Western Digital 500GB My Passport Essential Portable USB 2.0 Hard Drive (Black)
- No Longer Available
The 500GB My Passport Essential Portable USB Hard Drive from Western Digital is a portable hard drive in a durable housing, great for use with laptop computers. The drive features an interface that allows it to be connected and powered by USB 2.0, a rotation speed of 5400rpm, a 2MB data buffer and bus transfer rates of up to 60MB/sec. The drive is an excellent storage solution for users who are on the move.
- Passport drives are available in many eye-catching colors, allowing you to easily distinguish between your drives on sight
- Includes WD SmartWare suite for Windows, which offers an automatic backup application with an intuitive visual interface that shows your data being backed up. Easily customize the backups to protect the files and directories that you select, and restore files from backups with ease
- Drive Lock for Windows allows you to protect your data from unauthorized access, locking the drive using advanced 256-bit encryption with password protection
- Bus-powered USB 2.0 interface
- Compact recyclable packaging is itself manufactured from recycled materials, minimizing waste
- Compatible with Windows and Mac systems
- 500GB holds 37.5 hours of DV video, 125,000 MP3 songs, or 106 DVD movies
- NTFS formatted for use in Windows, must be reformatted as FAT32 or HFS+ for use on Mac OS X systems
Go To
| Performance | |
|---|---|
| Capacity | 500GB |
| Interface | 1x USB 2.0 (Micro-B) |
| Drive Speed | 5400rpm |
| Buffer | 2MB |
| Average Seek Time | 12ms |
| Sustained Data Transfer Rate | Not Specified by Manufacturer |
| System Requirements |
Windows XP, Vista, 7; Mac OS X Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard USB port |
| General | |
|---|---|
| Mounting | Portable |
| Power Requirements | Bus-powered |
| Environmental Requirements |
Operating Temperature: 32-104°F (0-40°C) Storage Temperature: -4-149°F (-20-65°C) |
| Dimensions (WxHxD) | 4.3 x 0.6 x 3.2" (11 x 1.5 x 8.3cm) |
| Weight | 0.44 lb (0.2kg) |
REVIEW SNAPSHOT®
by PowerReviews(based on 94 reviews)
Ratings Distribution
94%
of respondents would recommend this to a friend.
Pros
- Easy to use (76)
- Easy to set up (67)
- Quiet (65)
- Attractive (64)
- Large capacity / good size (64)
Cons
- Slow (6)
- No power switch (4)
Best Uses
- Back-up (67)
- Additional storage (60)
- Photo storage (51)
- File transfer (36)
- Video (32)
- Reviewer Profile:
- Casual user (45), Power user (44)
- Primary use:
- Personal (68), Business (22)
- Computer Platform:
- PC (5), Mac (4)
Most Liked Positive Review
WD 500GB Nice Compact Size
I needed a small hard drive for storing a lot of downloaded MP3 music that I would rather not keep on the limited size of my laptop computer's internal hard drive. The WD 500GB Passport...Read complete review
I needed a small hard drive for storing a lot of downloaded MP3 music that I would rather not keep on the limited size of my laptop computer's internal hard drive. The WD 500GB Passport Essential USB drive suits this chore perfectly.
Not as fast as an internal drive but what USB drive is? Size is what matters here and this drive is physically small with a very large 500 GB storage. Except for a flashing blue LED, you never know this Plug and Play USB powered drive is even connected to your computer....
VS
Most Liked Negative Review
Change isn't necessarily good.
Have bought 4 different WD passport portable HDD's over the last few years, for travelling and photography. All of them (including this one) have worked brilliantly and never failed.
Howeve...Read complete review
Have bought 4 different WD passport portable HDD's over the last few years, for travelling and photography. All of them (including this one) have worked brilliantly and never failed.
However, the new Passports come with a different micro USB socket for some reason, which means yet another cable I need to carry about. Previously I could streamline the cables as all of my items used the same standard usb 2.0 cables.
Reviewed by 94 customers
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Pros
- Attractive Design
- Easy To Set Up
- Easy to use
- High Capacity
- Portable
Cons
- No Power Switch
Best Uses
- Additional Storage
- Backup
- File Transfer
- Photo Storage
Comments about Western Digital 500GB My Passport Essential Portable USB 2.0 Hard Drive (Black):
Great for backups, by design and easy handling.
