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Western Digital Passport: Portable HDD

Our current poll asks about how much portable storage people carry around nowadays. I didn’t realize I needed more than 4GB USB drive until my old laptop ran out of disk space from all the photos I’ve taken recently.

I still have the Western Digital MyBook 500GB that I got from Singapore last year, with about 200GB space left. It sits beside my desktop PC at home and serves as some sort of a network backup.

Now that I am shooting in raw (7 to 10MB per file), my laptop’s 80GB isn’t enough. I decided I needed a portable HDD to go along with me on out of town trips when I could not transfer files to the backup network drive.

WD Passport

The WD Passport Portable Hard Drive was my first choice and looks much like its older brother, the MyBook. The 160GB model (5400 rpm) I got cost Php5,800USD 99INR 8,379EUR 94CNY 720 while the lower capacity 120GB is only Php4,850USD 83INR 7,006EUR 79CNY 602. Running USB 2.0 the max transfer rate is 480Mbits/s or about 60MB/s. The USB port is inconspicuously hidden at one side with a rubber cap.

It’s a fairly lightweight device too at only 105g with dimensions of 15mm x 130mm x 80mm. Compare that to my iPod Touch which is 8mm x 110mm x 62mm and weighs 120g. So, even if the WD Passport is bigger in size than the iPod Touch, it’s still a bit on the lighter end.

The black and shiny casing is cool but that makes it prone to dust and smudges. There’s a Sync and Encryption software that comes with it so you can choose which file formats and directories you want synchronized with your laptop. It doesn’t do full backups though so you can’t do disaster-recovery of your OS. It doesn’t matter to me since all I wanted it for was to store extra digital photos for my camera.

Abe Olandres
Abe Olandres
Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.
  1. The nice and shiny casing is also what have attracts me most.. Because almost all cna supplu the 120 GB or 160 GB

  2. I plan to get one too and I’m still thinking whether I should get the 120 or 160. I don’t have much files to backup so either one is enough. :)

  3. hmm..

    I was going to suggest to get either a 160Gb or 320Gb ordinary seagate/ western 2.5 notebook drive and a cheap 2.5 enternal drive casing with firewire support thinking that it will be a lot cheaper but overall it will cost the same hehe.

    I have nothing against WD Passport its a great all-in 2.5 external storage. I just find the usb 2.0 only a downer..

  4. Just additional:
    If it wasn’t for the physical size I would be suggesting a 320Gb Seagate or WD SATA Drive since they cost only about 4k now and partner it with a CD-R King SATA External Drive Casing with firewire for P800 and that would be a great deal… hehe

  5. Anything above 100GB is just fine for me. I don’t do OS backups, I prefer a fresh re-install each time major disaster strikes.

    Just for backup of my personal files and media.

  6. Hello, I’d just like to ask where you bought this? Thanks!

  7. 3990 ko lang nabili yung 120 gig…

  8. @Dexter – You’re right. The casing is what catches the eye.

    @Yuga – That’s a nice looking portable drive.

    Is it self-powered? If yes, do you think it can handle real-time video capture as I am capturing with my video camera?

  9. considered an Epson p-5000? (or canon’s m5?) can view raw photos and you don’t have to bring a laptop. great for trips! you can’t blog on of tho..

  10. considered an Epson p-5000? (or canon’s m5?) can view raw photos and you don’t have to bring a laptop. great for trips! you can’t blog on it tho..

  11. The Epson p5000 is an awesome storage and viewer device. The only problem with it is it will costs 6x the cost of the WD Passport 160GB. You can already buy a 2nd hand L-lens for the price of an Epson p5000.

  12. where did you buy yours

  13. I have one here. Sadly, it doesn’t work now. And to think I was only using 5GB of the drive!

    Could it have been because it fell? Or the continuous plugging and removing the drive from my laptop? I could actually hear this rotating sound after a month of use..till then, it wouldn’t work anymore. Any ideas how i can fix this?

  14. wow nice.. ngayon ang 250GIG ng WDP ay 5.2k nalang..

    still thinking whether to go for FreeAgent 250GIG or Western Digital Passport 250GIG.. hmmmmmmmm

  15. yey! may ganito na din ako :) 320gig.. i luvvvv it :D

  16. 160 GB MAXTOR USB Passport Size Hard Disk Drive for only 3,000! It cost 4,000-5,000+ in stores.

    it’s not totally been used and it still have almost 10 months warranty. It was just purchased few weeks if interested call or text me at 091932***** or email at marit****@****.***.

  17. I’m selling my 160 GB MAXTOR USB Passport Size Hard Disk Drive for only 3,000! It cost 4,000-5,000+ in stores.

    It was just used to test if it’s working but not totally been used and it still under warranty. It was just purchased few weeks ago. If interested please text or call at 091932***** or email at marit****@****.***.

  18. I was researching about western Digital coz they are having a sale now for 320gig 4k hmmm I think that is a very good offer.

  19. just want to ask… i wonder why my 260gb and 320gb WD passport won’t work when i connect it to a usb port hub.. it says here that i need to find a driver installer for it. i tried to let my laptop check for other solutions thru internet but there was no solutions found. can anyone help me? it works when i connect it directly to my laptop.. i just want to coonect it thru the hub coz there’s so many wires around my laptop and i can’t do my work because of these wires…

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