Passport Essential 2.5" 320GB USB Hard Drive
by Western Digital Retail
|
List Price: Our Price: $64.99 You Save: $115.00 (64%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
|---|
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Passport Essential 2.5" 320GB USB Hard Drive
Customer Review: Wonderful little drive!
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm thoroughly impressed with this drive. It is attractive, compact, incredibly easy to use and has ample capacity for my uses. I did not install the software - I simply try to keep my computer as simple as possible - I have had too many bad experiences in the past by loading innumerable software applications since something inevitably crashes. My computer has Windows XP and as soon as you plug in the USB cable the system recognizes the drive. Click My Computer and there the drive is. Easy as pie. Create folders in the drive like you would on any other drive then I just copy and paste whatever backup files I want from my main hard drive onto the Passport drive. As other reviewers have said the speed is not blinding fast but I don't do huge backups so no problem for my purposes. The convenience (it's GREAT to not have to hook up an additional power cord - it's totally powered by the USB port) and simplicity - not to mention the small size and attractiveness more than compensate for the lack of super speed. For me it's perfect and I am extremely happy with the purchase.Customer Review: Solid Drive
Summary: 5 Stars
I have always used Western Digital for my Hard Drives in the computers I make. I have only had 1 fail out of dozens and some are still going strong after many many years. I am currently using some WD Raptors personally and Western Digital is top notch. I got this item to do backup and to hold data in case I was swapping hard drives or moving files around from laptop to laptop or desktop to laptop. I plugged it into my desktop and it automatically detected it. I then messed around with the software installed and I can honestly say I skipped using it; I do everything manually.
The capacity is decent and the thing is small and does not take up a lot of room. I put it into a drawer when it is not in use and is only a couple inches high inside the case.
There is only one drawback. I wish the usb cord that came with it was a little bit longer, I plug it in and it does not go that far so I have to leave it on top of the computer instead of putting it on my desk, but other than that the drive is awesome.
Customer Review: Portble HD saves everything
Summary: 5 Stars
A couple of years ago I bought a big deal laptop with a 60 GB hard drive. Worked fine with cameras of the time that generated 3 MB image files. Then I bought newer cameras that generated 15 MB files- whoa! I started working with Photoshop. It can generate 30 MB files. Layers, you know. Wow! I filled that laptop very quick.
What to do? I bought this portable hard drive. Formatted it right out of the box as other reviewers suggested. It acts just like another drive with a different capital letter (F:). Moved about 20 GB of images out of my computer's HD in about 20 minutes-- Roughly--. Now I have room to work on my laptop, yet keep all of my image files, at the ready. I'm not a computer geek, but I think the image files move on and off this portable hard drive at a similar speed as they move on and off the laptop's internal hard drive. For $125+ or whatever, I have the space to keep on taking photos for a much longer time. I love this portable Hard drive!
Customer Review: Great Hard Drive
Summary: 5 Stars
This little external hard drive is great. USB powered means that I only have to carry a single cable with me, if even that. It uses a standard A to mini-B USB cable.
There is a small white notification light next to the USB port on the device. It is bright enough to be noticed but not too bright to be bothersome.
Since it is a moving parts hard drive inside this enclosure, after safely removing the device you should wait a couple extra seconds before unplugging it. The device needs to move it's header back to a safe zone as to not corrupt any of your data. You can actually hear it still working even after you click remove device. Just wait those couple extra seconds to make sure no data is lost or corrupted. With all hard drives I recommend safely removing it through the USB option instead of just pulling the plug out.
I have had no problems with device. I use it to backup my data regularly.
Customer Review: Excellent QUALITY Portable Drive
Summary: 5 Stars
I currently have 2 of these drives: 60GB and a 120GB and I am looking to get the 320GB. I have had both these drives now, since they were first introduced, and I am looking to upgrade. So,for me, quality and performance outweigh the price. WD makes a very fine product. Just know that because it is USB 2.0 with no AC, means it will not be as fast as internal drives or USB with AC power. So, with that being said, use this drive for your backups only. I think you will be extremely pleased. Also, you may not want to use the software that comes with it as it tends to slow the drive down somewhat. I formatted the drive as soon as I got it, so it worked well for me - more than well! I picked up the case (Case Logics), from BJs for 9.99. Sam's has it for 14.99, but the price may have dropped. YOU CANNOT GO WRONG WITH THE WD PASSBOOK SERIES EXTERNAL DRIVES. SIMPLY MARVELOUS!