- Primary use:
- Personal
Pros
- Attractive Design
- Easy To Set Up
- Easy to use
- High Capacity
- Portable
- Quiet
Cons
Best Uses
- All files docs for use
- Backup
- File Transfer
- Photo Storage
- Video
Comments about Western Digital 500GB My Passport Essential Portable USB 2.0 Hard Drive (Black):
After moving the files on the drive to a file on the computer and reformatting the drive (which will delete everything on it) the drive works like a charm to store my files. I don't like the back up software as it hides files in folders and hard to access to use. I use the files on my external between 3 different computers so they need to be accessible for use and not just backed up, I have 4 WD hard drives and they all work great!
- Primary use:
- Personal
- Computer Platform:
- PC
Pros
- Attractive Design
- Compact
- Easy To Set Up
- Easy to use
- High Capacity
- Quiet
Cons
Best Uses
- Additional Storage
- Backup
- File Transfer
- Photo Storage
- Video
Comments about Western Digital 500GB My Passport Essential Portable USB 2.0 Hard Drive (Black):
I use this product for everything. Save business and particular files.
- Primary use:
- Personal
- Computer Platform:
- PC
Pros
- Attractive Design
- Compact
- Easy To Set Up
- Easy to use
- High Capacity
- Quiet
Cons
Best Uses
- Additional Storage
- Backup
- Photo Storage
Comments about Western Digital 500GB My Passport Essential Portable USB 2.0 Hard Drive (Black):
This USB external hard drive is as easy to use as a thumb drive. [...] The drive worked as anticipated.
- Primary use:
- Personal
- Computer Platform:
- PC
Pros
- Attractive Design
- Easy To Set Up
- Easy to use
- High Capacity
- Portable
- Quiet
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Western Digital 500GB My Passport Essential Portable USB 2.0 Hard Drive (Black):
We always purchase and use western digital passports. We find they are reliable; they are high quality and are fairly priced. We use the devices to hold large amounts of important information and have never had any issues or instances where we have lost data.
- Primary use:
- Business
- Computer Platform:
- PC
Pros
- Attractive Design
- Compact
- Easy To Set Up
- Easy to use
- High Capacity
- Quiet
Cons
Best Uses
- Backup
- Photo Storage
Comments about Western Digital 500GB My Passport Essential Portable USB 2.0 Hard Drive (Black):
Worked out of the package like a dream. Mac saw it and ready to go... Haven't set up the WD software yet but nice that it's also available for the Mac. B&H's was a bargain... [...]Not B&H's problem though...Good for the money...
- Primary use:
- Business
- Computer Platform:
- Mac
Pros
- Easy To Set Up
- Easy to use
- High Capacity
- Portable
- Quiet
Cons
Best Uses
- Additional Storage
- Backup
- File Transfer
- Photo Storage
Comments about Western Digital 500GB My Passport Essential Portable USB 2.0 Hard Drive (Black):
Purchased this drive to use to back up my MacBook Pro. Great quality and very reasonably priced.
- Primary use:
- Personal
- Computer Platform:
- Mac
Pros
- Compact
- Easy To Set Up
- Easy to use
- High Capacity
- Quiet
Cons
Best Uses
- Additional Storage
- Backup
- Photo Storage
Comments about Western Digital 500GB My Passport Essential Portable USB 2.0 Hard Drive (Black):
I'm a photographer. I use it to back up photos. Works great! So far no issues?
- Primary use:
- Business
- Computer Platform:
- Mac
Pros
- Attractive Design
- Easy To Set Up
- Easy to use
- Portable
- Quiet
Cons
Best Uses
- Additional Storage
Comments about Western Digital 500GB My Passport Essential Portable USB 2.0 Hard Drive (Black):
Its small and compact so it doesnt take up much desk space or storage space. I love the clean, sleek finishing on the port. Overall Great product and takes up a lot of memory.
- Primary use:
- Personal
- Computer Platform:
- Mac
Pros
- Attractive Design
- Compact
- High Capacity
- Quiet
Cons
- Difficult To Use
- Slow
Best Uses
- Additional Storage
- Backup
- Photo Storage
- Video
Comments about Western Digital 500GB My Passport Essential Portable USB 2.0 Hard Drive (Black):
Great plug and play harddrive. I was a little frustrated with the WD software that came installed on the drive. My advice: don't use it. Simply create and manage folders within the HDD with your pictures, movies, music, etc. yourself without the software.
