Buy Cheap Western Digital My Passport Studio 500 GB FireWire 800/400 USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive WDBAAE5000ASL-NESN (Silver)

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WD's ultra-portable, My Passport Studio drive is packed with innovative features including a customizable e-label to remind you what's stored on the drive. Formatted for Mac and compatible with Apple Time Machine, this drive is plug-and-play ready for Mac computer users. WD SmartWare enables automatic, continuous backup with visual display. FireWire 800 provides fast data access and saves.


Amazing! Drop price for Western Digital My Passport Studio 500 GB FireWire 800/400 USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive WDBAAE5000ASL-NESN (Silver) . Today Shopping Online & Get Discount and Affordable Western Digital My Passport Studio 500 GB FireWire 800/400 USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive WDBAAE5000ASL-NESN (Silver) Now Available In Stock & Super Save Shipping in USA. Big Saving & Greatest Buy Western Digital My Passport Studio 500 GB FireWire 800/400 USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive WDBAAE5000ASL-NESN (Silver) Check Price Now (Limit Time Price).

Technical Details

- Automatic, continuous backup
- Formated in HFS + for the Mac
- Smart Display - Create your own personalized drive label to remind you what's stored on each drive
- Password protection and 256-bit encryption
- FireWire 800/400 and USB 2.0 interface
See more technical details

 "Screen Doesn't Work" 2010-09-27
By D. Anderson
My screen says "Videos O9". It doesn't tell me how much space is on it & doesn't let me change the "Videos 09" on the screen. The "smartware" app won't even open. Also, I can't lock it. There's only an option to unlock it and when I click that it tells me my drive is already unlocked. I don't know what's wrong with this thing, but if I don't figure it out I'll be returning it soon.

 "great speeds, wish there were a 1tb option" 2010-09-24
By iPod maniac
with both of my usb ports on my 13" MacBook Pro already occupied by a pair of 500gb external drives, which both contained parts of my itunes library (yes, it's that big), it was quite a pain to sync my iPhone every few weeks (mostly temporarily copying a few videos over to the other drive...). In an effort to free up a USB port, I had no choice but to go Firewire. Mine came with the FW800, FW400, and USB cable. I only bother taking the FW800 one with me, if anyone else wants to borrow my drive and doesn't have FW800, not my problem. The performance is incredible, files get copied over in no time. Just today, I purchased a 1TB my passport SE to double the storage of my remaining 500gb usb drive and re-purpose the old 500gb drive as a time machine volume (finally got around to using time machine 3 years later!).



now my firewire800 port is finally being utilized. If only Apple would get rid of that ethernet port and give me a 2nd Firewire port or 3rd USB port...can't even remember the last time I've used ethernet...

 "Not as fast, even less compatable, and not reliable at all" 2010-08-28
By F. Chang (Los Angeles, CA)
This is my second WD My Passport Studio, I owned another one for about 3 months before finding a bad region around 200GB where data could not be written. I had to return and exchange for another one (because it was the only FW external hard drive in stock).



The drive comes as HFS+J (Mac Extended format with Journaling) formatted as one partition encompassing about 499GB (99.8%) of the drive with the last 1GB used for a built-in "Virtual CD" partition that contains the drivers, Mac and Windows programs, instructions, etc.



You need to manually print the instructions (including the installation instructions) from the "Virtual CD" as the drive does not come with any hard copy of any instruction manual... so basically you need to figure out how to connect and mount the drive on your own or elsewhere before you can actually get to the instructions.



The HFS+J partition only works with Macs, if you want to use it with Macs and PC/Linux then you need to run Disk Utility on a Mac and reformat the partition to HFS+ (Mac Extended without Journaling) and set the permissions to "Everyone: Read & Write". I wasn't able to find a way to simply disable Journaling, so I had to reformat the partition. Linux will mount an HFS+J partition but only as read-only.

If you want to use it on PC/Windows, you need to still get it to a Mac and reformat it with the WD Smartware program (not Disk Utility) that comes with the drive (found on the drive's Virtual CD partition) and recreate the main partition as NTFS. This partition will not work well on Macs, there will be nodes above 200GB that will be unwritable in some cases on Macs so only do this if you want to use it on PC/Windows only.



I was not able to find a way to make it work on Macs and PC/Windows. There were no problems with Mac and PC/Linux using HFS+. If you plan to only use it with Macs only then leave it as HFS+J. I also want to add that I feel this incomparability-problem is solely the fault of Apple and Microsoft and not Western Digital.

