Western Digital 160GB 2.5-inch Passport USB Portable Hard Drive
by Western Digital
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List Price: Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Western Digital 160GB 2.5-inch Passport USB Portable Hard Drive
Customer Review: The best ability is reliability.
Summary: 5 Stars
The 160GB Western Digital Passport is my third (including 40 & 120GB models) and has endured 10-18 hour work days (5-7 days a week). It travels to and from work EVERYDAY and has joined me on domestic and international trips.
Given the amount of time and money invested in my 'digital' life; Western Digital's Passport has been the sole source of security. Despite PC crashes, thunderstorm power-outages, and suffering a pretty bad 'spill' at work; the Passport has paid for itself many times. I don't use it to 'back up' my music and video files; it stores a working clone of them.
I empathize with some of the poorer reviews. However, I suspect many of them are Mac users. I also own an Apple G4 PowerBook and NONE of my Passports are adequately powered by a single G4 USB port. I've researched the issue and am confident many (if not all) pre-Intel MacBooks have limited power through their USB 2.0 ports. I even tried a LACIE (Mac endorsed) external with my PowerBook; the drive does not mount without using both USB ports.
If you use Windows-based PCs at home or work consider making the Western Digital Passport essential as a surge protector. Its the sleekest, sexiest, and most reliable brand I've used.
Customer Review: Exactly What I Wanted
Summary: 5 Stars
I have to say that this is probably the best purchase I have made in a long time. It was exactly what I wanted - a large storage capacity in a lightweight, small device that was cheap. This is a very solid, extremely portable hard drive (it can fit in the pockets of my jeans like a wallet) that is so much more useful than my 320GB western digital hard drive that must be plugged into an electrical outlet and is relatively massive and weighty. Additionally, it transfers files fast and easily. This is, as far as I'm concerned, the best external hard drive you can buy if you need around 100GB. Even if you think you won't need a portable hard drive, you'll find that it makes life so much easier when you do have a small, durable hard drive that you can move around easily without having to plug it in. The only caveat I have is that many people have problems with this device and I'm pretty sure it's because they are using laptops that aren't new and can't provide enough energy to the hard drive. I have a macbook and I have no problems but I couldn't plug it into my brother's 3-year-old macbook pro because it didn't supply enough energy. So, I'd make sure you know that you have a good enough laptop or desktop before you buy this.Customer Review: Mac Laptop users beware!!
Summary: 3 Stars
As others have already stated, this device is not really Mac friendly. I have a PowerBookG4 that is only 2 years old, I figured it was new enough that it might not have the power issues that others had. I was wrong! The drive won't even power up, it just makes this weird clicking noise if you try to plug it into your laptop with the cable provided. After calling Western Digital to complain and see what my options were, they knew the problem right away. I was hesitant to believe it was just a power issue, but I figured I'd try the new cable they promised to send me and then go from there. The cable arrived a few days later (very quick shipping!) and my drive works wonderfully now! The only problem is that since it takes both USB ports on my laptop, you cannot really use other devices at the same time. This causes me issues since I got this drive to transfer my digital photos from my camera (which of course uses USB). So now I still have to keep enough space to transfer photos to the harddrive and then transfer them again to the portable drive.
On the plus side, its very cute (sorry, its a girl thing) and i love how compact it is. It is great to use on the road.
Customer Review: Don't buy this product!
Summary: 1 Stars
I purchased this from Sam's Club a little over a month ago. It worked fine and I was loving the convenience and portability of the drive. Now it doesn't work. During the times I had it I stored it in a small padded case and never dropped it once. It was formatted for a Mac and I used MacDrive to access it on my PC. Like I said before it worked great for about 6 weeks and now I cannot access it. When it is connected to my Mac it doesn't mount at all. When I connect it to my PC I get a USB Device malfunction error message. The drive is operating and there are no blinking lights to tell me there's a problem. I contacted support at Western Digital and they are sending me a USB power booster cable to see if that fixes the problem. I suspect that there may be more to this but I will follow-up when I try the cable. Normally I don't buy Western Digital stuff because of this exact reason. I guess I should have followed my gut and passed this by. Now if this cable doesn't work I'll have lost all of my data. My warning is never buy Western Digital or you may experience what I have! Go to Western Digital's website and check out their forum if you don't believe me.Customer Review: They offer a free solution for Mac Powerbooks, but it takes a week
Summary: 3 Stars
As many have stated, many Mac PowerBook G4s and other laptops don't provide enough power through a single USB port to properly spin this drive.
Western Digital does have a FREE fix, which is a power booster cable that plugs into 2 USB ports and replaces the original USB cable... and they'll ship it to you free if you call them. As you might have guessed, this means you need two free USB ports in order to use the drive (which is very small and sleek - tres chic).
You cannot buy the power booster cable anywhere that I can find. To get the cable, call WD tech support AFTER you get your drive (you need the serial number to call them) at 800-275-4932. At the prompts press 2 and then 2 again. Be sure you have your serial number when you call.
Others have pointed out that you can use a powered USB hub, however, I encountered trouble in doing so, plus as they point out that means carrying an extra USB cable, the hub, and the power source. The free power booster cable from WD replaces the cable that came with the Passport and thus you only have to carry the drive and the one cable.