Western Digital rolls out colorful new My Passport Elite USB hard drives

Western Digital has never been one to skimp on color choices for its portable hard drives, and it now busted out the crayons yet again for its new batch of My Passport Elite USB drives. Available in bronze, titanium, westminster blue and cherry red, the drives each boast a "soft-touch finish" to keep 'em from slipping out of your hands, and weigh in at a mere 5 ounces. You'll also get a built-in capacity gauge to let you know how much space you have left, as well as the usual back-up software and security measures. If that sounds like the drive you've been looking for, you can grab a 250GB model now for $170, or move on up to a 320GB drive for an even $200.

[Via Register Hardware]

[Brian @ Mar 25th 2008 11:25AM]

Wow, pretty....

[gfar @ Mar 25th 2008 12:06PM]

...pretty weak.

500GB drive ~ $100
Vantec enclosure with eStata ~ $40
This = rip off.

[error2k2 @ Mar 25th 2008 12:37PM]

@gfar
Have you seen how tiny these are? I have a 500gb seagate hd in an icebox enclosure, but it's too freaking huge to be carrying around (and heavy).

The passport fits in my breast pockets and I take it everywhere.

[Guu @ Mar 25th 2008 12:38PM]

I wonder if any of you commenter's took the time to notice these are 2.5" laptop drives, NOT 3.5" drives.

So no a 500GB isn't ~$99, in fact they don't even exist yet!

[error2k2 @ Mar 25th 2008 12:41PM]

@error_2k2
Don't forget to mention how it doesn't need external power.

[Flashpoint @ Mar 25th 2008 11:27AM]

p0rn wallet

[Jonyah @ Mar 25th 2008 11:27AM]

wow, an extra $50 for a slightly modified case. way to go wd, screwing your customer base again.

[Mark @ Mar 25th 2008 11:30AM]

ah .. I hate that "soft touch" finish.

that thin coat of rubber is going to wear out or scratch and look really nasty.

[Ben @ Mar 25th 2008 11:43AM]

Their current black mirror like shiny exterior surface gets scratches and smudges as soon as it touches anything. This can only be a step up...

[Bruce Biganho @ Mar 25th 2008 11:32AM]

The 250 gig drive is $129 at Costco

[Imtiyaz @ Mar 25th 2008 11:33AM]

Right Now 200 Gb is only for 99 at best buy

[jesse @ Mar 25th 2008 11:43AM]

How can companies call something "Titanium" but it is really just painted plastic? I have the gloss black passport, it took me about 4 seconds to see a scratch on it.

[tekdroid @ Mar 25th 2008 6:59PM]

the same way companies can call synthetic materials "leather".

:p
If it looks somewhat like it, sure, let's call it that.

[Chris @ Mar 25th 2008 11:59AM]

I really wish i hadn't blown all my money on strippers this past weekend now.

[drhfffrrr @ Mar 25th 2008 9:16PM]

Amen! LOL

[myheaditches @ Mar 26th 2008 2:22PM]

Elliot? Is that you?

[ChillyWilly @ Mar 25th 2008 12:14PM]

I just bought a black 320gb a week ago and it's awesome. I could see needing another one at some point in the future. Cherry red looks pretty nice.

[natels @ Mar 25th 2008 12:37PM]

Are we to assume that these are still 5400RPM?

[Guu @ Mar 25th 2008 12:40PM]

The 320GB version could be 7200, all the others are likely 5400..

Doesn't matter much to me, they are external drives not my main HDD. Quieter is better imo.

[spook24 @ Mar 25th 2008 1:01PM]

i would like to have one. i was think on getting a 500gb or something that large very soon but now i might get this instead.

[phanbouy @ Mar 25th 2008 1:18PM]

no eSATA? no thanks. USB/eSata enclosures can be found on the intertubes for (insert symbol for less than) $20

[Mike Madigan @ Mar 25th 2008 2:03PM]

does that mean I could not use this with my PS3 as well?

[Max @ Mar 25th 2008 2:53PM]

Cause you really need esata on an HD designed to fit in your pocket.

[phanbouy @ Mar 25th 2008 3:04PM]

huh? wtf does portability negate my desire for esata come from? WD stockholder?

[Matt @ Mar 28th 2008 5:04PM]

@phanbouy

Comes from the fact that no laptops (that I know of, anyways) and only some desktops have eSATA ports. One of the main reasons to by a pocket-sized drive over a larger 3.5"-based drive is to be able to plug into whatever computer you come upon. eSATA + USB = means more electronics on the inside, one more port on the outside = bigger enclosure = less portable.

[For2itous @ Mar 25th 2008 1:30PM]

Lets just hope these 'passports' don't include RFID 'please drain-my-lizzard' chips, too...

[pmcb @ Mar 25th 2008 5:35PM]

Let's just hope they fixed a power problem mine (250gb orig) has. Sometimes it will go into constant spin up/click off loops that make it connect and disconnect repeatedly until you unplug it and let it sit for a minute. This happens during file transfer or other such operations and really messes things up. I think it's because it relies completely on the +5v out of the USB which apparently gets to be too low on my computer.

Though when it works (which is 90% of the time), this thing is AMAZING. It's tiny, quiet, cool (somehow...) and has enough storage to take just about everything you could need with you. If I didn't already have mine I'd definitely look at the 320gb ones. You guys complaining that it's too expensive have a point if you aren't taking things with you constantly, but carrying around something a little bit bigger than my wallet that has enough space for 3 of my harddrives is pretty damn perfect.

[Matt @ Mar 25th 2008 5:39PM]

Looks nice price is el sucko!

[Armoured @ Mar 25th 2008 8:05PM]

why no black?

[Tony @ Mar 25th 2008 11:46PM]

Racist!

[starwxrwx @ Mar 25th 2008 8:25PM]

I still prefer my pink one! But so far it's been performing great, so small and light (actually I lost it for a while in a bundle of clothes!)

Occasionally it is really slow to copy something, not sure what's up with that. Otherwise, awesome.

(I do hate how they photograph them to look all-over coloured - the backs are usually white or black!)

[Norman Speight @ Mar 26th 2008 9:45AM]

and:
A ONE YEAR GUARANTEE - ONLY!
You try to get one replaced when it goes faulty!
I've thrown out more WD drives under two years old than I care to remember. Only one worse, that was IBM drives (now Hitachi owned)
Now. You start offering a 5 year guarantee and a postal return, no arguments, and I'll start thinking.
Service is what counts - especially with the inflated purchase price of these drive setups.

[htheater @ May 26th 2008 6:44PM]

It DOES have a 5 year warranty.

Also, Costco has the 320gb in Bronze with a carrying case for $139.00 at the register (no MIR). Goes back to $169.00 on June 2nd.

[David Smith @ Oct 2nd 2008 8:40PM]

Norm, I have one word of advise: COSTCO. They have a "no-questions-asked" return policy. I even once seen a woman returning flowers the day after Mothers day! I just bought my passport today, (Brown) for $119 after they applied factory instant rebate of $20.

[Barry McConnell @ Aug 6th 2008 6:08PM]

1) You get $30 of software with the drive. It's reasonably decent s/w too, most casual users can "set it and forget it".

2) If concerned about the 1 yr warranty, buy it with a credit card that adds 1 yr to manufacturer's warranty. (just keep the original monthly statement & store receipt!)

3) After more than 2 yrs it will be obsolete anyway :)