(Old Model) WD My Passport Ultra 1 TB Portable External USB 3.0 Hard Drive with Auto Backup, Black

Thank God i picked up this little guy, my computer got messed up and i was able to get everythign back because i had backed up everything just a few days ago.. Anyways, on to the review: Ok so i did my research before buying and went with Western Digital since i had already owned a previous external hard drive from them and know of its reputation. The price was perfect and I got a good deal of Amazon. I personally did look around and I dont think you will be able to find a better deal than the one Amazon is curently providing.. This portable hard drive is so light , im amazed how far these things have come.. it feels like it weighs less than my smart phone! The drive is pretty fast and has plenty of storage with the 1 TB option.. I usually dont install the software that manufacturers send with their devices but i thought why not, I was so impressed that this drive actually backed up my whole PC, and that too just the way i wanted it to and im sure most people would want, all the pictures in a seperate folder, music in another documents in another , videos in another... I mean it blew my mind, i just watched it do everything on its own and it barely took any time.. I backed up my own laptop and my wifes laptop the same day and it did it quickly and everything is well organized.. I would also recommend you to look at the Amazon Basics Case for this drive, thats the one i got and its fits perfectly..Highly recommend this drive to anyone.. Extremely easy to use.

Well Ive had this external drive for about six months and so far I love it! Ive backed up all of our music, pictures and documents from our computer and my cell phone & mp3 player, as well as my husbands music & videos from his iPod. Together we probably have over 10K songs. Having added all of that, we have only used about 8 GB of the 1 TB available! Lol Ive not had any issues with losing information. It was easy to set up. There were no issues with it being compatible with my computer, which is an older Dell Dimension 2300 running Windows XP. I like that you can set it to constantly back up your documents so that I dont have to remember to do it! Have not use any of the software that came on the passport. The only qualms I have with it is with the program, which is a bit sluggish when you try to open it and also the GUI of the program is not easy to understand. Also the USB cord is extremely short. Otherwise Im pleased with this device.

This is a nicely built and well designed external hard drive. However, the users manual is too complex and the software WD Software is difficult to follow - so be careful to review it carefully. It keeps track of your initial backup and updated file if you use the WD Smartware software in the correct way. I found that I was not scrolling down far enough on the WD Smartware Software screen and so I wasnt using the Backup options correctly. I found that my best bet was to backup only daily at a specific time and to then click on the clock icon at the bottom of the backup tab and choose backup now. You dont have to do this, but I found it best for me to avoid confusion and also because I do casual backups from time-to-time and dont need continuous backups. It can be used on more that one PC/Laptop and keeps the files separately identified - thats another reason for me not doing a continuous backup option. It also only backups files that have been changed after your initial backup. Also to avoid confusion and problems - when plugged into a PC, it will often popup a message asking if you want to backup using MS Windows backup - DONT DO THIS or it will just give you a fragmented backup that is hard to track. Use the WD Smartware only to do your backups and it will track your files and revision just fine.

This drive works very well with USB 2.0, but 3.0 is most ideal for read/write speeds. However, on an older Mac as I have been using for nearly 7 years, it is only USB 2.0. After you connect the drive, you see some folders and files. Copy them to your computer and backup to a CD-R or flash disk, for instance. This is if you need to reuse the programs on the drive. You go into the utility program and erase the contents, making sure you choose the proper format type. I prefer storage for manual backup, which I find a little more time involved, but to ensure that the backup you would otherwise use, say, Time Machine, actually copies all your files and folders. I typically do not trust any backup program, nor have I dared to try since Roxios GoBack 3 in 2001. If you want to use the Passport on Mac and Windows, the utility tells you basic information about the option. The process of erasure and readying the drive is fast. You can also check the drive for errors in case of improper removal. The files disappear from the drive and non-retrievable. (That is why I said, copy them to another storage source in case you need them again in the future, if they are not available for download from Western Digitals site.) A few issues making it four stars in my review... (Cons: 2.) Pros: Small but solidly heavy (nice paperweight?). Edges a little hard but does not cause discomfort. Printed design is catchy. Good performance, for a non-solid-state (moving parts/platters type). Well made, but smells like a musky bandage. Cons: After copying large quantity of data (files, folders, size, and so forth), icons may appear erratic, or the drive will not unmount. This causes your computer not to restart. If this happens, shut your Mac off improperly, wait, and cold boot again. Scan for errors if you think something is not right. System stability and very short USB cord are my two complaints about this drive. It may be targeted for laptop users, which makes sense. Very small size good for travel bag. It is even smaller than most cameras!

i bought this around the end of 2014 and ive used it all these years to store photos, videos, and all kinds of files. it was a great investment.

I loaded about 1TB of family pictures and church services, as well as a backup for my desktop computer. Two days later the product would not let me have access to any of the files. An email to the company gave me instructions to unlock the drive which did not work. Another email told me I could return it for another and they would send me an RMA. I said I had to retrieve the files first and they suggested I contact a 3rd party to retrieve as they could not help. After 12 days of trying, I was able to see the files, but retrieval was happening at only 2 to 4.7kb per minute when I could get anything. After a month, I figured it would take over 300 years to extract all the files. At this point I realized my files were gone and I decided to try to reformat the drive and wipe it clean, and send it back for a replacement. I was able to wipe it but Windows could not format it. The company emailed an RMA with a mailing address and said further instructions could be found online. I was not able to open these, but I had saved the packing material from their shipment to me and I sent it back packaged as they had sent this unit (and a second which works but is excedingly slow). Two weeks later it was returned, untouched with a note saying the warranty was being voided as It was not packaged according to the instructions (that I never got) ie; it wasnt in a static bag and in a box. Both units were shipped to me bubble-pack envelopes with no static bags. I feel the company has a lousy product and a warranty that is fraudulent.

