Entered CNET Catalog: 12/12/2004
SKU: 0718037111926
Manufacturer: Western Digital Corp.
Manufacturer description
High-speed, easy-to-use, reliable add-on storage - the portable headquarters for your digital life. Simply plug in your WD Passport Portable USB Drive to back up and save your valuable digital files. No one does more to safeguard your data than WD.Product summary
The good: Low price; speedy; compact; attractive design; supereasy installation; no power adapter required with most computers.
The bad: Doesn't include a carrying case; lacks software utilities.
The bottom line: The Western Digital WD Passport is a fast, easy, inexpensive way to take and transfer large files on the road.
Average user rating: from 20 users
3.0 stars
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 User Rating:
4.5 stars
out of 20 user reviews
Very solid portable usb hd
Pros: Sleek, very portable, quiet.
Cons: No backup SW
Review: I purchased my hds over 2 years ago. I have one attached to my laptop & one to my media center. I have attached them to many different computers. I had 2 instances when the hd was not recognized. One instance was resolved by swapping out the cable. The other instance was due to laptop only having 1.1 usb connection. Connecting external power supply resolved issue. That little tidbit might help anyone with similar issues. They may also try using WD Stop utility. The only gripe I would have is the lack of backup sw. The WD sync SW isn't really adequate.
User Rating:
4.5 stars
out of 20 user reviews
great back up drive
Pros: holds 80 gigs, plugs int osb port 2.0
Cons: cant find one
Review:
User Rating:
5.0 stars
out of 20 user reviews
freedom's just another word for WD's Passport Drive
Pros: very, very portable, very durable, and very good quality
Cons: i honestly can't think of any other than the usual... i wish it were about half the current cost. But that would be true no matter what it cost.
Review: i've had this drive for almost two years. And, yes, i've dropped it a number of times expecting it to quit working. And i'm not talking about a couple of dainty mishaps. i'm talking about hitting a hardwood floor full impact after leaving the desk... several times. O.K., i'm clumsy. But this thing doesn't come with a warranty which only covers those who are coordinated.
Another feature i really appreciate is that it has connected effortlessly to every computer i've asked it to except those with priority protection set to high. i love this thing. If it were a bit cheaper, i'd buy a dozen and dedicate each to a separate project. It fits in my laptop case and goes with me everywhere. i originally purchased it to off load photos from my camera to my laptop and after processing... to this drive. But it has become so much a part of my laptop that i use it for everything. No surprise here... i highly recommend this product.
Another feature i really appreciate is that it has connected effortlessly to every computer i've asked it to except those with priority protection set to high. i love this thing. If it were a bit cheaper, i'd buy a dozen and dedicate each to a separate project. It fits in my laptop case and goes with me everywhere. i originally purchased it to off load photos from my camera to my laptop and after processing... to this drive. But it has become so much a part of my laptop that i use it for everything. No surprise here... i highly recommend this product.
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 20 user reviews
Will not install on laptop or pc
Pros: $99 for 120g sounded great, so I bought 2!
Cons: can't get it to install or be recognized
Review: So disappointed that this small, stylish (and very light weight) 120gig portable could not be made to work no matter what I tried. I use portable hard drives all the time at work and at home, cased pc drives, cased laptop drives and Buslink (brand) usb drives but this Western Digital gave me grief. I first connected it to my Dell Latitude laptop (Win 2000 os), the system seemed to be recognizing the drive and loading the passport icon files, WD_Windows_Tools folder and the setup.exe (as the quick install guide said it would)but then nothing happened. I opened Windows Explorer to see if a new drive had appeared but it wasn't showing up. I checked the unplug or eject hardware screen and there it showed up as 'wd' and it showed up in the system hardware device manager but I could not transfer any files to it from My Computer or Windows Explorer because it never showed up there! After various attempts at removing and reconnecting it, shutting down and rebooting the laptop I tried connecting it to my husbands' desktop pc, thinking it wanted more power but that did not help. His pc never detected it. The support website basically reiterated the quick installation guide packaged with the drive, there wasn't much help to be found there. I'm taking both drives back for a refund tomorrow. I like plug n play to be just that, my mp3 players, flash drives and Buslink usb's are connected and recognized by the system on any of my office pc's, home pc's or laptop. It's nice when a bus powered device works but give me an independent power supply any day, I trust them more. Western Digital has always been a brand name I've trusted, usually reliable products that last forever but this Passport drive was a waste of time.
