Passport Essential 2.5" 320GB USB Hard Drive
by Western Digital Retail
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List Price: Our Price: $64.99 You Save: $115.00 (64%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Passport Essential 2.5" 320GB USB Hard Drive
Customer Review: A very portable hard disk
Summary: 5 Stars
This was my fifth Western digital passport hard disk I have bought from AMAZON. All of them are still working. I connect them to my Dell Inspiron 9400(that has 6 USB ports). When I bought the first one I was very doubtful if they could work connected to a laptop but, they work even when I have connected up to 4 to this laptop. They also work in all other laptops that I have connected to (even in the tiny SONY VAIO UX380FN. This 320 GB works also equally well.
I should also mention that I had previously bought 3 Western Digital "MY BOOK" USB hard-disks. They are still working fine since the first day, but I hate their cumbersome power supply that makes them not very portable.
I had previously bought another brand USB hard-disk, also from AMAZON. It never worked very well. Finally it refused to be recognized by the system so, I finally opened the box and mounted the disk as internal in a desktop to recover the hidden data inside: the hard-disk was OK, so success for my data.
USB hard-disks, specially the passport cannot be dismounted by windows like the USB pen drives. I consulted to Western Digital. They informed me that this was a problem with all USB hard-disks, because windows recognized them as disks, not as flash drives or memory cards. I found a trick to allow dismount them without a shut down. I bought and installed `cryptic disk'. This program requires you to mount and dismount the hard disk, apart from protect your data to be peeked by other eyes in case your disks go to other hands.
Customer Review: Excellent mobile storage
Summary: 5 Stars
I have owned several Western Digital Passport drives and a few other mobile drive brands. This drive is great for backups, as you can hook it up fast without a power supply and store it anywhere. Put it in your briefcase, put it in your safe, take it with you anywhere and keep a copy of your data. It is almost pocket-size and the only thing you have to keep with you is a short USB cable. Some people consider the short cable that's included to be too short, but it's mobile!
Some owners have commented on needing a power adapter or extra usb cable for it, but I've never had that issue. I've used it on multiple desktops and multiple laptops with no issues at all, but you'll have to try it on your own system.
The surface of the Passports (shiny, black material) can be easy to scratch if you throw it around or keep it in your bag with other items. That would be my only complaint, but it doesn't really bother to me.
All WD Passports that I've owned, including this one, have stood up very well. I've never had a drive failure, the transfer speed is always quick, and the case is very sturdy. I have these drives everywhere, because of their mobility and performance. You can't beat them!
The speed is very responsive. I've used it on an XP and Vista machine and both have copied data to it fairly quick. I haven't performed tests on it, but it always gets the job done for me. The 320GB version is a great upgrade on the previous Passport models.
Customer Review: Very Convenient!
Summary: 5 Stars
Ever since the USACE (US Army Corps of Engineers) outlawed USB keys, I've had no way of transferring my data from one work computer to another. Several co-workers used the past generation of this hard drive without a problem so I decided to get one. This little thing is fast (with USB 2.0) and extremely quiet. I just have this sitting on top of my desktop tower with the USB cable going to the front. There is a bright white light in front (by the USB connector) that serves as the HD's activity light - it also lets you know when it is safe to disconnect (when you disconnect it in Windows first).
As with all HDs - I formatted this to NTFS and just make sure to disconnect in Windows before I physically pull it out. I got the 320GB one - after formatting shows = 298GB. The black external plastic is extremely easy to scratch (and it shows) so you might want to go with a different color. I went with black because at the time it was $20 cheaper than the other colors. I haul this thing in my laptop bag - it is so thin it slides into any slot without a problem.
I've owned this drive for a few months. Just a warning: You'll never go back to your old way of working with computers. Ever since I found: [...] - I have everything I need on my Passport drive. Even when I'm at home, I plug this thing in and use Pidgin, OpenOffice, and Notepad++ 100% from this drive.
As with any hard drive - always backup your data.
Definitely recommend!!! 5 stars!
Customer Review: Small and quiet
Summary: 4 Stars
-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!
Customer Review: Unreliable and Irresponsible
Summary: 2 Stars
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.