Here's a detailed review of this excellent, quality, drive kit.
<< FORM & DESIGN >>
The first thing to impress me about this drive was obvious the moment I opened the box. This is a very nice piece of gear. The entire housing (including the port panel, which is often plastic even on otherwise metal drive enclosures) is made from a very sturdy matt-finished aluminium. Unlike the aluminium on Apple MacBooks, this this is build like a brick. Squeezing it with my full strength does not indicate any movement in the metal casing. I suspect that dropping this drive from 6 feet wouldn't dint it in the slightest.
Even the FireWire 800/400 cable it comes with seem nicer than most. The plugs on each end are metal, and the cable is a sensible length for a portable drive. About 18 inches.
The drive is about a 1/4 inch wider than all my other high-capacity portable drives, and about the same thickness. The length is the same as my other drives. I am comparing it to my Oyen Digital FW800 enclosure, and my Macally PHR-S250CC FireWire enclosures. I have no complaints about the slightly wider size. I have opened the drive up, and there is a 1/8 inch space around the drive on all sides. I think that gives it plenty of room for shocks form the outside.
The drive is not fixed into the case, rather it is suspended on four little rubber luggs (two per side) that are screwed into the normal mounting screw holes. I can see WD have designed it this way to reduce the transfer of shock to the drive if it is knocked or dropped.
The actual drive inside is a Scorpio Blue, which in the case of the 1TB version has the product code WD10TPVT. That's a 5200 RPM drive, with 8 MB cache. I think this adequate for FireWire 800 (and USB 2.0) transfer speeds. You can learn more about the drive inside here ASIN:B0034ZD5P0 WD WD10TPVT Drive]].
It could be argued that it would be better with a 7200 RPM Scorpio Black drive or that it should have the newer WD10JPVT 5400 RPM drives from WD. I see no advantage in that it having a Scorpio Black. It would likely increase power usage, increase the noise factor, and from what I recall 7200 RPM drives might be less reliable than 5200 / 5400 drives on average. But I am recalling data from some years ago, so don't quote me on that. I do think it would be nice if it have the newer WD10JPVT inside (the successor to the WD10TPVT), and for all I know the My Passport Studio drives shipping now might even have that. I bought mine on November 14th 2012. Either way, I think the drive inside is just fine.
I have eight 2.5" portable hard-drives on my desk, and two 3.5" desktop size drives. Most are FireWire 400 and/or 800. A couple are USB only. The desktop drives are both eSata/USB3/FW400. This solid little beast from WD has the best build quality out of all of them. If you're into well-made equipment I am sure you'll be impressed about this as I am. Of course the big question is whether the drive functions well.
<< FUNCTIONALITY >>
The drive performs as one would expect for a FireWire 800 drive. Not much more to say in that regard, as I have not bothered to run speed tests and whatnot. Some folks might be disappointed the USB is not USB 3.0, but in reality I think most people buying this drive would be buying it for the FireWire 800 connection, as opposed to USB. There would be cheaper options for a purely USB drive.
The drive runs very quiet, and relatively cool (it gets warm, as expected, but not any near hot enough to be cause for concern). The 2.5" (secondary) Seagate drive in my MacBook is audible, where as this WD drive is pretty much silent a few feet away from my head (on the table next to me).
I have experienced NO issues using it in a chain with other FW400 and FW800 drives.
It has very small rubber dots on the under-side to pad it from whatever it is sitting on. I think these rubber dots are much better than the protruding rubber pads that came with my expensive Oyen Digital MiniPro 2.5-inch FireWire 800/400 enclosure I have. They all came off within a few months. The rubber dots on this Passport drive a not at all likely to catch on anything, as they are so small and low profile. That's a plus.
<< COMPARISON >>
The Oyen Digital MiniPro 2.5-inch FireWire 800/400 cost me $65 in Nov 2010. It has been superseded by the
.
It could be argued that it would be better with a 7200 RPM Scorpio Black drive or that it should have the newer WD10JPVT 5400 RPM drives from WD. I see no advantage in that it having a Scorpio Black. It would likely increase power usage, increase the noise factor, and from what I recall 7200 RPM drives might be less reliable than 5200 / 5400 drives on average. But I am recalling data from some years ago, so don't quote me on that. I do think it would be nice if it have the newer WD10JPVT inside (the successor to the WD10TPVT), and for all I know the My Passport Studio drives shipping now might even have that. I bought mine on November 14th 2012. Either way, I think the drive inside is just fine.
I have eight 2.5" portable hard-drives on my desk, and two 3.5" desktop size drives. Most are FireWire 400 and/or 800. A couple are USB only. The desktop drives are both eSata/USB3/FW400. This solid little beast from WD has the best build quality out of all of them. If you're into well-made equipment I am sure you'll be impressed about this as I am. Of course the big question is whether the drive functions well.
<< FUNCTIONALITY >>
The drive performs as one would expect for a FireWire 800 drive. Not much more to say in that regard, as I have not bothered to run speed tests and whatnot. Some folks might be disappointed the USB is not USB 3.0, but in reality I think most people buying this drive would be buying it for the FireWire 800 connection, as opposed to USB. There would be cheaper options for a purely USB drive.