I'll be honest the software was horrible and didn't make any sense. It kept updating and re copying my entire computer. Easy fix: uninstall. Now I manually manage everything, only thing is, you have to remember new things you download and make sure you back them up. Great hard drive other than those things. Very small and compact, light, I like it.
- Primary use:
- Personal
- Computer Platform:
- PC
Pros
- Attractive Design
- Easy To Set Up
- Easy to use
- High Capacity
- Portable
- Quiet
Cons
Best Uses
- Backup
- File Transfer
Comments about Western Digital 500GB My Passport Essential Portable USB 2.0 Hard Drive (Black):
compact size,good quality.Only concern is the usb connection. I would suggest detaching the cable when not in use to prevent possible damage.
- Primary use:
- Personal
Pros
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Western Digital 500GB My Passport Essential Portable USB 2.0 Hard Drive (Black):
easy to use and works great
- Primary use:
- Personal
Comments about Western Digital 500GB My Passport Essential Portable USB 2.0 Hard Drive (Black):
Like wat i expect...
Pros
- Attractive Design
- Easy To Set Up
- Easy to use
- High Capacity
- Portable
- Quiet
Cons
Best Uses
- Additional Storage
- Backup
- File Transfer
Comments about Western Digital 500GB My Passport Essential Portable USB 2.0 Hard Drive (Black):
I bought this HDD to back up my files from laptop. It's easy to use and fast speed to transfer the file. The best part of this product is its security password protection.
- Primary use:
- Personal
Pros
- Attractive Design
- Easy To Set Up
- Easy to use
- High Capacity
- Portable
- Quiet
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Western Digital 500GB My Passport Essential Portable USB 2.0 Hard Drive (Black):
when I received it i was suprised of its size and stored files and transfer very smooth and fast. [...]
- Primary use:
- Personal
Pros
- Compact
- Easy To Set Up
- Easy to use
Cons
- No Power Switch
Best Uses
- Additional Storage
- Backup
- Photo Storage
- Video
Comments about Western Digital 500GB My Passport Essential Portable USB 2.0 Hard Drive (Black):
I recently purchased the 500 gig HD to back up some documents and movies. Its easy to connect, the smartware software that comes with the HD is also good. You can choose the areas and files on your computer that you would like to back up and there are different back up options and levels.
I highly recommend this product!
- Primary use:
- Personal
Pros
- Attractive Design
- Easy To Set Up
- Easy to use
- High Capacity
- Portable
- Quiet
Cons
- 5400 rpm
Best Uses
- Additional Storage
- Backup
- Photo Storage
- Video
Comments about Western Digital 500GB My Passport Essential Portable USB 2.0 Hard Drive (Black):
Perfect drive for back up
Works seamlessly with OS X and Time Machine
Big enough to hold all my data and then some
small, sleek, and bus powered! [this means one less cable to deal with]
plug it in once a week and all my data is saved
could only be better by being a 7,200 or 10,000 RPM drive
- Primary use:
- Business
Pros
- Attractive Design
- Easy To Set Up
- Easy to use
- High Capacity
- Portable
- Quiet
Cons
Best Uses
Comments about Western Digital 500GB My Passport Essential Portable USB 2.0 Hard Drive (Black):
bought this back up a client's video project on. great price for the capacity.
- Primary use:
- Business
Pros
- Attractive Design
- High Capacity
- Portable
Cons
- Slow
Best Uses
- Photo Storage
- Video
Comments about Western Digital 500GB My Passport Essential Portable USB 2.0 Hard Drive (Black):
I can protect my data even with password encrypted. Slim and can stay even in a pocket.
- Primary use:
- Personal
Pros
- Easy To Set Up
- Easy to use
- High Capacity
- Portable
- Quiet
Cons
Best Uses
- Additional Storage
- File Transfer
- Photo Storage
- Video
Comments about Western Digital 500GB My Passport Essential Portable USB 2.0 Hard Drive (Black):
[...], i'm using it right now..for alot of thing...light weight and easy to work with.
- Primary use:
- Personal
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What's in the Box
- USB 2.0 Cable
- Quick Install Guide
- 2-Year Limited Warranty
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