Western Digital My Passport Essential SE 1 TB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive (Midnight Black)

Western Digital My Passport Essential SE 1 TB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive (Midnight Black)
by Western Digital

Western Digital My Passport Essential SE 1 TB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive (Midnight Black)
List Price: $229.99
Our Price: $99.99
You Save: $130.00 (57%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: CE
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Customers in the UK, buy this product at amazon.co.uk for British Pounds

Digital Photo Product Details

Manufacturer: Western Digital
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: CD
Platform: Windows
Model: WDBABM0010BBK-NESN
Color: Midnight Black
Product features:
  • 1TB Maximun capacity in the palm of you hand
  • Automatic, continuous backup
  • Password protection and military-grade 256-bit hardware-based encryption
  • Ultra-portanble design
  • Powered directly from the USB port
Accessories:

Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Western Digital My Passport Essential SE 1 TB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive (Midnight Black)

Customer Review: An easy way to carry around an extra TB or two of storage...
Summary: 5 Stars

I'm a long term WD-Passport user and looked at these drives with a bit of trepidation given the reviews that I've seen here and elsewhere. However, I carry around a few 512GB drives and one of them was getting a bit low on space, so I thought it time to upgrade.

I like the new WD drives because they are smaller and sleeker than the older WD Passport drives. Well, I should be a bit careful with my words. Compared to my old 512GB WD Passport, thew new drive is slightly wider and thicker, but about a half inch shorter. It is also about 1 ounce heavier (7.2 oz vs 6.2 oz on my old drive).

I had no problems plugging in the drive and just installing the driver without having to install their "SmartWare" software (an oxymoron if I ever saw one...) by just selecting the device in the hardware management, selecting update driver, and browsing to the "Extras\WD SES Device Driver" on the CD image that was mounted when I plugged in the drive.

Later, I installed the software just to see how it worked and was not impressed. However, I'm a long term computer hack that doesn't want hand-holding software. I could see how this software could be useful for the standard off-the-shelf windows configuration that most average users have on their system.

So I uninstalled the software and use my own copy/backup routines.

Some have complained about the lost space due to the software being stored/managed in a protected partition that you can't delete on the drive. I'm not so concerned about losing a few hundred megabits on a terabyte drive and it isn't uncommon for manufacturers to have protected partitions for software restoration/debugging (Dell has a small protected partition on most, if not all, of the systems they sell to be used for diagnostics should there be a problem. Yeah, with Dell, if you know what you're doing you can go erase that partition (which I used to do in my younger days when every byte of disk space mattered, but no longer feel that the return is worth the cost/effort).

Some have also complained about the connector. It has changed from a standard mini-USB to a micro-USB. It is still a standard connector, just a smaller one that most small electronics are moving to (and the phone industry appears to be moving to standardize upon. My other micro-USB connectors that I have for several other devices with the same connector all work fine with this drive.

I don't know if my experience is that different from others because WD has fixed their issues in later releases of the drive, or they have more clearly explained the resolutions for issues that they've been experiencing or if I'm just less concerned about the little stuff that doesn't have an impact on how I will use the drive.

All in all, I'm happy with the device and don't have a problem recommending them.

BTW - WD has several cases out there for this drive. I've purchased both Western Digital Hard Carrying Case for My Passport Portable Drives WDBABJ0000NBK-NRSN - Black and Western Digital Soft Carrying Case for My Passport Portable Hard Drives WDBABK0000NSL-WASN (Silver). I find I prefer the soft case because it is sized a bit better for this drive and is smaller than the hard case. However, if you're going to bang the drive around a lot, you might consider the hard case as I think it would provide a bit better protection (I'm not too hard on my drives, though I carry them around everywhere and I travel a lot).

Description of Western Digital My Passport Essential SE 1 TB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive (Midnight Black)

See your life safe in one place with WD?s My Passport Essential SE USB drive. It offers maximum storage capacity for all your important files, videos, music, photos. With visual, automatic, continuous backup your data is backed up as soon as it?s changed. Maximum capacity. Maximum style. ? The world?s most popular portable drive now features maximum capacity to store all your favorite videos, music, photos, and important files. Still sleek and compact, you can load it up and take it with you anywhere.WD SmartWare ? See your life safe in one place.See your backup as it happens ? Seeing is believing. Visual backup displays your content in categories and show the progress of your backup.Protect your data automatically ? Relax, your data is secure. Automatic, continuous backup will instantly make a second copy whenever you add or change a file.Bring back lost files effortlessly ? Retrieve your valuable data to its original location whether you?ve lost all your data or just overwritten an important file.Take control ? Customize your backup, set drive security, run diagnostics, manage the power settings, and more from the WD SmartWare control center.Drive lock ? Gain peace of mind knowing that your data is protected from unauthorized access or theft with password protection and military-grade 256-bit hardware-based encryption.Ready to plug-and-play with Windows PCs ? if you?re a Mac user, check out our Mac version of this product. [link to] USB 2.0 powered - Powered directly from the USB port on your PC. No separate power supply is needed*. An optional cable is available for the few computers that limit power from the USB port.Planet friendly ? We designed a small box that uses recycled material and minimizes waste. We encourage you to recycle it. Formatted NTFS for Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 , Reformatting required for Mac OS X Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard

