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Western Digital My Passport Essential 320 GB USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive WDME3200TN

Brand: Western Digital

Rating: (444 reviews)

These elegant portable drives are simple to use, light and easy to carry, and require no power adapter — they are powered directly through the USB cable. 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. WD Sync synchronization and encryption software lets you take your critical data with you. 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). Perfect for the business traveler who needs to transfer large amounts of data from laptop to clients or just daily backups in case of accidents from mishandled luggage to coffee spills.

Also comes in handy if your worried about laptop theft and someone else having access to your important data, you can store it on this portable encrypted drive instead. For all those precious pictures, videos, music and data files, getting this external hard drive is a must have. WD Sync synchronization and encryption software lets you save your critical data and take it with you. Plug your drive into any PC, edit files, read e-mail, and view photos. Then sync all of your changes back to your home or office computer (Windows only) Search your drive, manage your photos, and simplify Web searches with included Google software (Windows only) Up to 480Mb/sec Bus Transfer Rate with USB 2.0 System Requirements - Windows 2000/XP/Vista, Mac OS X (10.1.5 or later), Available USB port Approximate Unit Dimensions - 0.59 (H) x 4.96 (L) x 3.14 (W) Approximate Unit Weight - 0.23lb

Details

* Box Contents - My Passport Essential 320GB Portable USB Hard Drive, USB 2.0 cable, Quick Install guide
* 320GB Hard Drive Capacity
* Installation is a snap because you don’t really install this drive; you just plug it in and it’s ready to use. There is no CD to install; the included software loads from the drive the first time you plug it in
* Powered by the USB bus. No separate power supply is needed
* This ultra-portable drive fits easily in your pocket or purse, weighs only a few ounces, and holds tons of valuable data

Customer Reviews:

Sweet Little Drive, December 28, 2008
I have the 250 GB drive in black. This is my first external hard drive, so I can’t compare it to others. So far I am very pleased, as I just finished backing up my 16 GB iTunes library in about 20 minutes. It’s small enough to store in my laptop bag with my MacBook, or to carry in my purse. I love that it is compatible with my Mac, and as usual there was no problem just plugging it in and using it. The only minor annoyance I have with it is that the light never shuts off to indicate that it is safe to remove it, but I have read other reviews that say this is normal. The light flashes when data is being transferred and just stays lit when it’s done. I even dropped it by accident when it was plugged in to my computer and nothing happened when it was disconnected except that I got an error message on my computer that it was improperly ejected. No data was lost. Overall an excellent purchase and I would recommend it.

Super-compact, for portability not performance, December 28, 2008
The MyPassport is an excellent choice for on-the-go usage: very compact, stylish, and connected by a single USB cable which provides power and connectivity both. The metal case offers some durability and heat dissipation.

The drawback is the drive is low-performance. From the size I’d guess it’s a low-RPM laptop-style drive (eg, 2.5″ 4500 or 5400rpm instead of 3.5″ 7200rpm) and the USB-only power may limit performance as well.

The result is in write-heavy operations (eg, formatting the drive), this unit ran several time slower than the same operations on full-sized USB-attached drives (higher-RPM with their own plug-in power).

If you’re seeking storage capacity or performance rather than portability, ie if your drive will usually be attached to your home PC, you’ll get much better bang for the buck in full-sized products such as Western Digital’s “MyBook” line.

But for the road-warrior, this tiny drive is a great choice.

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