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Western Digital My Passport Essential 500GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive - Black
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| List Price: | £89.99 |
| Price: | £69.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery. Details |
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk
12 new or used available from £69.99
Average customer review:
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #364 in Consumer Electronics
- Brand: Western Digital
- Model: WDBAAA5000ABK-EESN
- Released on: 2009-09-10
- Dimensions: .59" h x 4.33" w x 3.27" l, .44 pounds
- Hard Disk: 500GB
Editorial Reviews
Manufacturer's Description
A Message from Western Digital
Thank you Amazon.co.uk users for your feedback! Western Digital has listened and has updated this product to better meet your needs.New Updates for WD SmartWare Software
We’ve been shipping our new WD SmartWare software for a few months now. During that time we’ve been listening to our customers. As a result of the feedback we’re getting, we’ve developed some updates for the software.
Updates:
- Ability to hide the Virtual CD (VCD)
- Enhanced the ability to opt-out of WD SmartWare completely
- Exit WD SmartWare from the Windows system tray
Learn more:
http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/updates/?family=wdsmartware (What's This?)
Product Description
The world’s most popular portable drive is now smaller than ever. And it’s smarter than ever with WD SmartWare™ data management and backup software that backs up your data automatically and continuously, shows your backup as it happens, and restores lost files effortlessly. Password protection and military-grade, 256-bit hardware-based encryption lets you secure your data. One of the five beautiful colours is just what you need to make you look smart (and very stylish).Pack up your office files and take them home. Carry thousands of songs or pictures. Synchronize files between home and office and encrypt everything on the drive for added security.
Big capacity that fits in your pocket - This compact drive fits easily in your pocket or purse, weighs only a few ounces and with with massive storage capacity, you can take tons of photos, videos, files and music with you wherever you go.
USB powered - Powered directly from the USB port on your PC. No separate power supply is needed.
Synchronized and secure - Plug My Passport into any PC, edit files, read e-mail, and view photos. Then sync all of your changes back to your home or office computer. Your data is protected with 128-bit encryption. (Windows only)
Compatible - Use with Windows and Macintosh computers.
Ideal for storing or backing up your digital music, videos and photos, carrying important files and e-mail between work and home or on the road and keeping them in sync, plus sharing large files between office and home, between PC and Mac.
Box Contains
Customer Reviews
Very disappointing
I was delighted with my old model WD My Passport, so when I needed another USB drive I naturally went for this one.
It is even smaller than the previous model and looks good, BUT... It uses a micro USB plug rather than the earlier mini USB and it fits very loosely with a lot of lateral movement. The slightest movement on the cable will cause the connection to be broken resulting in read/write errors and cable can also just fall out. Other micro USB cables that I've seen have small grips that give a firm connection, but this doesn't have any form of grip. I find it unbelievable that this could get through WD quality control.
The emulated CD which has the lock utility was also unexpected and it needs drivers to be installed from there for the main drive to be seen on my Vista machine. This is also a pain as you need to install the drivers on any machine to be able to use it.
If the cable problem was fixed I'd probably give it four stars. Micro USB cables are not so readily available.
Look the at previous generation models first before you buy this
Being a long time fan of Western Digital drives this was my first choice when purchasing a new portable drive.
Having received it I'm returning it for the previous 500GB model.
Pros:
- Smaller size than previous models
- USB cable uses new micro USB connector for the drive. It is not a proprietary connector.
This is the format that will be used in future for European cellphone chargers.
Cons:
- USB cable uses new micro USB connector for the drive meaning you need a second different cable if you have any older portable drives which use the mini USB connector.
- Micro USB connector feels loose and likely to disconnect when bumped.
- WD SmartWare software is built into the firmware of the drive and works by creating a virtual cd drive to mount a cd image. It can not be removed, only disabled. Note you have to disable it per machine you use it on.
The biggest gripe is about the software. Western Digital have tried add value by including it however the manner in which they have done it stops the drive from being a bog standard drive and makes it frustrating when using it over multiple computers and non-Windows computers. Previous models have included software but allowed you to format the drive you can get rid of it - not so with this model.
Returned after less than a month
Had great expectations after purchasing this drive, but the loose cable connector and the very short cable were probably just the beginning of my disappointment. Then "USB drive not recognised" error messages started appearing intermittently after plugging into any PC, and would only work after 2nd/3rd attempt. I was forced to return the drive when I/O error messages started occuring and it became virtually unusable. I think all the faults stem from the unstable and loose connection b/w the cable and the drive and I dread this becoming the "standard" for all USB mobile devices as being reported! Most other reviews have not been complimentary either and it's a shame that I too cannot recommend anyone buying this.
