Comments on: Western Digital My Passport Essential 320GB Portable USB Hard Drive Review

By: AsianSpark

AsianSpark — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 16:24:05 +0000

Cool review, got one myself today.

Actually you shouldnt apply too much shock.

Like dropping it.

By: Cal

Cal — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 23:54:40 +0000

Asking for advice-I’m looking for backup for a trip to Australia. Can I use the MP Essential with an Aussie computer (240volt)? I’m clueless and any info/recommendations most welcomed.

By: Jana

Jana — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 20:51:44 +0000

What about WD Sync_v7something has stopped working? It was working fine yesterday, now I cannot access anything I stored. I googled also, and no usefull solution is obviously known. I’m a bit mad at the moment on this thing.

By: henrik

henrik — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 15:51:33 +0000

okay i’ll go to a computer shop thingy then, and hopefully going to get my files back…. it kinda suck when you trust your harddrive so bad :0.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:00:32 +0000

henrik,
Sounds like you are in a bad spot. Fortunately, mine is still operating as expected but this always is a concern of mine.
You might try taking it into a computer service center. A friend of mine had a portable hard drive fail on him once and they were able to work some magic and get stuff off, for a price of course.

By: henrik

henrik — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 09:33:17 +0000

I have this Hard Drive for almost 5months with no problems and issues and it suddenly stopped reading, it was working fine until 4days ago… It shows the “Safely Remove Hardware” on my Desktop Bar but it doesn’t show the icon where I could go in my files on “My Computer” and I got some really memorable pictures there which I need to get atleast before I get a new hard drive…
can anyone help me?

By: deniz

deniz — Sun, 24 May 2009 12:36:31 +0000

i’ll set password at my wd drive and i forget what can i do about this problem plz i need hilp

By: Wajid

Wajid — Thu, 14 May 2009 04:49:20 +0000

My WD drive was working smoothly but now it is not opening while the system detects it and Device Manager shows it “working properly”. please help.

By: Mel

Mel — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 19:43:32 +0000

Based on my sample set of two, the portable Western Digital drives last 1 to 1.5 years before going seriously bad.

By: Lee

Lee — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 15:36:42 +0000

I have 6 WD external harddrives and love them. 2 Tb’s, 2 500’s, and 2 320’s. One I use for backups of my computers and the rest I have graphics on. I believe they are excellent drives. With them, I am able to keep my computers harddrives uncluttered and and fast. None of them have failed me.

By: Michael Murray

Michael Murray — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 08:41:22 +0000

I bought a 320 GB one of these a few weeks for use with a MacBook. It seems to work fine doing SuperDuper clones and booting the MacBook. I would prefer FireWire but as Steve Jobs has decided to drop it I thought I would see what USB 2 is like. It feels a bit slower but otherwise OK. The small, no power cord, form factor is excellent.

Michael

By: David

David — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 17:57:08 +0000

I had the 120gb version, worked quite well, and the 320gb version, which I returned, it would not do Time Machine backups, it would format properly and then the next day refuse to boot. All data lost. I tried NTFS, FAT32, and HFS, all had the same results.

There are quite a few threads online concerning the use of these as Time Machine drives, unsuccessfully.

I got a Seagate and it works perfectly.

David

By: Ryan

Ryan — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 19:56:32 +0000

Don’t depend on it, back it up!!

By: Ross

Ross — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:04:42 +0000

I agree with Ryan Preston, I have the same drive and it’s amazing. Lightweight, portable and hasn’t failed me once. I carry my entire DVD library on it and all of my photos (all backed up on another drive just incase I leave this one somewhere). The only con I have about it is the amount of folders and programs that are on the root, but I’m sure I can live with that, atleast the autorun file isn’t built in like some flashdrives.

By: Ryan Preston

Ryan Preston — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 02:22:20 +0000

I guess that I have been fortunate. I have been using mine almost daily for nearly 3 months with no issues.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 20:08:46 +0000

Firewire is the only way to go and if you run into the problems I did, and that is a hugh “if”, you can get the date off much much quicker.

But these would make terrific door stops;)

By: Ryan

Ryan — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 19:04:55 +0000

I will never buy one of these again.
I am in the process of trying to rebuild my 120gb passport for the second time if if doesn’t fail before it rebuilds. After that I am throwing it straight in the trash. This is 2nd faulty Western Digital Drive I’ve got and it’s seriously not worth it.

By: Avaviel

Avaviel — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 18:45:22 +0000

These harddrives are simply slower laptop hardrives. If you own a SATA hardrive, it might serve you better to buy an external HD enclosure and a 7200 RPM hardrive upgrade for your laptop from newegg or something. I upgraded to a 320 GB 7200 RPM drive with an enclosure for my old harddrive for about $110.