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

Though slightly thicker in physical size than the Seagate competitor, this hard drive has nearly the same width & length & does fit nicely in a hardshell case. It also features a light that blinks when data is being transferred to or from the drive: the Seagate competitor model is thinner & the light on that model remains lit when the drive is powered. I was able to hook up the drive to Windows 7 right out of the box. The hard drive arrived exactly as described & worked perfectly right out of the box. There is some security software that Ill probably never use which comes preloaded, but not activated, with the hard drive, for which a warning in the user manual stipulates that a lost passwords cannot be recovered with the security software and renders the data on the drive unaccessible. So, I don t think the security software will get used & to me it presents a little overhead thats noisome. But the hard drive includes less noisy preloaded software than drives of yesteryear and performs beautifully, being backward compatible with USB 2.0 & Windows 7. Great product if you want or need extra disk space.

This is my 3rd WD Passport style external drive over the years and all still perform great. This one is the 2TB unit BTW. As many have indicated the software continues to suck but I never use it anyway except for the security utility. I prefer to drag and drop to create my own back ups as that is much easier to move to another PC anyway. I am running Windows 7 and all appeared to transfer at what I consider to be acceptable transfer speeds (measured in hours not days). I set up about 500GB to transfer overnight and it was done before I got up in the AM. This unit is actually more compact than my older 500GB unit but does not come with a case. If I need a case I will use one from my older 500GB drive. Having the 2TB gives me way more flexibility as my Laptop is only 600GB and about 5 years old but still performing well (HP Pavilion). I take tons of HD Video which is a major space hog as many of you know. Hope this helps give you the basics that I am always looking for in these reviews.

The model I am reviewing is the 1TB Black Ultra. Your experience may differ from mine. This is a review from someone using: Mid-2012 MacBook Pro OS X 10.9.3 Mavericks The Good * Sleek Design * USB 3.0 * $69 at the time of this review is a good price for 1TB * Windows users have auto-backup option * Once you format correctly on Mac this drive is a breeze to use * Very small footprint (small form-factor) * Plays nicely with time machine (Mac Users) * Comes with nice carrying bag * Allows you to lock down drive with password * Comes with utilities services bundled in The Bad * The bundled in software that I could use was slow and not very well designed * The prices of this drive fluctuate all the time (I paid $89 for this drive) * Initial set-up for Mac can be difficult for a novice consumer The Ugly * Support for WD has a bad reputation of being nonexistent Recommendation: I would recommend this drive to anyone who has used WD drives before. I have no problem using this drive but I can’t say the same for others. Also if you are on Mac research how to format the right way if you have never done it before.

I ordered 2 WD Passport Ultra 1TB Portable external USB 3.0 Hard Drives with Auto Backup. The first drive worked properly on a new Dell 15-3521 Laptop running Windows 7 Professional, but when I tried to use the second WD Passport external drive on another Dell-3521 Laptop running Windows 7 Professional it would not install if the USB 3.0 cable was plugged into any USB 3.0 port on the Dell Laptop. After swapping drives and computers and cables around, it became apparent that the USB 3.0 cable that came with the second WD Passport Ultra HD is defective. The drive will install and be recognized on either computer only if it is plugged into a USB 2.0 port which defeats the purpose of having a high speed USB drive if it cant work at USB 3.0 speeds. Either drive will work with either laptop at USB 3.0 speeds on USB 3.0 ports if the non-defective USB 3.0 cable is used! All I really need is a replacement cable that works, but since Amazon.com LLC filled the order, I have not figured out how to request a simple replacement for the defective cable without having to return the entire order. I could use some assistant! Or, I can order another USB 3.0 cable which should solve the problem! I hope I hear from someone at Amazon about this!

First of all, I had wanted to purchase the non-ultra version of the WD hdd, but it seems they have phased out that version and consumers are now left with no other alternatives.. Prior to this, I had 2 other 1TB non-ultra WD hdd and Im no computer geek, so Im not going to go into the extent of comparing the speeds of transfer between this new ultra hdd and other hdds. I bought this hdd cos i ran out of space in other hdds, and as a storage device, this 2TB ultra hdd works as it should. In fact, WD is the only brand of hdd that I have trusted thus far and I had bought 4 other external hdd from wd, starting from way back in 2008 and Ive never had any problem with their hdd. In terms of build and appearance though, while the non-ultra version I purchased previously had their silver and blue color coming directly from the material used to make the hdd, the red color from this ultra version looked to be just a sticker that could be defaced in the future. Im someone who takes physical appearance of my purchased products rather seriously and this new design feature will take some points off my review score. Another reason why this ultra hdd only receives 4 stars, is that based on previous reviews of this product, I was expecting my purchase to come with a free soft pouch. But that is no longer true for my case and now Ive had to go through the trouble of purchasing another pouch...