The world's most popular portable drive now features maximum capacity to store all your favorite videos, music, photos, and important files. Still sleek and compact, you can load it up and take it with you anywhere.

Maximum capacity.

Only a few milimiters thicker to accomodate our highest capacity mobile drives. Plenty of room for all your stuff.

See your life safe in one place.

WD SmartWare software - A visual control center with a single screen view of all your data. From it you can back up, retrieve, and secure your files.

Password protection.

An extra level of security with password protection and 256-bit hardware-based encryption.


Features at a glance
  • Automatic, continous backup
  • Visual backup control center
  • Hardware encryption, password protection
  • WD SmartWare software
  • 2-years limited warranty

Maximum capacity, maximum style - Store all your favorite videos, music, photos, and important files. Still sleek and compact, you can load it up and take it with you anywhere.

WD SmartWare? - A control center for your drive that gives you the power to:

-- Protect your data automatically - Relax, your data is secure. Automatic, continuous backup will instantly make a second copy whenever you add or change a file.

-- See your backup as it happens - Seeing is believing. Visual backup displays your content in categories and shows the progress of your backup.

-- Bring back lost files effortlessly - Retrieve your valuable data to its original location whether you?ve lost all your data or just overwritten an important file.

-- Take control - Customize your backup, set drive security, run diagnostics, manage the power settings, and more from the WD SmartWare control center.

Find out more about WD SmartWare?

Drive lock - Gain peace of mind knowing that your data is protected from unauthorized access or theft with password protection and 256-bit hardware-based encryption.

Ready to plug-and-play with Windows PC's - if you're a Mac user, check out our Mac version of this product.

USB 2.0 interface - Powered directly from the USB port on your PC. No separate power supply is needed*.
* An optional cable is available for the few computers that limit power from the USB port.

Planet friendly - We designed a small box from recycled materials to minimize waste. We encourage you to recycle it.

Ideal For

  • Protecting your data with automatic, continous backup
  • Retrieving lost data effortlessly
  • Adding extra storage space for photos, videos and music
  • Securing private or sensitive data

Compatibility

Formatted NTFS
Windows® XP, Windows Vista®, Windows 7
Mac OS® X Tiger®, Leopard®, Snow Leopard? (requires reformatting)

What's in the box

Ultra-portable hard drive, WD SmartWare software, USB cable, Quick Install Guide.


Backup software you'll really use ? WD SmartWare

Five great reasons to love it:

1. It's easy - Data backup can be a chore, but it's your family photos, your movies, your music - your life - and it's important to protect it. So we made this software extra easy because we really want you to use it.

2. You can see your life safe in one place -
See your content displayed in easy to understand categories like movies and photos. Watch the progress of your backup as it happens with the instant-feedback color bars. Now you can truly be sure that all your stuff is backed up.

  • A unique visual interface lets you see the drives connected to your computer.
  • WD SmartWare will automatically scan your computer and find all of your personal files, including e-mail.
  • Content category gauges show how much information you have to be backed up in each category. You can even mouse over a category to see a file count.
  • Simply click Run Backup and WD SmartWare will automatically start backing up your files.
  • As your backup is running the category gauges will change color showing you the backup as it happens.
  • When finished, you?ll see a status screen and information about your backup. You only have to do this once. After the first backup your files will be backed up automatically every time you change or add a file.

3. It's always on the job - WD SmartWare is always watching your computer, so when you change a file and save it, create new files, add new pictures, movies, or songs, WD SmartWare will instantly back them up.

4. You can bring back lost files effortlessly - If you ever accidentally delete an important file, or need to get an earlier version of a file, you can find and retrieve it in seconds with this easy-to-use interface.

  • Restore files and folders by categories ? photos, music, video, for example.
  • Find a lost file with the search function.
  • Go back in time to retrieve an older version of a file.

5. You're in control - WD SmartWare software is also a control center for your external drives. From it you can:

  • Customize your backup
  • Set drive security
  • Run diagnostics
  • Manage the power settings, and more...

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