The cables that come with the drive have incorrect labelling, if you try to roughly connect them you will damage the ports, below is the list of corrections to make:



Drive Ports:



FW800: Inverted

USB-B: Inverted

(Basically, the top side of the ports are facing you when you hold the drive upside down and the drive's undercarriage is facing you)



Cable:

FW800 to FW800: "Bilingual" label side is up, "WD" label side is down.

FW800 to FW400: "Bilingual" label side is down on the FW800 end, FW400 end is correct.



USB-A to USB-B: Inverted on both sides (USB-B label is on wrong side)

I made my own labels on paper and taped them over the cables to cover the incorrect ones.



In terms of speed, I did 2 days worth of read/write test on FW. After much patience, I got an average read-write speed of 285.71Mbps. This was disappointing because FW is rated at 800Mbps, even taking into account overhead this was too slow.

 "Works Great!" 2010-08-23
By Apple (Hawaii)
Initially I purchased the WD My Passport Studio 640 gb for TimeMachine backups (for MacBook Pro early 2008). But after reading other reviews about issues with creating bootable backups with older versions of My Passport Studio, I decided to switch my TimeMachine backups to the older WD My Passport Studio 500 gb (no e-label). My reason for considering the Passport Studio was to make use of firewire 800. It seemed as if my TimeMachine backup was faster but since I didn't time the backup made via USB port, I cannot confirm.



I followed the instructions on the WD website and updated firmware and uninstalled Smartware ... easy to do. I did have to format the new drive from Apple partition map to GUID Partition ... via disk utility. No problems there. I made a copy of everything on the hardrive using Carbon Copy Cloner. On spot check, I was able to boot the external hard drive.



Cons: no case included; warranty shorter ... older products carried 5 year warranty.



Before purchasing, I shopped around and Amazon had the best price ... with free shipping.



I hope this helps. I'm not a computer expert so if I can make this work, I think most people can.

 "where's the firewire?" 2010-08-03
By Kim Laughlin (California)
I like the hardrive but I can't get a cable to utilize the empty firewire ports. The drive works very well on USB but slows the machine a little


Images Product

Get Special offer for Western Digital My Passport Studio 500 GB FireWire 800/400 USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive WDBAAE5000ASL-NESN (Silver) Now

Buy Cheap Western Digital My Passport Essential 500 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive WDBAAA5000ASL-NESN (Cool Silver)

Special price Now!(Limit Time Offer)
The world’s most popular portable drive is now smaller than ever. And it’s smarter than ever with WD SmartWare data management and backup software that backs up your data automatically and continuously, shows your backup as it happens, and restores lost files effortlessly. Password protection and military-grade, 256-bit hardware-based encryption lets you secure your data. One of the five beautiful colors is just what you need to make you look smart (and very stylish). WD’s smallest portable drive ever - WD is an expert in portable storage, so they designed a smaller, high-quality integrated USB hard drive inside a stylish package. With a variety of fun colors, there’s sure to be one to suit your style. WD SmartWare - 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 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, 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. 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.


Amazing! Drop price for Western Digital My Passport Essential 500 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive WDBAAA5000ASL-NESN (Cool Silver) . Today Shopping Online & Get Discount and Affordable Western Digital My Passport Essential 500 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive WDBAAA5000ASL-NESN (Cool Silver) Now Available In Stock & Super Save Shipping in USA. Big Saving & Greatest Buy Western Digital My Passport Essential 500 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive WDBAAA5000ASL-NESN (Cool Silver) Check Price Now (Limit Time Price).

Technical Details

- Automatic, continuous backup
- Visual backup control center
- Password protection and 256-bit encryption
- USB 2.0 interface
- Several colors to choose from including Black, Pacific Blue, Real Red, Cool Silver
See more technical details

 "So far it's great!" 2010-09-25
By Claire Jordan (New Orleans, LA)
I've had bad experiences with two Western Digital drives in the past so I was a little leery about using this one, but it's the smallest, most convenient drive I've ever seen so I thought I'd give it a shot. Seriously, this drive is not much bigger than an iPhone! I'm on a Mac and I already have a drive dedicated to automated back ups, so I reformatted this one for Mac OSX using the extended journal option with Disk Utility. Doing this deletes the software that comes loaded on the drive, but since I don't need any of the features provided by the software (back up management) I'd rather have the free space.