User Rating:
2.5 stars
out of 20 user reviews
power problems
Pros: compact and capacious
Cons: may need more power
Review: I got a 120 GB version of this device to backup ALL my various computers and it seemed to work OK with an IBM ThinkPad laptop and an old desktop at home, but when I connected it to my work's Dell desktop I encountered a power problem - the USB port apparently wasn't delivering enough amps (?) and it stopped working. Western Digital (and Dell!) suggested I turn off the error messages, which made me nervous. WD also suggested buying a cable with an extra USB connection, but I take the drive on the road and can't always count on 2 ports.
I tried the drive in my secretary's machine and immediately got the power error message. I doubt that this is a defective drive, as WD was ready with a workaround.
I need to be reasonably confident that I can access my files from various computers, where I work and teach, so this drive is going back to the place I ordered it from...
I tried the drive in my secretary's machine and immediately got the power error message. I doubt that this is a defective drive, as WD was ready with a workaround.
I need to be reasonably confident that I can access my files from various computers, where I work and teach, so this drive is going back to the place I ordered it from...
User Rating:
4.5 stars
out of 20 user reviews
very "i.device" looking. great buy
Pros: great price. looks sharp. easy setup
Cons: scratches easily. u need to carry USB cable
Review: I got this portable HD in a 60gig...mainly for the price...I wanted one w/ decent storage cap but not over 100 bucks.... this was what I found.. overall it looks great, like the blue light too... the USB cable needs to tag along..it would be cool if they made one w/ a pull out cable... great product byWD
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 20 user reviews
Stopped working after few seconds.
Pros: Looks nice
Cons: Doesn't work
Review: Pluged it in. OS recognized the new drive. I opened it up and saw it had some installation files, out of nowhere the PC told me i needed to format it. I tried to formate it, it game me an error saying it could not format it. Tried several more times on different PCs. This one is going back.
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 20 user reviews
Poor product control
Pros: Lightweight and easily portable
Cons: Support is horrific, the drive is unreliable, poor quality control, no way to restore functionality
Review: I bought this drive and was sent a defective drive that worked wonderfully for the first month. It then stopped being accessible to the computer. Its system had created an invalid partition making the drive useless. When I called Customer support they said this was a VERY VERY common problem and sent me a new one. The second one quickly died with faulty circuitry, which was confirmed by the company. Buying this product is a roll of the dice, because I know people who love theirs, but I know many people who have also been burned. To add to that CUSTOMER SUPPORT IS ONLY FREE ONCE!
User Rating:
0.5 stars
out of 20 user reviews
Get some big money ready for data recovery! No help from Western Digital or its contractors.
Pros: Easy to use at a first glance; downhill from there
Cons: How about everything?
Review: I purchased both WD passport 80GB (no internal encryption) and 120 GB (with encryption). I am not very tech savvy but have been using storage devices for a while.
The first (80GB) had a hardware failure. Each time I connected it, I heard a scratching sound as if it was trying to read data, but failed to do so.
The second one (120 GB) installed itself fine and worked fine for 1 week. One day I connected this HD to another PC and it ran its sync program, synchronizing the device to the new computer.
My first mistake was to allow sync feature to run each time I opened the device. My second mistake was to allow my HD to be synchronized to essentially an empty folder on the new computer. It appears that the content of my HD has been overwritten with the content of an empty folder. The syncronization software works fine. However, you have no idea which way it is synchronizing. Perhaps WD product is fine, but the company that created the sync software has done a pathetic job. In addition, WD & its partners do not provide easy to follow instructions/manuals to navigate within the product. Easy to install does not mean that people need no information about how to it!
I have had several tech people look at the problem and they all recommended data recovery route.
When I called WD customer service on 12/26/06 and 12/27/06, I was on hold for more than 1 hour each time and hung up without getting anybody on the line. When I called WD's "partners" or contract firms specializing in data recovery, they suggested to send the devices in without trying to figure out things over the phone (they are not getting paid for that).
