| Western Digital My Passport Essential 500GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive - Black | 
| Brand: Western Digital
Category: Personal Computer
Buy New: £60.93
as of 5/9/2010 16:19 CDT details
In Stock
New (29) Used (1) from £53.97
Rating:  303 reviews
Media: Electronics
Batteries Included: No
Hard Drive Size: 500
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 3.3 x 4.3 x 0.6
MPN: 0718037744902
Model: WDBAAA5000ABK-EESN
UPC: 718037744896
EAN: 5051964719465
Release Date: September 10, 2009
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 303
 Absolutely Excellent!! December 5, 2009
Mr. Craig A. Pollock (Scotland)
56 out of 58 found this review helpful
I felt compelled to write a review for a change as I came so close to not buying this excellent piece of kit after reading some of the harsh reviews it has received!
I'll try and address the negative parts of other reviews first -
The cable - yes it's a different connector and whilst maybe a little harder to get a hold of, but how often do you actually need to replace a cable?
The cable connection - maybe I have been very lucky, but I cannot find a single thing wrong with it, I was sitting transferring files for 8 hours last night, moving the unit with me and my laptop...and not one disconnection!!
The SmartWare - granted...it's a system hog alright!! How do you get round this? Don't run it! (Or go to task manager and kill it...it takes 2 seconds!!)
Now for the real negative - the cover!!! Argghhh...the finger prints!!! (Yep, this is as far as the negatives go!)
Well, while I write this, the vibrations through the drive are actually quite loud - much louder and more obvious than my previous 320GB passport...but still not enough to make it annoying, I'm just being picky to try and give a realistic review.
The good:
The capacity...1TB (well, 930GB in actual fact - and whilst I really resent the fact that this can be advertised as 1TB, everyone does it so I can't really mark down this drive or WD for this!)
The security - Finally a drive that keeps your files secure!!
The look - It's pretty stylish (even with the fingerprints!)
The size - Slightly smaller than the older style passports, definitely a little more pocket-sized now.
Would I buy this again, absolutely. It's quite expensive, but if you have the have the cash and you want a very good drive, buy this one. I'm glad I did.
Great hard disk, just works! November 26, 2009
Fotis Pelecanos (Cyprus)
22 out of 23 found this review helpful
Hello everybody,
I bought this hard disk a week ago. Even though before buying it I read all the reviews of the black version and I was expecting a hard disk that would corrupt my files, disconnect all the time and slow down my OS with the provided software.
So here are my comments:
Appearance: *****
Price: *****
Cable: ***
Speed: *** (but it is same with any other drive)
Software: *
Positive:
* Just works! You don't have to install any of the provided software to use it. If you don't need a password for your data or backup services just don't install anything. I am running Windows 7 and ubuntu 9 10 and it just works out of the box.
* No disconnection. Cable if fine. I have transferred all my files from my laptop (Gigabytes of movies, music, pictures, software and data) aprx 300Gb on the first night the drive arrived with no problem at all. The cable is short (and some people say that this is bad) but short cable means faster transfer and less data loss(You don't see the data loss, but your OS will see it and ask from the drive to resend the data which will cost time). Also on my cable there are two pins on top that help to fit firmly.
* Appearance: 5 Stars. Smaller and lighter than the previous version and looks very nice.
* Good price: I bought that drive from Amazon for 60 gbp where all other drives where 75 and above.
Negative:
* Bad reviews. Everybody complains about the new version of WD and this means that there really is a problem.
* Cable: I really like Buffalo drives that the cable and the drive are one part. You will never loose or forget your cable and you won't need to plug and unplug it which will cause problems later on.
* Mounted cd: Very bad idea from WD. Please remove it as soon as possible. Nobody wants it. Even though is helpful if you want to install your drive on an old machine that requires drivers or if you want to set up a password.
* Provided software: Looks terrible. It is good if you want the drive for backing up your data automatically or set up a password but if you are willing to use it as a piece of extra memory it is really useless. And Yes it is true that it takes a lot of memory. As I said above don't install it unless you really need it.
Why 5 stars?
Because this drive does what I want it to do. It simply works. 60 pounds for 500 Gb was a very good purchase. I didn't have any problems upto now and I hope I don't. I am not taking the responsibility if yours comes faulty. Read all the reviews here and the reviews of the black version, decide how much you want to spend, what do you need it for and decide if you can take the risk. I will update my comment if I have any problem with the drive, but I hope I don't need to.
If you can't take the risk you can go for the previous version or for another brand. Personally I believe that Buffalo is good but you can't find on Amazon anything else from them except their bottom line and it is expensive. Also you may want to wait for a better version from WD but this is probably going to take a while.
Thank you for reading my review.
Simply Great December 9, 2009
Superstrat (Cornwall, UK)
28 out of 30 found this review helpful
This is just the job. I didn't need or want the included backup and security software so I simply reformatted the drive to recover the space.
The USB socket is really not a problem. As a previous reviewer reports, you have to push the cable all the way into the socket and then it will stay firmly in place. If you don't do this then you will get problems. Simples!!!
They've changed the USB lead February 9, 2010
Dr. R. Smith
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Got this today. A note about the USB lead, WD have changed it, if you look at the user images there's one of the micro-USB. Now has small barbs that hold it in place. I've tried mine and it will not interrupt when you move, pull, knock the plug/wire. The barbs actually make unplugging it rather hard!!
A knockout little drive, looks cool (mines red), and really is the size of a small notepad.
Great 1TB drive January 21, 2010
Mr. Sw Hain (Wales, UK)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
I really like this product; it is nice looking and small (slightly smaller than the previous design although a little chunkier - I have an older "Passport" drive too). It includes automatic backup software if you wish to use that - but you don't have to install it. Also, with 1TB capacity and good transfer rates it is ideal for storing photos, videos, and all your data files. I'd highly recommend it.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 303
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