The first one that Amazon sent me was black, not titanium as I had ordered. I wanted a slightly different color than the black one I already have so I could differentiate the two. The box it came in said it was a WD My Passport Ultra but printed on the drive was only WD My Passport and it was also printed in the other direction, readable from portrait (or vertical) orientation rather than landscape (or horizontal) orientation. I thought that was little odd, but decided that it would help me to differentiate the two after all. So, I hooked it up to my windows 7 install and windows attmpted to load drivers for it but after a minute or so it failed. No problem, I thought, Ill just plug it in to my Mac and format/partitition it there as I had done with my other My Passport Ultra drive. Nope. That didnt work either. Mac OS X Yosemite couldnt do it either and I couldnt even erase it to start fresh. It simply didnt work. I googled the error, thinking I could fix it with some command line process and found instructions on running FSCK to resolve it. I decided not to bother with that additional pain, because what if it still didnt work? Having ordered it from Amazon, I figured the best thing to do was to return it and ask for a new one. So I returned the first one, explained that it was dead out of the box. And Amazon promptly sent me a replacement. (Another reason I LOVE shopping from Amazon - aside from Prime - is that it is always fairly painless to return things). The replacement arrived 2 days after I submitted my return claim and one day after I actually put the dead drive in the mail to send it back. The replacement was exactly what I had ordered - it came in the correct color - Titanium - and it has the printing on the drive just as shown in the picture (horizontal orientation). I plugged it in to my Mac and had absolutely no problem partitioning and formatting the drive to my specifications. it works perfectly so far and will be used as the backup for my other My Passport Ultra. I am only taking off one star because of the first dead drive that I got, but really if the rating is for the drive that I have now, its definitely a 5star.

Refurbished but works great. Noticeably faster than the old WD Passport Ultra 320gb I still have from 6 years ago. Be forewarned, this has NO cable included. For the same amount I paid for the PP Ultra 320Gb, I bought a 1kgB. Amazon didnt carry the cable I wanted, so I traveled to the other site and bought a 3 foot red braided cable for it. I dont know how valid the WD 6 months warranty on manufactured warranty really is per claim above, but hopefully dont have to find out. Came partitioned for windows with the extra tools/ progs onboard that I wont use. If I have problems with this I will update. Tested fine on: Win 7 Pro Ubuntu Mint 17 Ubuntu Mint 17.3 I also picked up a red case for it to match and have checked it and it holds a 3 foot cord & hd just fine. I dont think I would put sd cards in there though. Khanka EVA Hard Travel Shockproof Carrying Case Bag Box for Western Digital Wd My Passport Ultra / Wd Elements Portable External USB 3.0 Hard Drive http://www.amazon.com/Khanka-Shockproof-Carrying-Passport-Elements/dp/B012BY6IJY?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

This device is very adaptable, customizeable and easy to use. It has WD software installed on the device available for installation onto your computer should you decide to perform your backups using WD Smartware. I found that without the software you can still use the Passport to backup using windows own backup utility. If using the WD Smartware software you can backup via the Category Method or select the folders and files that YOU prefer to backup. You can also choose to have a continuous backup or set up a schedule for your backup sessions. I like to back up when I want to so really use neither option. Every 2 weeks I simply connect the Passport to a USB port (this also powers the Passport so no power cable is required) then open WD Smartware. From there I click on the Backup tab, then click on the small icon of a watch or clock near the bottom of the window. This brings up a selection to Backup Now. Click that and youre all set. The Passport is only slightly larger than a deck of cards so, after backing up my files, I can store it in a small fireproof safe. This keeps my files reasonably safe and very handy if they ever need to be retrieved.

Well, I was really excited to have all my file & system image backups on a single drive, without a wall wart and in a portable small form factor (I never move it as it is connected to a desktop system). Unfortunately, after 3 months, it started whining, then grinding and clicking and now it comes on only 5% of the time, regardless of the computer it is hooked up to - I thought it was the antique of a PATA drive I had connected to the motherboard making the noise but it wasnt. WD Drive Utilities says the SMART status passed, CrystalDisk Info says it failed and the Quick Drive test in the WD Utility says it failed. This just reinforces the need for a complementary Cloud backup solution or a second backup drive. This drive was Made in Thailand so who knows if it was made with the equipment that got affected by the flooding in the past. Usually, I only go with WD Black hard disk drives due to their well known, industry reliability and warranty coverage. I would just buy that with an external hd case but Im already invested in this drive now. Hopefully the replacement is new and works like expected. UPDATE: Since I had files on there that I wanted but wasnt willing to pay $500-$1000+ for data recovery services, I tried doing a PCB swap with a donor board and firmware transfer since that seemed like an inexpensive possible fix (pros did the firmware transfer). When that didnt resolve the situation, I had another 2TB WD My Passport Ultra around and I opened up that case to see what is involved with a potential platter swap (that didnt go well either). While doing so, when I opened up the new Passport Ultra, I noticed it specifically said on the drive Recertified!!!! I cant believe it. Seeing this only reaffirms my thoughts on just buying an external hard drive case and OEM HDD together and using that instead because otherwise, you dont know what you are getting. I still will use the WD Blacks as they have never failed me and I am very impressed with their performance and warranty. Also, for backup, I will stick with the 3.5 size as now I know, with everything so miniaturized on the the 2.5, recovery seems a little more challenging (which I will do what I can to even prevent that from being needed again).

All I wanted was a rugged, high-capacity outboard hard drive to store certain files on--and I wanted one that was powered from the USB cable. This little Passport Ultra 2TB drive does the job perfectly, in a snappy, rugged, businesslike package that seems to be of very high-quality construction. You get 2TB of storage in a drive that is about the size of a deck of cards. Cant beat that. The drive was ridiculously easy to install; I just plugged mine in and my HP EliteBook notebook computer recognized it within about 20 seconds. A very minor but nice point--this drive has little rubber footpads so it does not just lie flat on ones desk. A nice little touch; some drives in this class do not have the pads. The drive comes with a short but adequate USB 3.0 cable and is all ready to go out of the box. Being USB 3.0, this drive appears to be VERY fast. It is certainly noticeably faster than my older USB 2.0 drive, but I have not run any rigorous benchmark tests. Overall I am very pleased with this purchase. The price/Terabyte was pretty good for what I paid on Amazon -- the prices fluctuate all the time on these drives, but I got a good deal. I got the Titanium colored version and I really like it. RJB.