Conclusion: do not expect any tech/customer service support from WD when you have problems with their equipment!
Now, I will be sending both HDs to a data recovery firm and the expected cost is $500-$2,500 without the guarantee of success. In addition, I risk forwarding my sensitive data to a third party I know nothing about.
In conclusion, one simple question: Was it worth spending $100-$200 on a WD device when you risk spending countless hours on resolving tech issues, going through the stress of data recovery, exposing your confidential information, and paying up to or more than $2,000 to recover it?
I'll let you answer it...
The first (80GB) had a hardware failure. Each time I connected it, I heard a scratching sound as if it was trying to read data, but failed to do so.
The second one (120 GB) installed itself fine and worked fine for 1 week. One day I connected this HD to another PC and it ran its sync program, synchronizing the device to the new computer.
My first mistake was to allow sync feature to run each time I opened the device. My second mistake was to allow my HD to be synchronized to essentially an empty folder on the new computer. It appears that the content of my HD has been overwritten with the content of an empty folder. The syncronization software works fine. However, you have no idea which way it is synchronizing. Perhaps WD product is fine, but the company that created the sync software has done a pathetic job. In addition, WD & its partners do not provide easy to follow instructions/manuals to navigate within the product. Easy to install does not mean that people need no information about how to it!
I have had several tech people look at the problem and they all recommended data recovery route.
When I called WD customer service on 12/26/06 and 12/27/06, I was on hold for more than 1 hour each time and hung up without getting anybody on the line. When I called WD's "partners" or contract firms specializing in data recovery, they suggested to send the devices in without trying to figure out things over the phone (they are not getting paid for that).
Conclusion: do not expect any tech/customer service support from WD when you have problems with their equipment!
Now, I will be sending both HDs to a data recovery firm and the expected cost is $500-$2,500 without the guarantee of success. In addition, I risk forwarding my sensitive data to a third party I know nothing about.
In conclusion, one simple question: Was it worth spending $100-$200 on a WD device when you risk spending countless hours on resolving tech issues, going through the stress of data recovery, exposing your confidential information, and paying up to or more than $2,000 to recover it?
I'll let you answer it...
User Rating:
4.5 stars
out of 20 user reviews
Best HD FOR YOUR MONEY AND PROBLEM FREE
Pros: ONE CABLE , SMALL ( NOT POCKET SIZE BUT SMALL) PLUG READY SETUP, NO HEAT PROBLEMS
Cons: SLOW TRANSFER RATE ( OTHER THAN THAT NO PROBLEMS WHAT SO EVER)
Review: IF YOU LOOKING FOR SPEED IN TRANSFERING FILES THIS IS NOT FOR YOU, BUT OTHER THAN THAT THIS UNIT IS NICE LOOKING SMALL NO TO SMALL AND ULTRA PORTABLE.. A HAD PROBLEMS LOOSING MY USB STICK MEM FROM WORK TO HOME.. AND ALSO HAD PROBLEMS WITH LARGE EXTERNAL HD'S TO BIG HEAVY AND TO MANY CABLES ... THIS MY FRIEND IS PERFECT SINCE A STARTED USING IT NO MORE SMALL USB STICKS THAT YOU LOOSE EVERYWHERE AND NO MORE HUGE HD THAT HAVE BILLION OF CABLES ... ITS NOT THE SPEEDE GONZALEZ HARD DRIVE... BUT SAFE , NICE LOOKING, AND PORTABLE.. AND DID A MENTION EASY TO USE... NO FUZZZ DRIVE.. ONE CABLE PLUG AND PLAY SUPER FAST.. INSTANT RECOGNITION WITH XP... AND SPACE IS NO LONGER A PROBLEM FOR ME 80 IS PRETTY BIG.. AND IF NOT THEY HAVE A 160 MODEL... GOOD BUY FOR YOU MONEY.... GREATE PRODUCT..
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 20 user reviews
Very good ext. drive
Pros: it is fast and quite
Cons: none what so ever
Review: I bought this WD-120 GB at costco for $120.00
and it is worth every bit of it . It works great on my new laptops no problem .
and it is worth every bit of it . It works great on my new laptops no problem .