I've been using it as redundant storage for video files. Given my past experiences with WD drives, I'm not ready to put anything on it that's not also stored somewhere else for safety. So far it's worked like a little champ. It's the first portable drive I've had that really could fit in a pocket! It moves my video files as fast as any of my other USB2 drives. I don't mind the new USB cable, after all, change happens, but I have to be extra careful that I keep it with the drive. If I misplace it I don't have a dozen extras in the back of a drawer like I do with micro-USB cables.



So far I really like it. I'll update if that changes.

 "Good but not perfect." 2010-09-24
By S. Dang (Los Angeles, CA)
I have used many Western Digital portable hard disks before and with Western Digital's My Passport Essentials 500GB, they continue to improve. For a USB 2.0 device, it delivers blazing throughput compared to a flash thumb drive. Of course it's much bigger than a thumbdrive, but smaller and more slick than previous models, and other competitor's similar capacity drives. For the price, it's great. 500GB offers plenty of space in an improved compact form factor. It has no rough or sharp edges.. The unit is entirely sleek and nice to handle.



The reason this product doesn't get a perfect score is because there are a few improvements that could have been made.



1. The microUSB cable is separate. It could have been built in and hidden away in a storage slot. This would have made transporting the device a seamless experience, rather than having to carry the drive in one pocket in my bag, and the cable in another or sticking out the same pocket.



2. The finish is very easy to scratch. The case itself is made of polyurethane glossy piano black plastic. It became very scuffed up with light rubbing against other devices as well as it's own cable. After about 3 weeks, it looks like crap. The could have just made the case textured with a matte finish. That would have solved that problem.



3. The case is not well protected from short falls/drops. I would have liked to see a rounded rubber guard or something to encompass impact points in an accidental drop.



4. The device uses MicroUSB. This type of physical interface is poorly designed for frequent use. I have many other devices using this type of cable/port combo and several of them have failed specifically on the microusb jack. It was a choice to use for a device that requires frequent plugging/unplugging. The should have gone with mini-USB, which are more prevalent and therefore mini-USB replacement cables are cheap and plentiful at your local computer store. MicroUSB replacement cables are getting more and more common, but as of this writing, they aren't readily available at Best Buys or other major electronic outlets.



Other than those physical flaws, I would rate this drive very highly on functionality. Let's hope it doesn't fail on me. If it does, I will update this review.

 "HORRIBLE CABLE CONNECTION!!!" 2010-09-23
By David Perez
DON'T BUY THIS!!! The design is ok except for the most important thing: USB connection! The cable is reaaally loose! READ THE REVIEWS! If you move the drive even a bit while transferring your stuff it will crash and probably lose everything!!! I didn't read the reviews before buying this otherwise I shouldn't have bought it. Luckily I only had it for one day so I was able to return it and buy a 640GB toshiba canvioToshiba Canvio Plus 640 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive E05A064CAU2XK (Raven Black) for $78! Toshibas are waaay better and stable.

 "Yes You Can Use It As An External Only Drive!" 2010-09-23
By N. K. (Central Plains)
I originally chose this drive because of it's capabilities of being a plain Jane external drive without having to use the backup software enclosed. After reading many reviews I became nervous that I was only going to be able to use this as an automatic backup.



Once I plugged the hard drive into my PC and it did it's autorun, I simply chose to cancel the autorun and that was that. It now functions as a perfectly normal external drive. I immediately deleted the installed software from the drive and no longer need to worry about it losing it's external drive capabilities.



The drive stays on 24x7 along with my computer. You can tell when it's in use since it begins flashing whenever something on it is accessed. A great plus about the drive is that it shuts down when the computer shuts down as well, leading to minimal wear on the drive.



Having also an old 200GB Maxtor drive, I expected a slow write speed, when in fact it's significantly faster than the older drive, even though both are using USB 2.0. Speaking of USB 2.0, that's where this little tyke draws its power!! SUPER PORTABLE! I carry it in my purse with me to work, friends, vacation, everywhere! I've decided to pamper mine and bought it its own hard case to keep that gorgeous finish from getting scratched up. Visually this drive is very sleek and VERY attractive! It's extremely cute. You can read the dimensions, but until you actually hold this light weight in your hands, you really have no idea how small it really is.



I would highly recommend this drive if you're wanting something simply as an external without automatic backup. I'm unable to review the backup software because I refuse to use it.

