CNET Editor's rating: 7.0 out of 10
Reviewed by
Dong Van Ngo
Review date: 09/08/06
Release date: 06/01/06
The good: Compact; bus-powered; quick at reading and writing; includes sync and encryption software; comes with a zippered, hard carrying case.
The bad: Sync software works with only Windows XP and 2000; phone support may eventually become expensive.
The bottom line: Western Digital's Passport Portable External Hard Drive lets you take a lot of data on the road for a low price.
The latest version of the Western Digital Passport Portable External Hard Drive lives up to its name: it's about the same size as a passport. We were surprised at its light weight, too, given its solid design, but we expect as much from a portable drive. Setting up the Passport was a no-brainer. The drive comes with a single standard mini USB cable for both data and power, as the drive is bus-powered, a nice touch for portable drive. (Still we prefer the integrated design of the Apricorn Aegis Mini.) All we had to do is plug in the drive to our PC, and we were up and running.
Western Digital preloads some software on the drive, including Google's desktop software, WD Sync synchronization-and-encryption software, and an electronic version of the included quick-start guide. Unfortunately, the sync-and-encrypt software works with only Windows 2000 and XP operating systems, so Mac users will have to find and install their own software. The drive also comes with a zippered, hard case that's just roomy enough for the drive and the cable, convenient for anyone on the go.
Drive type: Portable hard drive
Capacities: 60GB, 80GB, 100GB, 120GB (5,400rpm)
Capacity of test unit: 120GB
Cache: 2MB
Dimension: 5.68 inches by 3.5 inches by 0.83 in inch (LWH); 0.6 pound
Notable design features: None
Connection options: USB 2.0
OSs supported: Windows 98 SE/Me/2000/XP; Mac OS 9.2.2 or Mac OS X 10.1.5+
Software included (on drive): WD Sync synchronization-and-encryption software
Any additional features: Zippered, hard carrying case
Service/support: One-year warranty; phone support: free for 30 days from first call, $14.95 per incident after 30 days, toll-free, available Monday through Thursday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., CT; Web site has knowledge base, downloads, and an e-mail support form.
On CNET Labs' test bench, the Passport didn't disappoint us with its speeds. The Passport took about 20 minutes to write our 10GB test folder to its disks. This is comparable to other portable hard drives, such as the Apricorn Aegis Mini (19.2 minutes). The reading test yielded even better results. The drive needed only 8.7 minutes to copy the 10GB folder back to our test machine. This is about as good as it gets for a USB 2.0 external hard drive.
Overall, the Western Digital Passport is a great little drive to carry with you. It's small enough to fit anywhere in your luggage, yet roomy enough to hold all of your documents plus maybe even all of your music collection. And at $200 for the 120GB unit, it won't break the bank, either.
Intro:
This Western Digital Passport USB Portable Hard Drive is a 160GB, external hard disk drive.Compared to other external hard drives on the market, it is relatively inexpensive at around $135.This is a 5400 rpm drive and has a 2MB cache.
Noteworthy Features:
Has a 160GB capacity, which is larger than some similarly priced hard drives.In fact, the average cost of a product with this large a capacity is $230.
Weaker Features:
None noted, given available product data.
Suitability:
An external hard drive, suited for convenient plug-and-play with most desktop or notebook computers.
Value:
Overall, this hard drive's features are as expected for this price.
Suggestions:
(1) Replacement notebook drives may be designed for specific models, so be sure to check with your laptop manufacturer to determine which drives are compatible.(2) You may want to consider an external drive/backup solution, rather than replacing the internal one.
4 out of 10 - Mediocre Does not work with most laptops
After purchasing the HD, I plugged it in and to my supprise it was not working. After some research on ...
After purchasing the HD, I plugged it in and to my supprise it was not working. After some research on WD's website I quickly found out that most laptops will not power up this hardrive, as it draws more power than USB drives are allowed to supply in specs. They stated you need to buy a power source from thier website. This compltetly took the portability away from this drive. Super bummer. Thank god I was able to return it. I ended up getting the LaCie 160GB with USB 2.0 and firewaire. Started up, no problem! My computer is a Powerbook G4 for your reference.
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by emanonco (see profile) -
November 13, 2006
2 out of 10 - Terrible Doesn't work in front USB ports, doesn't work in laptops, very short cord
This thing would be awesome if it worked - it's nice and small and sleek, comes with a handy ...
This thing would be awesome if it worked - it's nice and small and sleek, comes with a handy zip-up carrying case, very lightweight, and fits 160 GB! Supposedly.