User Rating:
1.0 stars
out of 20 user reviews
Good Until!......
Pros: Portable, Fast
Cons: Major Hidden Flaw!
Review: I really enjoy this device, as I work on several computers during the day. Found one major problem however - be aware...
I started unplugging the device when not in use. I suddenly starting having problems with IE 6.0 and IE 7.0. When ever you click your "favorites", "links" or "history:, IE would crash. I later found that as soon as I plugged the device back into my computer, the IE problems went away. After several tests to prove this theroy, without a doubt, this is the problem. I noted several other software problems, "indicating that they could not find the drive", which were also crashing. Apparently, the device stores a sync of your IE favorites, if not found, your are out of luck. So unless you plan to keep this device plugged in 100% of the time, plus, keep several handy when or of your original one fails, I would NOT recommend buying one. I plan to check out WD to find a fix, but thought everyone should know.
Good Luck
I started unplugging the device when not in use. I suddenly starting having problems with IE 6.0 and IE 7.0. When ever you click your "favorites", "links" or "history:, IE would crash. I later found that as soon as I plugged the device back into my computer, the IE problems went away. After several tests to prove this theroy, without a doubt, this is the problem. I noted several other software problems, "indicating that they could not find the drive", which were also crashing. Apparently, the device stores a sync of your IE favorites, if not found, your are out of luck. So unless you plan to keep this device plugged in 100% of the time, plus, keep several handy when or of your original one fails, I would NOT recommend buying one. I plan to check out WD to find a fix, but thought everyone should know.
Good Luck
User Rating:
4.5 stars
out of 20 user reviews
Works GREAT!!! (Even with OLD laptops!!!)
Pros: A lot of portable storage space
Cons: Every now and then (rarely) it will have a problem detaching
Review: I have had this thing for almost a year now and absolutely love it! I have used it on an old Dell laptop (2000) and the new McBook pro and have absolutely no problems. On the Dell I had to install a driver as the system was running win 95, but I expected I would have to do something similar.
I take it everyday to work and us it to store all of my MP3's (58 gigs) as well as a backup for all of digital images (12 gigs). I would recomend it w/o hesitation
I take it everyday to work and us it to store all of my MP3's (58 gigs) as well as a backup for all of digital images (12 gigs). I would recomend it w/o hesitation
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 20 user reviews
Awesome Value! Reliable and Portable Drive
Pros: Portable, does not requires extra power, inexpensive
Cons: No case, no free software,
Review: Excellent portable drive, small size, excellent value. Very Reliable drive.
However, I did drop mine once and the drive lost the ability to save data. I had to run the Diagnostics software from the Western Digital Support Site, support.wdc.com, in order to fix it, and the drive works perfectly now!
However, I did drop mine once and the drive lost the ability to save data. I had to run the Diagnostics software from the Western Digital Support Site, support.wdc.com, in order to fix it, and the drive works perfectly now!
User Rating:
4.5 stars
out of 20 user reviews
Great Drive With No AC Adapter Needed
Pros: Very Quiet, Lightweight, no AC Adapter
Cons: Could have storage for USB cord
Review: This is a great drive. I use it with Norton Ghost for ghosting my drive. It is extremely lightweight, quiet, and best of all, there is no need for an AC Adapter. It is powered by the USB port. The rubber covering adds to the versatility of the drive.
User Rating:
4.5 stars
out of 20 user reviews
Unbelievably wonderful portable storage solution!
Pros: Overall size, Capacity, Powers off your laptop or desktop computer
Cons: Comes with a very short cord
Review:
User Rating:
1.5 stars
out of 20 user reviews
Does not work on many laptops
Pros: Works on usb 1.1 ports
Cons: doesnt work on many 2.0 ports
Review: I bought one of these yesterday for $110 and thought I was getting a steal. I ended up taking it back the same day.
This drive did NOT work on my g4 powerbook, my sony vaio and a hitachi laptop using usb 2.0 ports. The problem is that it draws about 1000mA of current, way over the 500mA power limit specified by the usb 2.0 standard, now used by most laptop makers.
