WD's My Passport Studio wears contents on its sleeve with always-on 'e-label'
By Darren Murph 
posted March 1st 2010 8:28PM
posted March 1st 2010 8:28PM
Western Digital's My Passport Studio line has been spinning for years now, but today the outfit is pushing out a revamped version with a little something special. Boasting a FireWire 800 interface, a highly pocketable design and 256-bit hardware-based encryption, this here drive offers an "e-label smart display" on the front that actually remains on even when the drive is off and unplugged. Owners can tweak the text on the display as often as they like via WD's SmartWare software, and by utilizing e-paper technology, you'll always be able to see what's inside at a glance. Just so you're aware, the company's shipping this thing in 320GB, 500GB and 640GB flavors, but all three come pre-formatted for Mac use -- thankfully your Windows 7 rig won't have any issues wiping that slate clean and starting over once you hand over your $149.99 to $199.99.
Already saw this at BestBuy in a 500GB version though.
@merovingian yeah meetoo! great deal but looks a bit too big. maybe they have these in ssd?
Not too shabby. I thought maybe the e-ink would be gimmicky, but after thinking about it, a quick glance to the e-ink status indicator might be nice. Price is right for 640 GB with FW8. Like that.
I wish WD would stop adding uselessness and get the reliability of the drives to something very reasonable.
@Popfry
I know what you mean. I've had 3 Passport drives and all of them failed less than a year. I will never buy anything from WD. Seagate and NetGear are way better options.
@miakotamatsue
i've had 7, and all of them are still working. the oldest are from like 2005. it's my 1 seagate that sometimes flakes out on me, and i only bought that b/c i was unhappy with the bloatware on the last generation passport but needed a drive asap.
What the HELL I just bought one of the regular one of these.
What's lame is that smartsoftware crap they load onto it. I had to go out of my way to disable it, since it popping up every time I plug it in wanting to install was getting annoying.
This makes me more mad, but, that screen is ugly, and you probably NEED the software to use it... so I'll pass.
@APV You don't *need* the software to make the e-paper screen work. If you want to change the inversion or use the security that comes with it, you need the software. In all honestly, the software is by no means terrible. I hate third party software and WDs software impresses me.
I got this last Saturday at BestBuy. Works great on my MacBook Pro 2.8GHz! The encryption is fantastic and the e-paper screen works great! Even the back up software works decently. I have it back up my most frequently used files alongside my time machine's massive back up.
Awesome device!
wonder if there's a way for it to randomly display the contents of the drive...
~XXX_bigbuttsex.mkv_l0v3rz~
@Nicnac
Lol. and too much.
Off topic here, but the Facebook app for the Zune HD has been released.
This is definitely a great place for the use of e-ink. I have a Lexar usb flash drive that uses an e-ink capacity meter, and it comes in handy a lot.
@Vaio Wow, you're an a-hole.
i bought the 2TB desk version (studio) a few months back, if the software for the passport is anything similar this product, and thus the LCD, is a total failure. It's certainly innovative; very poorly implemented.
Yeah so when is somebody going to bring back ordinary usb thumb drives with the volume name & capacity showing on e-ink or a cholesteric display? Corsair stopped selling theirs a couple years ago, and those were way too slow anyway. It's really a useful feature and consequently I still use the ones I stocked up on while they were still for sale.
It is a WD though, which should mean that you have unlimited space after a few months (if you're a super optimist).