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Western Digital 320 GB Passport 2.5" USB 2.0 Hard Drive | 
 enlarge | Brand: Western Digital
Category: CE
List Price: $199.99
Buy Refurbished: $94.00
You Save: $105.99 (53%)
New (11) from $103.85
Avg. Customer Rating:  65 reviews
Format: Cd
Platforms: Macintosh, Windows
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Operating System: Windows & Macintosh
Hard Drive Size: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7 x 5.3 x 2
Warranty: 3 years warranty
MPN: WDXMS3200TN
Model: WDXMS3200TN
UPC: 718037727929
EAN: 0718037727929
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Box Contents - WD Passport portable hard drive, USB cable, Quick Install Guide, sync & encryption and Google software | | • | 320GB capacity | | • | Ultra-portable, fits easily in your pocket or purse | | • | Powered by the USB bus, no separate power source needed with most systems | | • | Use it for carrying important files and e-mail between work and home or on the road |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
WD's Passport provides high-performance portable storage for your PC and Mac. Light and rugged, it's easy to carry and no external power adapter is needed. power adapter - they are powered directly through the USB cable.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 60 more reviews...
 Excellent Mobile Storage February 20, 2008
34 out of 34 found this review helpful
I have owned several Western Digital Passport drives and a few other mobile drive brands. This drive is great for backups, as you can hook it up fast without a power supply and store it anywhere. Put it in your briefcase, put it in your safe, take it with you anywhere and keep a copy of your data. It is almost pocket-size and the only thing you have to keep with you is a short USB cable. Some people consider the short cable that's included to be too short, but it's mobile!
Some owners have commented on needing a power adapter or extra usb cable for it, but I've never had that issue. I've used it on multiple desktops and multiple laptops with no issues at all, but you'll have to try it on your own system.
The surface of the Passports (shiny, black material) can be easy to scratch if you throw it around or keep it in your bag with other items. That would be my only complaint, but it doesn't really bother to me.
The speed is very responsive. I've used it on an XP and Vista machine and both have copied data to it fairly quick. I haven't performed tests on it, but it always gets the job done for me. The 320GB version is a great upgrade on the previous Passport models.
 Very disappointed, it lacks a power cable it needs January 28, 2008
33 out of 61 found this review helpful
Needed more disk space so I decided to shell out two hundred dollars for the drive. On the box it said no power cable necessary on most systems and I have never used a power cable on my laptops with Seagate and LaCie portables. So let's see... On one laptop it didn't work at all saying it needs more power. On my powerful laptop it worked, but died while coping files... (more power needed) great now I'll have a corrupted filesystem. Thanks alot.
Of course you'd think that for two hundred dollars you'd get a power cable (as Seagate and LaCie and others provide free). Wrong. You'll need to order it from their website for a nifty 18 dollars and wait a week to get it. Need it sooner? Sure for an extra 15 dollars they'll expedite it.
I'm sure it's great if your laptop supports it February 21, 2008
25 out of 37 found this review helpful
I have an Apple PowerBook 15" 1.67mHz which I bought this drive to compliment, since I use it to do some basic DJ'ing and want as few wires as possible when on the road. Unfortunately, the WD requires 1000mA to spin up according to the WD support site. It would be nice if there was some notation as to this necessity on the box so I could have saved myself 2 trips to the local retailer I bought this from thinking I got a couple bad drives. I don't want to have to worry about plugging it in - sort of defeats the purpose of the portability. Too bad, I really wanted it to work.
Exactly what I was looking for January 14, 2008
22 out of 27 found this review helpful
I was looking for a small portable storage solution that would fit into a safety deposit box, and the 320GB Passport worked out perfectly. It runs with just one USB wire plugged into my desktop PC. I reformatted it as NTFS since it is shipped as fat32, and I then used Acronis Trueimage to back up my hard drive partitions onto the 320GB Passport. I am relieved knowing that my data is now safe.
 Western Digital Passport 320 GB - Nice Looking Portable External HD April 19, 2008
22 out of 22 found this review helpful
Western Digital 320 GB Passport 2.5" USB 2.0 Hard Drive
The 320 GB passport is the largest one available and has a lot going for it. I own several portable hard drives in the Western Digital passport lineup and so far so good. I couldn't be happier. Some smaller sizes are priced more attractively. Passport hard drives also come in a new and slightly thicker essentials version. They are very similar other than the slightly different form factor. Both are great for mobile backups of data, but both are also slower to copy large backups than their A/C powered MyBook big-brothers.
Pros
+ Largest current capacity available in this line of products
+ Nice portable form factor that easily connects via USB
+ USB powered, no A/C required, which is great for portability
+ Works well on Windows Vista, XP and Mac OS X
+ Easy to set up disk encryption for security and privacy
+ Nice looks, in my opinion better looking than the new essentials version
+ Turns on and off with your computer or easily ejected via system tray
+ Easy plug-and-play installation
+ Integrates nicely with my growing stable of WD MyBook drives
+ Included software may be useful for some novices
+ 320 GB capacity is just about right for most users
Cons
- Somewhat slow file transfer speeds for larger backups
- Included software not useful for power users
- Shiny body attracts scratch, fingerprints and dust
- Have to spend your cash to get a case that should have been included
- At this price less of a value than the 250GB passport
There's also a newer version that isn't out on Amazon yet and an Elite version.
The Looks
The drive has a nice shiny exterior with an offset shape with a blue activity light. The case can scratch in transit and the surface also attracts fingerprints and dust. But the look is still nice and you can easily purchase a case or holder for the drive if it bothers you. Most versions don't ship with the included case, but you can pick it up for $10 or $15. CaseLogic Small External Hard Drive Case (Black)
The Features
I had no problem connecting this drive to any computer, including Windows XP, Vista and Mac OS X. Keep in mind this is a USB 2.0 device so ancient computers may not yield the same results.
Transfer speeds are ok but definitely slower than the A/C powered MyBooks. This guy is still limited by the 480 Mps connection speed of USB 2.0, but performs somewhat slower than this when performing large backups. The USB2.0 speed rating can not really be achieved in production and you will get a fraction of that. But it's a trade-off that's worth it since it's USB-powered.
The software utilities included with this device will be most useful for beginners. I tested the backup software in particular but found it to be slow and impractical. I mean REALLY slow. It works, but cutting and pasting is better. Take my advice: don't use these utilities and just do cut and paste backups and saves to this drive.
Reliability
I've had good luck with the passport line of drives. They seem to have lower failure rates than many MyBook drives, though I also own those and haven't had issues their either. Maybe my gentle care has helped me to get lucky with these guys so far. Maybe it's because these drives are generally off when in transit. Regardless, these guys have held up fine.
Conclusion
This drive is great or those who want a portable drive for backups on the run. You can get this 250GB WD Passport Portable Hard Drive 250 GB/Go version for around $100, versus the $150 charged for the 320 GB. That makes the 250 GB unit a better value than the 320 GB on a $ price per GB basis. Still, some will need the 320GB capacity in one drive. Other than price and capacity there is no real difference between them. If you're like me, once you try these you will end up getting several of them anyway. Get one soon!
Enjoy!
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