It DID work on an apple emac desktop and an old dell inspiron laptop, but these were using the usb 1.1 port standard, which upped the current.
Going back to looking at firewire drives!
This drive did NOT work on my g4 powerbook, my sony vaio and a hitachi laptop using usb 2.0 ports. The problem is that it draws about 1000mA of current, way over the 500mA power limit specified by the usb 2.0 standard, now used by most laptop makers.
It DID work on an apple emac desktop and an old dell inspiron laptop, but these were using the usb 1.1 port standard, which upped the current.
Going back to looking at firewire drives!
User Rating:
4.5 stars
out of 20 user reviews
Great for backups
Pros: Fast, convenient, small, portable, no power cable
Cons: Has one connector USB
Review: This drive is very nice. My plan was to use it to back up my hard drive. I use Acronis to do a full system backup and then later differential backups. Acronis lets you create a bootable CD to restore your backups. I previously tried the NetGear Storage Central which is Network solution. The NetGear drive was slow and not always reliable -- it took me about 5-6 hours to back up my hard drive. Plus I couldn't see the NetGear drive from my bootable CD to do a restore so I would have needed an external hard drive anyway -- what a hastle!! So I was very pleased when I was able to back up my hard drive -- doing a full system backup to the Western Digital Passport in about 20 minutes. When I booted up my CD to test to see if it can restore the files to my hard drive it sees the Western digitial drive with no problems. This is great. And I can now take it with me and do backups and restores while traveling. It is so easy to use and fast. I really like it a lot. I am looking for a padded case to put it in while traveling to protect it.
User Rating:
4.5 stars
out of 20 user reviews
Great Value, no hassle, nice features - a spectacular hard drive
Pros: large size, not too pricey, rubber covering a great idea
Cons: unless you like stress and hassle, none
Review: A great hard drive for the money. I unpacked mine recently, and I expected what I have gotten from every other peripheral I have ever gotten - doesn't work out of the box, tons of hassle, getting new drivers - you know the drill. But I was VERY pleasantly surprised when this baby was plugged in. WinXPpro recognized it in seconds, and in about 15 seconds it had a drive letter and was even recognized as 'western digital passport 80Gb HD". Impressive.
I bought mine on the recomendation of the previous user (great review by the way) and I am not dissapointed. I bought mine primarily to back up files and hold my digital media - music, photos, videos, etc. What I also like is the price. I live in Paris and good, cheap peripherals are hard to come by. But this little marvel was sitting right on the shelf of my FNAC for me. I paid 200 with VAT, so in the US it would cost about 20% less. The mgb / centimes ratio is the best I saw.
The sturdy housing and clever rubber covering for the usb connection is a must, as I travel frequently for business. I find that not having to plug in the hard drive separetly saves me a lot of hassle in the field - I only have to carry one connector for my laptop (a dell inspiron) instead of two. The larger size (about half of a dvd box) can be an issue, as I do not have a case (to remain inconspicuous - it can get a little awkward - but not 'I want to pay 60 euro more' awkard.
It comes formatted with FAT32, which makes its size on disk a little over 75 Gbs. I briefly considered reformatting, but decided not to for the sake of interoperability of older / mac computers.
The lowdown: A great product made for the frequent traveller with large data needs. The fast seek time makes large files a breeze, but smaller ones, like documents, take longer. It is very quiet and rather chic looking I think as well.
I bought mine on the recomendation of the previous user (great review by the way) and I am not dissapointed. I bought mine primarily to back up files and hold my digital media - music, photos, videos, etc. What I also like is the price. I live in Paris and good, cheap peripherals are hard to come by. But this little marvel was sitting right on the shelf of my FNAC for me. I paid 200 with VAT, so in the US it would cost about 20% less. The mgb / centimes ratio is the best I saw.
The sturdy housing and clever rubber covering for the usb connection is a must, as I travel frequently for business. I find that not having to plug in the hard drive separetly saves me a lot of hassle in the field - I only have to carry one connector for my laptop (a dell inspiron) instead of two. The larger size (about half of a dvd box) can be an issue, as I do not have a case (to remain inconspicuous - it can get a little awkward - but not 'I want to pay 60 euro more' awkard.
