Western Digital intros My Passport Essential external HDD
By Darren Murph 
posted Jan 30th 2008 10:19AM
posted Jan 30th 2008 10:19AM
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These things are damn sexy.. no need for external power is hawt.
Yes, no need for external power is hawt, but their other passport drives pull more power from a single USB port than many laptops provide. This renders them useless, and worse... can corrupt data. The WD passport series draws more power from the USB port than is officially supported by USB standards.
i use mine on a fujitsu lifebook, asus notebook, and a dell pc without any problem.
i use mine on a fujitsu lifebook, asus notebook, and a dell pc without any problem.
I've gotta be missing something. But don't these look almost exactly the SAME as the Passport drives?
How are they "less clunky" than something that looks the same?
The only difference I see is that one end is rounded off a little more. The 320Gb passport I have here is also bus powered and also comes in shiny black.
I agree, it's basically the same damn thing! But I have to admit, that annoying rubber flap has been making me toss and turn at night!
I dont under stand them all of their devices look the same just a different color and name???
Thank God they removed the annoying rubber flap.
I gotta say I love the little device. Extremely small and light, extremely fast and it's great for portability. I'm completely satisfied.
I have a 250GB version, which I find works well as an external hdd but I wouldn't use it for my system drive as it has 2MB cache. I've read that the 320GB version also has 2MB cache... can you confirm that the 320 comes with 8?
ignore my post (i'm having browser issues)
Do these need a USB Y adapter cable to get enough power to run? My experience with these is that a single USB port doesn't provide enough power to spin the drives at times.
Any high-power USB port should work.
Mine runs without a hitch on my EeePC...which is good, because I need the extra storage!
According to WD's specs, the only difference in dimensions is that this one is 3mm less in length than the regular Passport. The other dimensions are the same and the weight is the same.
Why do they make two such similar models?
I have the "old" (like, a couple of months ago) 320GB model, and it runs fine off one USB port on my MacBook Pro, Sony TX, and Toshiba Portege.
Stop calling electronics "sexy"
No Mac support.. arrrrgghh.
why wouldnt it work in a mac? its just a standard usb hard drive.
From the website:
"Compatible - Use with Windows® and Macintosh® computers"
Likely just functions as a regular external drive; first thing I'd do is reformat the thing anyway.
I think TC was referring to the included software for the Mac, which there is none.
If you are running this under Leopard, there is Time Machine, which the 320gb model would make an excellent portable companion.
I have two WD Passport drives (160G & 200G) that I use with my MacBook Pro.
i think that's the software. the drive works with mac.
I actually like the rubber flap. It makes me safer knowing that liquids won't get into the slot that's plugged into the hard drive.
The best thing about these drives? They are easy to rip open and take the drive out. After coupons I got my 320Gb for $140, which went right into my Dell XPS notebook.
For some reason they charge more for the internal drive than for the external one, despite the drives themselves being identical. In the 320 it's just a 5400rpm 8Mb cache sata drive.
How exactly do you get one of this opened. I am trying to swap the one inside my Macbook Pro. Plus, where do you get such a great sweet deal.
Just stuck a knife or screwdriver between where the 2 pieces of the case come together, move the knife around the case so the plastic clips unlock, or just open one corner and pull really hard.
Once opened pull the foil off the drive and remove the small PCB. That's all there is to it.
my 8/2007 purchased one stopped working. Makes a weird roaring sound, Both Leopard and Tiger say the disk is unreadable, and disk utility says it's a Western Digital 2 TB external drive. Very weird. I found a similar case here:
http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=91841
Going to see if I can get WD's warranty to either repair or replace, but I was interested in taking the internal drive out to get my data out. Any suggestions?
I was able to open up and look inside prying iwth just my hands.
By the way, it's the 160GB Passport.
I have a 250GB version, which I find works well as an external hdd but I wouldn't use it for my system drive as it has 2MB cache. I've read that the 320GB version also has 2MB cache... can you confirm that the 320 comes with 8?
Yes, I can 100% confirm that it has 8Mb cache. The drive in the 320Gb passport is the WD3200BEVT. WD currently only make one kind of 320Gb drive.
I've had 2 different models of the older passport HDDs and both have crashed on me. WD was very good about getting them replaced, and i never keep my only copy of anything on an external HDD, but it's always annoying to loose data.
I've never plugged mine into a computer that didnt supply enough power for it to run. used it on Apple, dell, toshiba, HP, & gateway notebooks and it always worked well.
same here. click of death on one. They are a mode of transport but I don't suggest keeping anything unique on there that you care about. Great little devices but, a little sketchy
I use mine on a XP SP2 formatted HFS+ for WMV-HD files on the Xbox 360. Awesome.
To bad they only let you store Western Digital approved files. DO NOT buy, send a message to these b4st4rds. We will not let you tell us what we can store!
WTF are you talking about? It's a normal drive that can hold anything any other drives hold.
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/File-Sharing-Blocked-on-Western-Digital-Storage-Devices-90072
duh! that's the "network-connected hard drive "
foolio
Slipery Slope
gah. Why is it that every time I purchase something from WD they change their product. I want my passport to use 3mm less space!!! =(
Lookin' good, but hows bout' some 7200 RPM drives for us video guys.
I just bought the 250GB fro my 12" powerbook :D and works like a charm :D no need for the Y cable that most powerbooks need to make this work. Apparently the 12" have more USB power than its bigger brothers :D These are just exactly the same with what I have... so what gives?
I have one of these, but the usb cord was stolen. What are my options to draw enough power? I bought a $1.99 replacement 6' rosewill cord from newegg, but it apparently doesn't draw enough power. The OEM replace is a whopping $20+$8 shipping. Anyone found a workable replacement?
just make sure you don't buy any usb cable longer than the one they give you. i think the one they give is about 18 inches. thats the safest bet.
I have a 250GB version, which I find works well as an external hdd but I wouldn't use it for my system drive as it has 2MB cache. I've read that the 320GB version also has 2MB cache... can you confirm that the 320 comes with 8?
I have a 250GB version, which I find works well as an external hdd but I wouldn't use it for my system drive as it has 2MB cache. I've read that the 320GB version also has 2MB cache... can you confirm that the 320 comes with 8?
(sorry for the duplicate posts)
test post...
I have a 160GB passport, I guess it's the old model now. I have a 17" macbook pro and about a minute or two after I plug the drive in, it unmounts and gives me an "improper device removal" error. I'm assuming this is a problem with the power draw. But everybody is saying they use theirs with their Mac without problems. Sorry to be thick, but what is this Y cable everyone is talking about? Is this the only solution? Thanks.
I've been having the exact same problem with my WD Passport. Very frustrating, esp because I can't seem to find any documentation online that would explain what's wrong.
Did you figure out how to fix it?
I can't seem to find any documentation either. But from what people are telling me it's an issue with the cable. I plugged a friend's drive into my laptop without problems. I can't visually tell the difference between the cables though, so I don't know which one to buy to alleviate the issue.