 "Great portable" 2010-09-23
By Gluteus Maximus (SoCal)
I really like this portable hard drive. It is very small and weighs practically nothing yet holds lots of stuff. I love the fact that it is powered by the usb cable. One less cable to carry especially a big ac adapter. I didn't really bother using the software that it came with. Some people here reviewed them pretty badly based on the software. As far as hardware it is great and it is fast. I prefer to use other companies to take care of the backup situation for my computer.


Images Product

Get Special offer for Western Digital My Passport Essential 500 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive WDBAAA5000ASL-NESN (Cool Silver) Now

Buy Cheap LaCie d2 Quadra Hard Disk 1.5 TB eSATA/FireWire800/FireWire400/USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive 301425U (Aluminum)

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The LaCie d2 Quadra External Hard Drive is fully loaded with all the best interfaces¿eSATA 3Gbits, FireWire 800, FireWire 400, and USB 2.0¿this all-in-one professional hard disk offers universal connectivity for PC and Mac users. For easy setup, the LaCie Setup Assistant helps format your disk according to your needs. Perfect for digital content creation, audio/video editing, DVD authoring, Web animation, etc., the d2 Quadra can handle multiple demanding professional tasks. It can be daisy-chained via FireWire or connected to your DV camera and is even bootable in FireWire for Mac and in eSATA for Mac/PC. With the LaCie Shortcut Button***, you can easily launch any application in one push, such as the included Genie Backup Assistant software with data restore for Windows or Intego Backup Assistant software with data restore for Mac. The unique, fanless aluminum heat sink design with 60% more surface area for heat dissipation keeps it quiet and safe. Box Content: LaCie d2 Quadra Hard Disk, eSATA-to-eSATA cable, FireWire 800 (9-pin) cable, FireWire 400 (6-pin) cable, Hi-Speed USB 2.0 cable, Drive stand for upright use, External power supply, Utilities with User Manual (preloaded on the drive): LaCie Setup Assistant, Genie Backup Assistant software with data restore for Windows 2000, XP, Vista, Intego Backup Assistant software with data restore for Mac OS X 10.4, Quick Install Guide.


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Technical Details

- Plug-and-play 1.5 TB external hard drive offers 4 interfaces, including eSATA connectivity
- Fast transfer rates up to 3 Gb/sec; daisy-chainable via Firewire
- Advanced cooling system for quiet operation
- Includes eSATA-to-eSATA cable, Firewire 800 (9-to-9 pin) cable, Firewire 400 (6-to-6 pin) cable, and USB 2.0 cable (USB 1.1 compatible)
- Measures 1.7 x 6.3 x 6.8 inches (WxHxD); weighs 3.31 pounds; 3-year limited warranty
See more technical details

 "The BEST external hard drive you can buy!!!" 2010-09-25
By Kinch (Chicago, IL)
I normally keep this unplugged so that it hopefully lasts longer (for those who don't know, external HD's have the nortorious reputation of breaking frequently). The side design definitely helps keep the unit cool. The entire unit, other than the blue light up button is metal, so heat has a lot of surface area to disperse. I have only downloaded stuff to the HD using a USB cable, and am able to download 75+ GB(mostly hi-def pics, videos, and music) in about 20-30 min.



I have found the software that came with the HD useless, but that is probably because I don't use the HD/have it connected to my computer all of the time. To put stuff on the HD, all you need to do is follow the instructions to install the driver for the HD, and then you can use windows explorer to put files on the HD.

 "Reliable and fast" 2010-09-19
By phillip L Beeman
I have always been very pleased with the LaCie d2 Quadra drives. I have several and they have always been reliable. My older ones are still working fine. I like the fact that you can use it with USB or firewire. It's great for a Mac computer. If you have Firewire 800, you'll get transfer speeds twice as fast as USB 2. Also it does not have superfluous software which other external drives have, that can screw things up - so I've heard. (WD, are you listening?) I only wish they were a little cheaper.

 "LaCie d2 Quadra HD 1 TB" 2010-09-15
By Loki Ryan (Mt. Vernon, NY USA)
Was unable to work this on the eSATA drive on my Dell XPS 9000 Win 7). Working well on the USB port. Tech support was not very helpful. They blame the problem on my hardware.

