Western Digital 160GB 2.5-inch Passport USB Portable Hard Drive
- Form Factor - 2.5"-External
- Dimensions WxDxH - 79.78 x 129.78 x 15 mm
- Weight - 0.1048 kg
Rating: 5 of 5
excellent
one of the creation more helpfully 4 me & my computer stuff. have been an excellent portable hard drive without any inconvenient until now.so I recomended 100%
Rating: 3 of 5
I made it function with help from a Belkin PCMCIA card
.
I purchased two of these at once; one as a gift. Neither worked because they were made 4 USB ports that supply more power than my Gateway or my friend's Dell put forth. Western Digital, I discovered later, states that they don't work in "some" laptops.
WD sells some affordable accessories that are supposed 2 boost power in the unit, (for those laptops that need more USB power 2 make these work.) One of the suggested items they sell is a Y-connector so you can utilize the power from two USB ports at once. This would seem 2 be a nuisance unplugging my USB mouse, & I had problems with WD delivering the items anyway (after ordering them twice.) Also, WD informed me by email I couldn't obtain the power boosters anywhere else except from them.
Okay... that aside 4 now. Let's consider the purpose of these drives & whether that purpose matches what you want it 2 do.
I wanted a simple mass storage device, like a flash stick only bigger. That's not exactly what these were designed for. They are cleverly designed 2 mimick your own hard drive so when you travel you just unplug the drive & take it 2 any computer & that remote computer becomes, magically, your home computer. Your email, your documents, everything appears on the remote computer as if you had brought your home computer with you... even your wallpaper is duplicated.
This seems very clever indeed but not what I wanted. So I deleted the software I found on it as my first order of business-- that stopped it from automatically filling itself with the contents of my computer.
Then I used my my computer 2 reformat the whole drive in NTFS. Right click My Computer, Manage, Disk Management (and... um... do be sure 2 format the right drive-- not your C: drive.)
Now it was clean & ready 2 be used as a big removable storage device-- which was what I wanted.
I had 2 invest $54 2 solve the power problem but did so without dealing with WD. I purchased a Belkin PCMCIA 2.0 2-port USB card, which created two additional USB slots on my computer that both worked even better than the original ones. This card pluged easily into my previously unused PCMCIA slot. It came with a power cord so there is no power deficit issue.
If you use this method, do please read the instructions & don't just plug in the card. It comes with a driver 2 install first from a disc.
The WD Passport works fine in there now & has 4 three days, & I can put my flash drive in the open USB slot next 2 it. I'm getting fast data transfers. The WD Passport does what I wanted it 2 do now.
Other reviews I've read elsewhere indicate that after a short time the drive ceased 2 work 4 a few people, so read more reviews. The Belkin card was a good purchase nevertheless, I can imagine many uses 4 a more powerful & faster USB port, & the card doubled the number of USB ports I have. If the WD Passport fails... well... it will have worked 4 awhile & that's better than I had expected after I first got it home.
Oh... & I purchased a Belkin card 4 my friend as well. As of today I don't see this particular Belkin item on Amazon or I'd paste a link 2 it. I bought mine at Staples.
[...]
.
I purchased two of these at once; one as a gift. Neither worked because they were made 4 USB ports that supply more power than my Gateway or my friend's Dell put forth. Western Digital, I discovered later, states that they don't work in "some" laptops.
WD sells some affordable accessories that are supposed 2 boost power in the unit, (for those laptops that need more USB power 2 make these work.) One of the suggested items they sell is a Y-connector so you can utilize the power from two USB ports at once. This would seem 2 be a nuisance unplugging my USB mouse, & I had problems with WD delivering the items anyway (after ordering them twice.) Also, WD informed me by email I couldn't obtain the power boosters anywhere else except from them.
Okay... that aside 4 now. Let's consider the purpose of these drives & whether that purpose matches what you want it 2 do.
I wanted a simple mass storage device, like a flash stick only bigger. That's not exactly what these were designed for. They are cleverly designed 2 mimick your own hard drive so when you travel you just unplug the drive & take it 2 any computer & that remote computer becomes, magically, your home computer. Your email, your documents, everything appears on the remote computer as if you had brought your home computer with you... even your wallpaper is duplicated.
This seems very clever indeed but not what I wanted. So I deleted the software I found on it as my first order of business-- that stopped it from automatically filling itself with the contents of my computer.
Then I used my my computer 2 reformat the whole drive in NTFS. Right click My Computer, Manage, Disk Management (and... um... do be sure 2 format the right drive-- not your C: drive.)
Now it was clean & ready 2 be used as a big removable storage device-- which was what I wanted.
I had 2 invest $54 2 solve the power problem but did so without dealing with WD. I purchased a Belkin PCMCIA 2.0 2-port USB card, which created two additional USB slots on my computer that both worked even better than the original ones. This card pluged easily into my previously unused PCMCIA slot. It came with a power cord so there is no power deficit issue.
If you use this method, do please read the instructions & don't just plug in the card. It comes with a driver 2 install first from a disc.
The WD Passport works fine in there now & has 4 three days, & I can put my flash drive in the open USB slot next 2 it. I'm getting fast data transfers. The WD Passport does what I wanted it 2 do now.
Other reviews I've read elsewhere indicate that after a short time the drive ceased 2 work 4 a few people, so read more reviews. The Belkin card was a good purchase nevertheless, I can imagine many uses 4 a more powerful & faster USB port, & the card doubled the number of USB ports I have. If the WD Passport fails... well... it will have worked 4 awhile & that's better than I had expected after I first got it home.
Oh... & I purchased a Belkin card 4 my friend as well. As of today I don't see this particular Belkin item on Amazon or I'd paste a link 2 it. I bought mine at Staples.
[...]
.
Rating: 5 of 5
WD 160GB portable hard drive
Product was great slim size, portable & works well. It was
delivered in a timely manner.
delivered in a timely manner.
Rating: 1 of 5
Warning "You will lose all your Data" Corrupted everything
I transfered all my data & it lasted about two months before I noticed a performance issue (slow response). Then files started 2 become corrupted. Attempted 2 transfer 2 a know good drive, but already lost a large portion of my data.
Rating: 1 of 5
WRONG VERSION: DO NOT BUY
This product is an outdated model. It is MORE expensive than newer versions with double the capacity--available on Amazon. Why in God's name is this still 4 sale at this price? Why in God's name would anyone pay it?
Incidentally I own one & it's a good product.
Incidentally I own one & it's a good product.
Pack up your office files & take them home. Carry thousands of songs or pictures. These drives are simple 2 use, light & easy 2 carry, & require no power adapter - they are powered directly through the USB cable.Installation is a snap because you don't really "install" this drive; you just plug it in & it's ready 2 use. There is no CD 2 install; the included software loads from the drive the first time you plug it in. Powered by the USB bus, so no separate power supply needed. This ultra-portable drive fits easily in your pocket or purse, weighs only a few ounces & holds tons of valuable data.
($64.00)
Buy Western Digital 160GB 2.5-inch Passport USB Portable Hard Drive Now!
