Review: Western Digital Passport 120GB 2.5" USB 2.0 External Hard Drive

Specs and details can be obtained at:
http://www.buy.com/prod/Western_Dig...rd_Drive/q/loc/101/202958364.html#prodInfoSec

I posted a negative review on buy.com, they have not posted it yet, dunno whether it was deliberate so I'm posting an expanded version here.

WD site:
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=261

I bought it at buy.com for approx $90 after tax and google checkout discount.

PROS
The drive is 5400 rpm (with a 2MB cache I belive). It looks extremely nice, very sleek finish, very thin, and very light. Its footprint will be that of a wallet, thickness about 60% of the wallet. It has rubber feet on the bottom which is a very nice feature, prevents the drive from sliding around on very light tugs.
It connects via USB (cable is provided), no external power input.
There is also no power button, drive starts when USB cable it plugged in. Only way to shut down the drive is to unplug th USB cable. A very nice blue light indicates when the drive is turned on.

CONS:
Cable is very short (1 feet).
Enclosure is made of plastic (bad because of heat build up).
No external power input - its known to not work with many laptops (macbooks). It would not also work on my thinkpad T30. I had to get an external powered USB hub to supply enough juice.
No power button.
The enclosing sureface is smooth - its very easy to drop this thing. Drops are apparently a common problem reading other reviews.

I would recommend getting an aluminium 2.5" enclosure and putting in a laptop HDD. Such enclosures will be about twice as thick as this one - making them slightly bigger than a wallet. But they run cooler, are easier to handle, more rugged, and include a power supply.

Only get this drive if there is a really good deal; and you do not plan on storing important data on it.

Note: the 160GB version of it has had very bad reviews, with rampant hard drive failures ( read reviews on amazon).

 

To be honest with you, your review is very much on the negative side, and very biased it seems. I have a complete opposite view from you. I hope you don't mind me posting my opposing view.

If the HD wouldn't have worked on my laptop, I might have felt the same way. But since it did work on my HP dv6000t, I have a VERY positive view of this hard drive.

I bought it for $80 dollars and it has defintely met my expectations.

And I would say that most of the things you describe as CONS, are actually PROS:
1. My cable was 20", which I thought was actually way too long. Remember this is supposed to be a portable hard drive, the shorter the cable, the better.
2. The plastic enclosure is very sleek, you can't really achieve that with aluminum. And when you say heat build up... has your actually gotten hot? Mine stays at a very reasonable heat level, I want to call it cool, but that would be inaccurate... it does feel warm to the palm.. definetely not hot.
3. No external power source. Yes, if it doesn't work with your laptop it's a problem. However, it's your laptops problem, no offense, but that is the truth... it is your laptop not supplying enough power to the USB hubs. For those of us for which it works, I can say IM VERY HAPPY THAT IT DOESN'T HAVE AN EXTERNAL POWER SOURCE. I literally carry it in the pocket of my jacket... I wouldn't like doing that if it had an external power source.
4. No Power Button: YES, I definetely DO NOT like this!! Power button would be nice.
5. Yes the enclosure is smooth. And many people have dropped it, and maybe it's prone to scratches... but you could say the same thing about the Ipods.. and that didn't stop them from taking over the mp3 player market. It is a very likable surface that I think most would find attractive. I like it a lot.

Just my two cents on the matter.

 

His review is extremely negative, possibly because there was a 'Cons' section, and not much else.
It looks like a very nice drive, I was on the verge of purchasing it but instead got the 250GB WD MyBook External hard drive for $69 because I wanted the extra capacity more than the extra portability.

 

I added a "PROS" heading for u guys.
My review is indeed negative. I do not care about looks, only about functionality. For all I could care, the enclosure could be bright pink with pictures of lillies on it.

Um remember guys, this is plastic. Its an insulator. Outside being cool does not mean inside is cool.

Its more likely that th device is trying to extract more power than specified by the USB standard (this seems to be a common problem with external hard drives).
IBM thinkpads and Apple Macbooks are not known for their defective USB ports.
It does not work with the T30's USB 1.1 port
It does not work on a PCMCIA USB card.

I dont care about scratches.
If it had been a flash based drive, the surface would have been no problem. Also HDD based Ipods are meant for stroring music. One might say music is not all that critical, also portability is paramount in mp3 players.
Here we are talking about data, and people will not be using this drive in the gym, on the subway etc. Data safety becomes paramount in this case. Looks not so much.

The drive looks very, very nice. The question is, whether you care more about looks or data safety. I only care about data safety, nothng else, perhaps that is why my review may seem a bit biased

 

I just wanted to post my thoughts, I bought this a week ago and think its fine. I too agree the cable is long for a laptop, but its fine. No heat problems, lack of power button is no big deal, black surface seems to scratch easily if not taken care of, software is ok, good deal at Bestbuy with 12$ off coupon, $90.

Overall, I'm happy and would recommend it. Sorry to hear about your problems.