WD 256GB My Passport SSD External Portable Drive, USB 3.1, Up to 540 MB/s - WDBKVX2560PSL-WESN

I purchased this WD My Passport SSD drive to use as a boot drive for my Apple Mac Mini (2012). Essentially cloning the existing hard drive to the SSD was very easy (just Google it...) and worked flawlessly with MacOS High Sierra. This 512GB SSD drive is essentially the same size as the drive already in my Mac Mini. Because it comes ready to go as an external drive theres no need to purchase any cables or enclosures to use it. It will work for both Mac (High Sierra and El Capitan) and PCs (Windows 7, 8s and 10) too. The drive comes with a USB-C and an adapter for USB-C to USB-A. Backwards compatible to USB 2.0 it is USB 3.1 compatibility rated. The drive does come with WD Discovery software for backup and security installed. To use this as a boot drive, users will need to format (erase) the drive prior to installing their own computers operating system on the drive. The drive is very small and lightweight. Its in a shock-resistant case that probably would be OK if dropped a few times from 3-4, but Id not expect it to be abuse-worthy. It does get warm on the silver part of the drive case, but not hot to the touch. It is powered by its connection to your PC or Mac - theres no external power source needed to power the drive. The drive has a 3 year warranty through Western Digital, with the serial number on the back of the drive which is needed for registration. The drive can reach speeds up to 540MbS, but that will depend upon how the drive works with your existing system. The Mac Mini I have didnt reach those transfer speeds with a core i5 processor (2.1Ghz) and 16GB of memory, but I didnt expect it to. I was pleasantly surprised by the boost in speed over the internal hard drive though. Using BlackMagic Disk Speed Test app, I had speeds of 71MbS write and 73MbS read with the internal hard drive. Using the WD My Passport SSD I was able to get 370MbS write and 420MbS read speeds. A fantastic leap to 5-6xs faster speeds overall using the WD SSD! Boot time was also cut in half using the USB connected SSD (USB 2.0 connection) versus the internal drive. Im very pleased with this drive. Its compact size, speed and the ease with which I was able to upgrade and bring new life to an aging Mac have me singing this drives praises and looking to buy another one. Highly recommend this drive for anyone who wants a speedy connection or a way to boost the performance of their Mac Mini.

No complaints here. Been working great so far. I use it all the time to run certain software files off of, since my laptop HD isnt the largest. Heats up a tad after several hours, but thats about it.

This is a wonderful purchase-the password protection is invaluable! I had bought Seagate in the past because they were recommended. I have had Seagates crash on me, but so far, never a Western Digital.

The external drive works great so far no complaints. The price was a little high, but that is common place for a SSD drive compared to a HDD. I like the compact size, it doesnt take up much space when I use it my for my desktop or laptop.

I was tired of the environment taking forever to load while playing PUBG on Xbox 1. I bought this and it’s greatly improved. Granted, this will not fix connectivity issues, but if you have a good connection speed and still have spotty loading of PUBG this may fix your problem.

Its size really amazing. Very compact and easy to carry in a small case. Also it comes with USB C to USB 2 converter that really nice of it.

This is the perfect external hard drive for backing up selective computer files, photos or even a entire computer. The solid state construction makes for an extremely rugged storage device and much faster data transfer than traditional rotating disc drives. I now have established a regular schedule for backups with less time being spent. The expected reliability of this SSD, small size and fast transfer are great features.

By far the fastest WD drive I own. As fast as I can double-click, and Ive tried. My only regret is not purchasing a larger capacity but I needed to vet this one first. Highly recommended.

Ive had this tiny SSD for about 9 months now and love it! It works great and doesnt come with the requisite hum of regular external hard drives with moving parts that will inevitably break down sooner than an SSD. Silent and extremely portable. Ive got about 4 other WD Passport external drives and this little guy blows the other ones away. Wish I had the money to buy more of these pricy little buggers. Expensive, but totally worth it

The first thing I noticed was that it was much smaller than I imagined. But it is fast and big enough for me to clear up my main boot SSD a bit. Everything is working perfectly so far, just an easy plug and play experience. My one gripe is how short the cable is that comes with it. For my desktop I would like it to be a bit longer, but for laptops it probably doesn’t matter.