 "Good product" 2010-09-13
By MikeB
Have owned this particular model for 1 month and works well. Have had the 500GB modal for almost 2 years and still works great. Looks nice and is very quiet. Could have come with a holder to lay it flat vs standing up. Also has a big heavy power cord, but other brands are probably similar.

 "Great external drive" 2010-09-13
By Kelly Peters
I use this with my MBP. It has to be re-formatted, but that's easy to do. I dragged these from the U.S., to South Africa, all over South Africa, to Brussels, and back to the U.S. in a backpack. Very durable, and easy to use!


Images Product

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Buy Cheap Western Digital My Passport Essential 320 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive WDBAAA3200ABK-NESN (Midnight Black)

Special price Now!(Limit Time Offer)
The world’s most popular portable drive is now smaller than ever. And it’s smarter than ever with WD SmartWare data management and backup software that backs up your data automatically and continuously, shows your backup as it happens, and restores lost files effortlessly. Password protection and military-grade, 256-bit hardware-based encryption lets you secure your data. One of the five beautiful colors is just what you need to make you look smart (and very stylish). WD’s smallest portable drive ever - WD is an expert in portable storage, so they designed a smaller, high-quality integrated USB hard drive inside a stylish package. With a variety of fun colors, there’s sure to be one to suit your style. WD SmartWare - 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 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, 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. 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.


Amazing! Drop price for Western Digital My Passport Essential 320 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive WDBAAA3200ABK-NESN (Midnight Black) . Today Shopping Online & Get Discount and Affordable Western Digital My Passport Essential 320 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive WDBAAA3200ABK-NESN (Midnight Black) Now Available In Stock & Super Save Shipping in USA. Big Saving & Greatest Buy Western Digital My Passport Essential 320 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive WDBAAA3200ABK-NESN (Midnight Black) Check Price Now (Limit Time Price).

Technical Details

- Automatic, continuous backup
- Visual backup control center
- Password protection and 256-bit encryption
- USB 2.0 interface
- Several colors to choose from including Black, Pacific Blue, Real Red, Cool Silver
See more technical details

 "So far it's great!" 2010-09-25
By Claire Jordan (New Orleans, LA)
I've had bad experiences with two Western Digital drives in the past so I was a little leery about using this one, but it's the smallest, most convenient drive I've ever seen so I thought I'd give it a shot. Seriously, this drive is not much bigger than an iPhone! I'm on a Mac and I already have a drive dedicated to automated back ups, so I reformatted this one for Mac OSX using the extended journal option with Disk Utility. Doing this deletes the software that comes loaded on the drive, but since I don't need any of the features provided by the software (back up management) I'd rather have the free space.



I've been using it as redundant storage for video files. Given my past experiences with WD drives, I'm not ready to put anything on it that's not also stored somewhere else for safety. So far it's worked like a little champ. It's the first portable drive I've had that really could fit in a pocket! It moves my video files as fast as any of my other USB2 drives. I don't mind the new USB cable, after all, change happens, but I have to be extra careful that I keep it with the drive. If I misplace it I don't have a dozen extras in the back of a drawer like I do with micro-USB cables.



So far I really like it. I'll update if that changes.

 "Good but not perfect." 2010-09-24
By S. Dang (Los Angeles, CA)
I have used many Western Digital portable hard disks before and with Western Digital's My Passport Essentials 500GB, they continue to improve. For a USB 2.0 device, it delivers blazing throughput compared to a flash thumb drive. Of course it's much bigger than a thumbdrive, but smaller and more slick than previous models, and other competitor's similar capacity drives. For the price, it's great. 500GB offers plenty of space in an improved compact form factor. It has no rough or sharp edges.. The unit is entirely sleek and nice to handle.



The reason this product doesn't get a perfect score is because there are a few improvements that could have been made.



1. The microUSB cable is separate. It could have been built in and hidden away in a storage slot. This would have made transporting the device a seamless experience, rather than having to carry the drive in one pocket in my bag, and the cable in another or sticking out the same pocket.



2. The finish is very easy to scratch. The case itself is made of polyurethane glossy piano black plastic. It became very scuffed up with light rubbing against other devices as well as it's own cable. After about 3 weeks, it looks like crap. The could have just made the case textured with a matte finish. That would have solved that problem.



3. The case is not well protected from short falls/drops. I would have liked to see a rounded rubber guard or something to encompass impact points in an accidental drop.