It seemed ok in the beginning - installed itself quickly and easily, and started humming along as I moved my 120 GB of music from my brand new XP desktop to the drive. But when I checked on it an hour later, there was an error, saying the drive was not recognized. I tried different USB ports, which would work for a few seconds, and then again, the drive wouldn't be recognized.
I tested my USB ports with other devices - all were fine. When I called WDC Customer Support, they told me the drive does not work with front USB ports (not close enough to the motherboard), but the cord is too short to use it effectively on the back ports. I tried it anyway - doesn't work. There are no drivers to download, no fixes, it's just a bad drive. Apparently this is a common issue.
And by the way, to concur with the other review - I tried it on my laptop as well, and it does not work there. WD customer support confirmed that these drives do not work well with laptops. It'd be nice if they put that on the packaging so that the consumer would know that BEFORE purchasing. Just a word to the wise.
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by frndlyjen (see profile) -
February 21, 2007
6 out of 10 - Good overall good to back up single computer
I agree with the previous user that this cannot be used out of the box with most laptops since it ...
I agree with the previous user that this cannot be used out of the box with most laptops since it draws too much power to be plugged into a single USB port. BUT, Western Digital supplied me a replacement cable free of charge that plugged into both USB ports. That fixed the problem. It did mean that it took over a week receive the dual USB cable. And I was frustrated until I figured ou the problem (they do mention it in their manual). Western Digital provides one month of free tech support to help you with any initial problems setting up the drive.
It is a very quick and smart drive that "syncs" with your computer similar to a lot of handhelds/PDAs out there. This is good and bad:
The good thing is that, after the initial set up (where you specify which files/drives/programs from your computer you want synced on a regular basis), you just hit "sync" and within 5 minutes, your entire drive is backed up. It lets you tell it if you want to back up the email program of your choice (Outlook/Outlook Express/etc) and if you want it to automatically sync each time. You can also plug it into any computer and essentially turn that computer into your own computer (since it is a copy of your hard drive). You can also easily copy files from the drive to a new computer. It is very light and portable -- similar to any handheld.
The bad thing is that to copy files FROM a NEW computer TO the drive, you have to go through the set up again, which erases whatever you have on the drive. That means, you first have to copy the saved files to the new computer, reformat drive, then sync with the new computer. In that way, it is not ideal for saving information from multiple computers onto this drive. Since it "syncs", if you erase something from your computer, it will also erase it from the drive -- that means you can't use it to store more than what you can already store on your computer. Also, if you use it with a laptop, it will take up both of your USB ports (because of the power issue).
Overall, I think it is a good drive if you are backing up a single computer and if you want a more portable form of your computer's hard drive that will fit into your pocket.
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by umber76 (see profile) -
December 14, 2006
I Plugged it into laptop USB port, Ran Sync, Configured ...
I purchased this new off eBay and am very pleased.
I Plugged it into laptop USB port, Ran Sync, Configured import folders, Synched my files, Everything Backed Up. No problems.
You can also just drag and drop, thus bypassing the sync option. But doing this requires manual searching, copying etc. over and over.
As a test, I ran sync a second time and it just breezed right through knowing everything that there was to copy had been already and took only a few seconds to recognize this fact and stop. In settings option make sure you choose to copy all file extensions.
When copying back to PC software lets you choose what folder to copy to but copies individual folders with all their files rather than individual files. For this reason I rate as 9 out of 10. But no big deal I guess.
BTW - USB powered only. Now other cords or power source required for me, unlike other reviewers.
All in all a great device for back up peace of mind!
Updated Also can't copy folders directly from Desktop when using Synch. So if you want the sync 128 bit encryption protection, drag any files/ folders on Desktop into your C;/ somewhere. Otherwise drag and drop onto the passport.
Forgot to mention that all files using sync function get encrypted in case of loss with very easy configuration settings, i.e. password, reset, delete all data, lost and found info.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular More convenient than my laptop
I debated about getting this drive based on all the negative reviews I had read. Out of necessity and wanting ...
I debated about getting this drive based on all the negative reviews I had read. Out of necessity and wanting convenience, I bought it. I got it at Costco for $119. I figured since Costco has a 2 year warranty with all computers and peripherals, why not. They seem to have a great return policy. I have had this drive for 2 weeks now. I love it. It works great. No hang up or power issues like all the other reviews. I wanted to use it the same way I would my thumb drive. I didn?t install the hardware because I didn?t want to backup everything, just the most important stuff. XP recognized it right away. Also I was transferring info from my old laptop with XP to my new laptop with Vista on it. I was worried Vista wouldn?t recognize it, based on all the reviews I read. To my delight and surprise it worked without a problem. I have to say it has been great addition. What is even better now is I don?t have to carry around my laptop everywhere I go. I can install a program to this little guy and work off of it anywhere. As long as I have this drive with all my stuff on it I can use it anywhere. So against all negative reviews, I would say I am very happy with it.