It comes formatted with FAT32, which makes its size on disk a little over 75 Gbs. I briefly considered reformatting, but decided not to for the sake of interoperability of older / mac computers.
The lowdown: A great product made for the frequent traveller with large data needs. The fast seek time makes large files a breeze, but smaller ones, like documents, take longer. It is very quiet and rather chic looking I think as well.
User Rating:
4.0 stars
out of 20 user reviews
Works great....
Pros: Bus-powered; 80 GB
Cons: What cons?!
Review: I bought the WD Passport 80 GB drive after reading a review on Tomshardware.com comparing the 40 GB version with the Lacie Porche firewire/USB 100 GB. The main differences between the two are:
(a) WD has a faster HDD (5400 rpm), and a rubber covering for the USB port (no water/dirt), as well as a rubber base (no slipping off tables?)
(b) Lacie has firewire+USB and a 8MB cache, but 4200 rpm drive (just saw a later model has 5400 rpm for $200).
Tom's Hardware says cache doesn't matter for mobile HDDs, but HDD speed (rpm) does, especially if you plan to use the entire capacity (I am close to 2/3-rd now of the 80 GB). So WD had higher transfer speeds.
http://www.tomshardware.com/mobile/20050407/
I also relied on the WD name (the Lacie looks cool, though). Plug and play with WinXP. Did a couple tests yesterday (write - copied onto WD; read - cut-and-pasted back from WD):
Batch 1: 208 MB, 26 files: write ~<10 Mbps; read ~>10 Mbps.
Batch 2: 245 MB, 284 files: write ~4.8 Mbps, read ~7.5 Mbps
Batch 3: 102 MB, 156 files: write ~4 Mbps, read 7.8 Mbps
Small, more files transfer slowly compared to big, less files. The WD speeds above appear lower than what Tom's review found, but are OK as far as I am concerned. I also use CopyTo, a synchronizing software ($10?), both work great and fast.
I also back up files on my 40 GB iPod - the WD is much bigger, about an inch on both length and width. But I don't mind, the WD stays in my backpack anyway.
The other HDD I looked at was the Seagate 100 GB/5400 rpm/8MB cache, for ~$215 (WD was $176 shipped from newegg - similar price as Amazon). But I didn't think the extra 20 GB was worth the extra $50, and cache doesn't seem to matter for backup per Tom.
I've had the WD Passport for over a month now, no problems so far. I'd recommend it.
(a) WD has a faster HDD (5400 rpm), and a rubber covering for the USB port (no water/dirt), as well as a rubber base (no slipping off tables?)
(b) Lacie has firewire+USB and a 8MB cache, but 4200 rpm drive (just saw a later model has 5400 rpm for $200).
Tom's Hardware says cache doesn't matter for mobile HDDs, but HDD speed (rpm) does, especially if you plan to use the entire capacity (I am close to 2/3-rd now of the 80 GB). So WD had higher transfer speeds.
http://www.tomshardware.com/mobile/20050407/
I also relied on the WD name (the Lacie looks cool, though). Plug and play with WinXP. Did a couple tests yesterday (write - copied onto WD; read - cut-and-pasted back from WD):
Batch 1: 208 MB, 26 files: write ~<10 Mbps; read ~>10 Mbps.
Batch 2: 245 MB, 284 files: write ~4.8 Mbps, read ~7.5 Mbps
Batch 3: 102 MB, 156 files: write ~4 Mbps, read 7.8 Mbps
Small, more files transfer slowly compared to big, less files. The WD speeds above appear lower than what Tom's review found, but are OK as far as I am concerned. I also use CopyTo, a synchronizing software ($10?), both work great and fast.
I also back up files on my 40 GB iPod - the WD is much bigger, about an inch on both length and width. But I don't mind, the WD stays in my backpack anyway.
The other HDD I looked at was the Seagate 100 GB/5400 rpm/8MB cache, for ~$215 (WD was $176 shipped from newegg - similar price as Amazon). But I didn't think the extra 20 GB was worth the extra $50, and cache doesn't seem to matter for backup per Tom.
I've had the WD Passport for over a month now, no problems so far. I'd recommend it.