4. The device uses MicroUSB. This type of physical interface is poorly designed for frequent use. I have many other devices using this type of cable/port combo and several of them have failed specifically on the microusb jack. It was a choice to use for a device that requires frequent plugging/unplugging. The should have gone with mini-USB, which are more prevalent and therefore mini-USB replacement cables are cheap and plentiful at your local computer store. MicroUSB replacement cables are getting more and more common, but as of this writing, they aren't readily available at Best Buys or other major electronic outlets.



Other than those physical flaws, I would rate this drive very highly on functionality. Let's hope it doesn't fail on me. If it does, I will update this review.

 "HORRIBLE CABLE CONNECTION!!!" 2010-09-23
By David Perez
DON'T BUY THIS!!! The design is ok except for the most important thing: USB connection! The cable is reaaally loose! READ THE REVIEWS! If you move the drive even a bit while transferring your stuff it will crash and probably lose everything!!! I didn't read the reviews before buying this otherwise I shouldn't have bought it. Luckily I only had it for one day so I was able to return it and buy a 640GB toshiba canvioToshiba Canvio Plus 640 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive E05A064CAU2XK (Raven Black) for $78! Toshibas are waaay better and stable.

 "Yes You Can Use It As An External Only Drive!" 2010-09-23
By N. K. (Central Plains)
I originally chose this drive because of it's capabilities of being a plain Jane external drive without having to use the backup software enclosed. After reading many reviews I became nervous that I was only going to be able to use this as an automatic backup.



Once I plugged the hard drive into my PC and it did it's autorun, I simply chose to cancel the autorun and that was that. It now functions as a perfectly normal external drive. I immediately deleted the installed software from the drive and no longer need to worry about it losing it's external drive capabilities.



The drive stays on 24x7 along with my computer. You can tell when it's in use since it begins flashing whenever something on it is accessed. A great plus about the drive is that it shuts down when the computer shuts down as well, leading to minimal wear on the drive.



Having also an old 200GB Maxtor drive, I expected a slow write speed, when in fact it's significantly faster than the older drive, even though both are using USB 2.0. Speaking of USB 2.0, that's where this little tyke draws its power!! SUPER PORTABLE! I carry it in my purse with me to work, friends, vacation, everywhere! I've decided to pamper mine and bought it its own hard case to keep that gorgeous finish from getting scratched up. Visually this drive is very sleek and VERY attractive! It's extremely cute. You can read the dimensions, but until you actually hold this light weight in your hands, you really have no idea how small it really is.



I would highly recommend this drive if you're wanting something simply as an external without automatic backup. I'm unable to review the backup software because I refuse to use it.

 "Great portable" 2010-09-23
By Gluteus Maximus (SoCal)
I really like this portable hard drive. It is very small and weighs practically nothing yet holds lots of stuff. I love the fact that it is powered by the usb cable. One less cable to carry especially a big ac adapter. I didn't really bother using the software that it came with. Some people here reviewed them pretty badly based on the software. As far as hardware it is great and it is fast. I prefer to use other companies to take care of the backup situation for my computer.


Images Product

Get Special offer for Western Digital My Passport Essential 320 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive WDBAAA3200ABK-NESN (Midnight Black) Now

Buy Cheap Western Digital My Passport Studio 500 GB USB 2.0/FireWire 400/800 Portable External Hard Drive WDMT5000TN

Special price Now!(Limit Time Offer)
My Passport Studio 500GB Hard Drive FireWire 400/800 & USB 2.0 Ultra Fast and Mac-ready. Equipped with FireWire 800/400 and USB 2.0 interfaces and formatted for Macintosh this high speed portable hard drive is perfect for Mac users on the go. Use it to pack up your office files and take them home carry thousands of songs or pictures and back up your Macintosh laptop using Apple Time Machine.


Amazing! Drop price for Western Digital My Passport Studio 500 GB USB 2.0/FireWire 400/800 Portable External Hard Drive WDMT5000TN . Today Shopping Online & Get Discount and Affordable Western Digital My Passport Studio 500 GB USB 2.0/FireWire 400/800 Portable External Hard Drive WDMT5000TN Now Available In Stock & Super Save Shipping in USA. Big Saving & Greatest Buy Western Digital My Passport Studio 500 GB USB 2.0/FireWire 400/800 Portable External Hard Drive WDMT5000TN Check Price Now (Limit Time Price).