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by Vijames007 (see profile) -
April 15, 2007
9 out of 10 - Spectacular If you get the correct cable, it'll work...
All the reviews I've seen about this product is, "...it doesn't work with laptops....sucks with laptops..." Well, ...
All the reviews I've seen about this product is, "...it doesn't work with laptops....sucks with laptops..." Well, that's probably because all of those people didn't get the correct cable. You HAVE to buy the add-on "Y" USB cable for this hard drive to work properly with a laptop. Just using the small single USB does NOT receive enough power supply, and have enough flow to function quickly and properly. If you get the Y USB cable, you have the separate "Power" USB just to turn on the hard drive itself, then you have the normal USB 2.0 which actually 'connects' the hard drive to the computer. Aside from that, this hard drive is absolutely amazing (assuming you have the Y cable). I actually have the 250GB Passport, and it's amazing. I use it with Windows Vista Ultimate on my laptop. It's only slightly larger than my SLVR cell phone, and weighs the exact same as my SLVR. It's very fast transferring data on and off of the computer. So, if you guys just spend an extra 15 bucks and get the Y USB Power cable, this thing works perfectly.
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by Jed_07 (see profile) -
April 23, 2008
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
2 out of 10 - Terrible Absolutely Hate It!
Unlike a lot of previous reviewers i had no problem with my laptop powering the hard disk however i couldn'...
Unlike a lot of previous reviewers i had no problem with my laptop powering the hard disk however i couldn't get it to sync right with any of my files. I ended up resetting everything 3 times before i finally could get it to work. It's not very user friendly especially for people like me who aren't as tech savvy. Would not recommend this even for the price. It is only good for backing up a computer but not actually useful as just a portable hard drive! If you don't like syncing (like ipod or handheld) then this is not the right one for you. The only good things i could say is that it is very light and that it looks pretty stylish but apart from that RUN AWAY!
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by photoshopheart (see profile) -
April 6, 2008
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
3 out of 10 - Poor Very Disappointing
Given the problems I had with this unit (see below), I could not test it as thoroughly as I would ...
Given the problems I had with this unit (see below), I could not test it as thoroughly as I would have liked, but the hardware seems fine. Nothing else about this unit is acceptable, including:
- A completely inadequate 8" USB cable (the documentation on the drive claims 22").
- Inadequate power possible without a Y cable, not supplied.
- The zippered hard carrying case mentioned in cnet's review appears to have become a victim of cost cutting.
- WD's idea of "Auto Synch" is not what I would expect, namely that when I change a file it is automatically changed (synched) on the Passport. Nope: to them, it means that when you start the Synch/Restore program, it will at that time scan all your files and synch them, no extra click needed.
- WD's synch facility does not let you restore single files.
- The Passport does not come with backup software (why else did I buy this thing), but gives suggestions about where such programs can be bought. Gee, thanks.
- Customer Support does not respond. They state their goal is to answer emails within 1 day, but it could be 3 when busy. I'm now 6 business days with no response.
- The documentation that comes on the unit makes it appear that you should (must?) shut down and disconnect the unit whenever the computer is shut down. If true (no answer from them on this yet), that's a real inconvenience, one not shared by my son's Seagate Freeagent Go, which is what I think I'm going to buy.
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by geekguy1 (see profile) -
January 7, 2008
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Very Good portable drive. No prob on my laptop
I have two units which I purchased over 2 years ago. I have used them connected to several different computers. ...
I have two units which I purchased over 2 years ago. I have used them connected to several different computers. The only instances of non recognition were solved by swapping out the usb or using the ac power supply when the 1.1 usb port was not adequate to power. Hope that helps other people having issues. The only issue I have is the subpar backup/sync software
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by ocboi (see profile) -
November 15, 2007
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
4 out of 10 - Mediocre Cute but fatally flawed
Manufacturers should be more honest that this is something many laptop users will buy and out the box it can'...
Manufacturers should be more honest that this is something many laptop users will buy and out the box it can't be powered by many laptops. I spent hours thinking my data was corrupt before reading the other reviews here. Sigh!!
Updated As of October 1, 2007, Western Digital is shipping a free Y booster cable to customers whose USB ports won't power the drive. They promised 1-2 day delivery. The tech I got couldn't say, though, if running the drive from a powered USB hub would also solve the problem.
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