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- Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 35 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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6 out of 6 people found this review helpful
3.0 stars
"overall good to back up single computer"
Pros: easy to use, light, pocket-sized version of your computer
Cons: not ideal to back up multiple computers, need to request special cable from WD for laptops
Summary: I agree with the previous user that this cannot be used out of the box with most laptops since it draws too much power to be plugged into a single USB port. BUT, Western Digital supplied me a replacement cable free of charge that plugged into both USB ports. That fixed the problem. It did mean that it took over a week receive the dual USB cable. And I was frustrated until I figured ou the problem (they do mention it in their manual). Western Digital provides one month of free tech support to help you with any initial problems setting up the drive.
It is a very quick and smart drive that "syncs" with your computer similar to a lot of handhelds/PDAs out there. This is good and bad:
The good thing is that, after the initial set up (where you specify which files/drives/programs from your computer you want synced on a regular basis), you just hit "sync" and within 5 minutes, your entire drive is backed up. It lets you tell it if you want to back up the email program of your choice (Outlook/Outlook Express/etc) and if you want it to automatically sync each time. You can also plug it into any computer and essentially turn that computer into your own computer (since it is a copy of your hard drive). You can also easily copy files from the drive to a new computer. It is very light and portable -- similar to any handheld.
The bad thing is that to copy files FROM a NEW computer TO the drive, you have to go through the set up again, which erases whatever you have on the drive. That means, you first have to copy the saved files to the new computer, reformat drive, then sync with the new computer. In that way, it is not ideal for saving information from multiple computers onto this drive. Since it "syncs", if you erase something from your computer, it will also erase it from the drive -- that means you can't use it to store more than what you can already store on your computer. Also, if you use it with a laptop, it will take up both of your USB ports (because of the power issue).
Overall, I think it is a good drive if you are backing up a single computer and if you want a more portable form of your computer's hard drive that will fit into your pocket.
- 1 reply to this review
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FYI, the WD Sync program which comes with the WD drive is NOT meant to be a backup program. It is meant to allow you to carry contents from your computer's hard drive to another computer, work on them, and when you get back to your computer, sync the updated contents onto your original computer. If you use a real backup program, you will be able to back up as many machines as it will allow (or will fit on the WD Passport drive). I have created simple backups for two computers by just copying the data directly.
Where to buy
Western Digital Passport USB Portable Hard Drive (160GB, black):
$189.99
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$189.99 | Yes |
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