I wanted an external drive for my Macbook Pro. I was looking for a good looking drive that was small, had USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt connectivity and one that didnt need an external power source. Of the drives that fit my criteria, I was drawn to the Western Digital drive because of the form factor, the price and the brand. This drive looks good. It is fairy small, about the size of an index card and a little large than .5 inch tall. The drive has a small white LED on the front that lets you know when the disk is being accessed. It comes in a variety of colors. I loved the both the red and blue versions because I was simply tired of the blacks and grays. I know it seems odd to be concerned with how the drive looks but I think you should get pleasure from the things you see and use all the time. When you see this drive you should not only see something that is technically competent but also something that is pleasing to the eye. I have experience with Western Digital drives in a number of internal applications over the year and have never been disappointed. This external drive has been in use since January and I am completely satisfied. It is very reasonably priced. It is quiet and stays cool to the touch. It has USB 3.0 connectivity so it is zippy. A thunderbolt 2 connection would have been great since my Macbook supported it, but those drives were hard to find at the time and I didnt think it was worth the extra money for just a thunderbolt connection. As far as throughput spend are concerned, USB 3.0 has max throughput is 5 Gbps, Thunderbolt is 10 Gbps and Thunderbolt 2 is 20 Gbps. USB 3.1 will be also 10 Gbps.

If you are looking for a menu-driven backup system for your computer files that will run automatically in accordance with your pre-determined schedule, then this is the product that you are looking for. It will back up your entire system including Windows and all associated files on a regular basis, running in the background and not interfering with your programs currently running in memory. Once it backs up your entire computer system (this may take several hours, but you can continue working until it does so), then it will update your files on a regular basis. I chose to update my entire system twice a week, removing the external hard drive from the computer and storing it in a cabinet; thus, I am assured that if my system is assaulted in any way, I have an unaffected backup that can completely restore all of my work done during the past week. Purchasing the Amazon Basics Hard Carrying Case offers additional protection while your hard drive is in storage or during transport if you use this product in that manner. Be certain, however, not to cheat yourself on memory. Computer programs are becoming larger and larger, requiring more memory and storage space than ever before. Look to the future, and give yourself some extra wiggle room when it comes to your file storage needs.

First things first... I had a 2 TB WD external hard drive like 5 years ago. A bulky hard ware that sometimes hard to fit in bag because of its size and had to plug the AC adapter just to make it run. At first, I thought that this is normal because it is, after all, a 2 TB hard drive so it was a common sense to me. Although it did its job done as expected from the WD, I still wished for smaller compact but has the drive space comparable to a bulky one. Then 5 years later, this product came to Amazon. I was surprised because not only it had the same drive space as my old one, but it was small, compact, and the price was 3 times cheaper than my old one. My old one was $400 plus tax whereas this one is more or less $120. Damn it, I should have waited later, but I guess I was in need of one at that time... I bought two of this and I would say that this product is the best. As technology progresses so as the file size and this product is a great breakthrough to all who needed a big hard drive space and can be carried anywhere wherever you go. Furthermore, this product doesnt need an AC adapter. Just connect the USB drive and you will be ready. Plus, it comes with a handy pocket bag which you can use to carry it along with you. Finally, the WD brand which I assure you that will not disappoint you whenever you needed space to store your important files. To everyone who is reading this review, I strongly recommend this product.

Im used to external HDDs that are about the size of spiral notebook, and about an inch thick. Or the size of two bricks placed side by side. Thats what I was expecting when I ordered this. I didnt mind because I wanted a drive that had a good capacity and that was USB 3.0 so I could try out the new 3.0 jack on my new laptop. Ive never owned a USB 3.0 device before this one. Needless to say I was blown away. I was expecting it to be delivered in a box the size of a small microwave oven (Amazon tends to pack things that way). I was actually a bit pissed off when I saw that the package was a MANILA ENVELOPE! However, when I opened it and saw how frickin tiny the drive is, I changed my mind. This thing is small enough to fit into my back jeans pocket. Heck, this thing is SMALLER THAN MY CELL PHONE!! Of course, I own a Galaxy Note II, but hey, its still a sight to behold. Ive done only a little bit of performance testing so far, but its about twice as fast in the USB 3.0 port as it was in the USB 2.0 port (40 MB/sec vs 22 MB/sec). I used CDM 3 to benchmark it; and below are the results: ----------------------------------------------------------------------- CrystalDiskMark 3.0.3 x64 (C) 2007-2013 hiyohiyo Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- * MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [SATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s] Sequential Read : 112.099 MB/s Sequential Write : 110.528 MB/s Random Read 512KB : 41.950 MB/s Random Write 512KB : 57.537 MB/s Random Read 4KB (QD=1) : 0.535 MB/s [ 130.5 IOPS] Random Write 4KB (QD=1) : 1.453 MB/s [ 354.7 IOPS] Random Read 4KB (QD=32) : 0.598 MB/s [ 146.0 IOPS] Random Write 4KB (QD=32) : 1.486 MB/s [ 362.8 IOPS] Test : 1000 MB [G: 0.0% (0.4/931.5 GB)] (x5) Date : 2014/02/28 21:18:42 OS : Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 [6.1 Build 7601] (x64) Greater than 110 MB/second sequential data transfer. WOW! Im quite pleased with this...I even splurged and got the blue version. Quite happy with this thing.