't found a negative to it except *perhaps* the synchronization utility and software. I have three PCs, one that I travel with all the time. Yes, I should have loaded the software. I didn't. What I simply do is copy the three mail programs onto a USB drive and transfer them over before I'm taking a trip. (email, billing, spreadsheets, employee handbooks - that's it.) And something tells me that this is a short cut that save time...

The pros are that it's relatively small, and will fit into a jacket pocket. It's 2.0 USB is fast. And I like the fact that the cable is only about a foot long (and detaches easily if you need to detach it).

I'm going to get a 200GB WD soon. That I will use as a second hard drive for my primary PC, probably rarely to be disconnected and hooked up to my subnotebook or laptop. And when WD comes up with a 200GB drive half the size (and they will), I'll get that too.

I give the Western Digital 5 stars. I've also tried Iomega (2 stars) and Maxtor (2 stars). Iomega makes it too complex, and the Maxtor didn't last the first week. (I try not writing about products that fail: that's often the users fault or just an anomaly and not fair to the manufacturers.)