Technical Details

- USB/FW400/FW800
See more technical details

 "Good for files, haven't figured out time machine yet" 2010-09-25
By Ashley Sierra
I've only owned this a few weeks and have put little on it, but it works. I didn't plan on buying it for time machine backups, but when I tried the prompted time machine after pluging the thing in, my computer froze up. I haven't had time to figure it out yet though. But i'm not too worried.

 "Firewire is the way to go" 2010-09-18
By
I chose this hard drive to go along with my Apple MacBook Pro. I chose one with Firewire for two reasons. First, because it has double the transfer speed of USB. Second, because it leaves both USB ports open for other things. Mine is connected all the time, taking advantage of the Time Machine feature of the Snow Leopard operating system.

 "Buyer beware" 2010-08-28
By wolf5808 (Turnersville, NJ USA)
Noisy and overheated from the very beginning. Crashed and now useless less than 6 months after purchase.

 "Do not recommend!" 2010-08-23
By Patricia
This external hard drive worked well for 6 months. I started a backup yesterday with time machine but had to quit before the backup completed...now I have an incomplete backup on this hard drive that I CANNOT delete for some reason and no more space left to do a fresh backup. I called Western Digital for help and they said the only way to get rid of this incomplete backup is to reformat the drive, which means I will lose everything else that's in there. They tried to blame it on Time Machine and asked me to contact Apple, but this happened when I just copied and pasted folders into the Passport too.

Unfortunately I cannot drag all the files I want back to my computer before reformatting because I don't have enough space on my Macbook. So I am stuck with this external drive with only 11 GB of space left, and I can't do anything! I can't delete this useless, incomplete, inaccessible backup from this drive.

They pretty much said I could get a new external hard drive but only if I give them my credit card number up front so they can ship it to me and then they'll reimburse me the cost after they get my defective one. I will never buy Western Digital's crappy products again!

 "WD 320GB -- PC & Mac User -- Compatibility Challenges" 2010-08-11
By I. Sims (Los Angeles)
I recently purchased a Western Digital My Passport Studio 320GB. There are several reasons why I bought this particular model.



1) In 2006, I purchased a refurbished WD Passport 120GB. It's been a great hard drive and it's never had any problems. Therefore, I trust the Western Digital brand.



2) I own a 2009 MacBook Pro, an older Dell workstation, and an IBM server. The Dell doesn't have USB 2.0 and the connection is really slow. However, the Dell does have Firewire 400. Although this is an older technology, it actually outperforms modern USB ports. The WD My Passport Studio comes with three connector cables: Firewire 800, Firewire 400, and USB. When I'm using the Dell workstation, I use the Firewire 400 cable.



3) I need a hard drive that can utilize the ultra-fast Firewire 800 on my MacBook Pro. This is the hard drive! Compared to available USB portable hard drives, there are very few available with Firewire capability. Also, the price on this hard drive is very reasonable, only $77 through Amazon. A comparable LaCie 320 GB costs $119 through Amazon.



Despite my praises for this hard drive, I have faced some serious challenges. Out of the box, the hard drive comes formatted to work on a Mac, not a PC. As both a Mac and PC user, I needed to reformat the hard drive to work on both computers. Although there are several software programs available to facilitate cross-platform compatibility, I didn't want to pay for these programs.

Rather, I wanted to format the hard drive in FAT32, a format compatible with both Mac and PC. (Disclaimer: If you need a portable hard drive for video editing, DO NOT use FAT32 formating. It limits file size to 4GB.)



I attempted to reformat my hard drive four times. First, I used my Mac to reformat into FAT32. The HD functioned perfectly with the Mac, but my PC (Win XP Pro SP3) would not recognize it. Second, I tried to reformat the HD using my PC. However, Windows XP does not allow hard drives over 32GB to be formatted using FAT32, only NTSF. I reformatted the HD using NTFS, but now my Mac could no longer write to the drive. Third, I tried to reformat the hard drive using the command prompt (C:> format /FS:FAT32 X:). This took about two hours and then I got an error message.



Finally, here's how I was able to successfully reformat my HD as FAT32: Using Win XP Pro, I downloaded and installed a program called GUI Format. I reformatted my HD as FAT32 using the Quick Format tool within GUI Format. The reformatting process took about two minutes.



Here's the link to download the free software:[...]



Despite my reformatting challenges, I highly recommend this hard drive. If you follow these instructions, then you should be able to reformat the hard drive quite quickly. Good luck.


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