The drive runs very quiet, and relatively cool (it gets warm, as expected, but not any near hot enough to be cause for concern). The 2.5" (secondary) Seagate drive in my MacBook is audible, where as this WD drive is pretty much silent a few feet away from my head (on the table next to me).
I have experienced NO issues using it in a chain with other FW400 and FW800 drives.
It has very small rubber dots on the under-side to pad it from whatever it is sitting on. I think these rubber dots are much better than the protruding rubber pads that came with my expensive Oyen Digital MiniPro 2.5-inch FireWire 800/400 enclosure I have. They all came off within a few months. The rubber dots on this Passport drive a not at all likely to catch on anything, as they are so small and low profile. That's a plus.
<< COMPARISON >>
The Oyen Digital MiniPro 2.5-inch FireWire 800/400 cost me $65 in Nov 2010. It has been superseded by the
MiniPro 2.5-in FireWire 800, USB 3.0 External Hard Drive Enclosure
. I mention this because the WD My Passport Studio is really a very good deal for a 1 or 2 TB FireWire 800 drive kit. A lot of the FireWire enclosures don't take the thicker 12 mm terabyte drives. These ones from Oyen do, and they are also made with an all-metal chassis. If you buy this enclosure and put a
Western Digital 1 TB WD Blue SATA II 5200 RPM 8 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Notebook Hard Drive
in it, the cost will come to around $160 for 1 TB. The Oyen enclosures are inferior to the one used on the WD My Passport Studio. The drive screws directly to the chassis, meaning it's less shock protected, the enclosure has sharp edges, rubber feet that come off, screw that rust, and is just all-round nowhere near as solid and refined. I'd go for the WD My Passport Studio over an Oyen 12mm FW800 enclosure with a 1 or 2 TB drive without question.
<< MISCELLANEOUS POINTS >>
The enclosure does not have a port for an external power source, and does not need one. From my MacBook Pro it has no power issues on FireWire or USB. No issue there.
The drive is pre-formatted in HFS+ which is what you want for Mac. So it's ready to go straight out of the box.
I have not tried the encryption technology WD provides with the My Passport Studio drives. Somehow I am hesitant to encrypt drives, although I know I really should. I just can't stand the thought of something going wrong with it and all my data being in an encrypted and unrecoverable state. So I can't comment on that feature. I may well implement it at some point.
<< DECENT WARRANTY >>
This drive comes with a nice 3-year warranty (in the USA, it might differ elsewhere). So should it fail in that time, you should be due a new one at no cost (except the cost of shipping it back to WD). In my 25+ years of computer experience, if a drive is going to fail due to manufacturing defects, it will typically happen in the first few months. Once a couple of years are cleared, most drives (at least all the ones I have owned) just keep on keeping on. So there-years seems like a pretty safe warranty period.
<< ALTERNATIVES >>
Because this drive is so solidly built, it may seem too heavy for someone wanting to cut back on weight where every they can. You may want to look at the Western Digital My Passport Essentials range for a comparable drive that is more lite-weight. Such as
Western Digital My Passport Essential SE 1 TB USB 3.0/2.0 Ultra Portable External Hard Drive (Metallic Blue)
or it's successor,
WD My Passport 1TB Portable External Hard Drive Storage USB 3.0 Blue
. Of course neither of those support FireWire. They also come formatted for Windows, so you'll need to reformat them before use on a Mac (not a big deal). They significantly cheaper though, so if you don't really need FireWire or if would be just as happy with USB 2.0 or 3.0 (significantly faster than FW800), I suspect the second of those two drives might suit you better.
<< CONCLUSION >>
I would not hesitate to buy another one of these drives if I needed one, and I would happily recommend it to friends. It is my favourite portable hard-drive, out of the 8 I currently use and own.
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This Item  WD My Passport Studio 1TB Mac Portable External Hard Drive Storage FireWire |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Price | Currently unavailable. | $69.99 | $113.00 | -7% $64.99 List: $69.99 | $79.99 | $124.99 |
| Delivery | — | Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 28 | Get it May 31 - Jun 10 | Get it as soon as Tuesday, May 28 | — | Get it as soon as Wednesday, May 29 |
| Customer Ratings | ||||||
| Storage Capacity | ||||||
| Tech Support | ||||||
| Portability | ||||||
| Easy to use | ||||||
| Light weight | ||||||
| Sold By | — | Amazon.com | Nationwide Tech Biz | Amazon.com | Amazon.com | Amazon.com |
| storage capacity | 1 TB | 1 TB | 1 TB | 1 TB | 2 TB | 4 TB |
| hardware interface | usb2.0 | usb | usb3.0 | usb3.0 | usb3.0 | usb3.0 |
| compatible devices | Tablet, Laptop, Desktop, Smartphone | Desktop | USB 3.0 port; USB 2.0 compatible | Desktop | Desktop | Windows 10 or Windows 8.1 Chrome OS Requires reformatting for other operating systems. |
| form factor | Portable | Portable | Portable | Portable | Portable | Portable |
