Pros: Great speed, great price, nice size, and easily portable. I also own a 320gb size and it is adequate for general use. For the tech impaired, this is not SCSI speed, but it is not supposed to be. You wont be gaming off of it, but it is used for STORAGE. I am so tired of hearing that it isn't "FAST ENOUGH." Easily formattable using the quick format feature in Windows.

Cons: If I hear one more moron quote "I can't stand the fingerprints" I am going to scream. This drive is not made to be a debutante, its a storage drive for Pete's sake. The one guy that says, "what if I drop it, it might break!? Duhhhh...that goes for anything, its called gravity. Its not the fall that will break this, its the sudden stop when it hits the floor! WAY too many unskilled reviewers making bogus assumptions, then feeling empowered to write a review.

Other Thoughts: If you feel this drive needs a power cable, then perhaps your cable is too long. Try a USB 2.0 powered hub, that sits on your desktop and will alleviate this dilemma. They sell these here too you know. (Hint) I am stupified at the lack of thinking or research to fix a problem on this site. I call it lazy. BTW, formatting doesnt take an hour unless you have it hooked up to you P2 or CYRIX system.

Pros: Small, light, USB powered good price per mb for a portable.

Worked out right of the package for my needs.

( I'm using it for xvid movies, photos and mp3 via a usb port on my dvd player and it works great. )

Bright led reassures connection.

Workable transfer rates for USB powered portable- (application dependent.)

Reasonably good 3 year warranty.

Cons: Case is plastic and to soft as mentioned.

Soft and hard case covers are available at an extra cost.
For a dollar or two more they could provide both.

Cord is short but necessary sometimes. Read below. *

Not the best solution if its sole purpose is for back ups.

**Technical support only offered for 30 days from date of first contact during the three year warranty period.

Other Thoughts: * Most of the reports you may have read on the lesser capacity models USB not working are due to using a longer cord with these.

Some ports won't drive the necessary voltage a long distance. Hence the short usb cord.

They do offer a power cord for around five dollars.


IMHO - For back ups there are faster transfer rates on other more durable cased external usb drives. However it comes at the cost of loosing the portability, small footprint and being USB powered.

Be sure register this with Western Digital to ensure no hassles warranty replacement if needed. A few reports of replacement issues.

Pros: Large capacity, no bloated software installed, works on Mac and PC, sturdy, no power supply needed.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: I've had this drive for almost 2 years now. It is the best external hard drive you can buy. Western Digital has released newer versions of this drive that include extra software in the firmware, making the drive slow and difficult to use.

Pros: Excellent, Fast, Compact, Sleek, and Reliable

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: Have not had any problems powering this drive from any desktop, including older USB 1.0 desktops. I also have not had any problems powering it from an older Thinkpad T30 Laptop. It writes very very fast as I have used Acronis True Image Home to sector by sector clone entire 20, 40, and 60GB Hard Drives in very small amounts of time.

Pros: Portable, slick, usb powered, decent transfer rate (for the amount of power it's using).

Cons: huh? did I stutter? check pros... :)

Other Thoughts: It's Awesome when something as Awesome as this makes file transfers and backups and Awesome experience. (need I say more?)

Pros: The materials seem better than the less expensive Elements model and these are virtually vibration-free.

These come with a case and a sliding connector cover. The case is nothing special, but it's nice to have.

Cons: A bit more expensive than the Elements model.

FAT32 (whereas the Elements comes NTFS).

Other Thoughts: Comes with some backup/sync software. I don't use it, so I can't comment. If you want it, I guess it's a plus.

If you're choosing between the Passport and the Elements and the price is close, I'd get this one. Less vibration, a little nicer construction quality, and the case is worth a couple of bucks unless you don't need it. Otherwise, they both do the job well enough to satisfy me.

Pros: Plug and Play on XP and Vista, low heat, Ghost recognizes the drive. 500GB worth of space on the fly. Great drive for Sys Admins, Net Mgr to have in their bag.

Cons: The native backup software was corrupted, had to reformat anyway. Had data loss until reformatted, no problems since. Same as some other reviews, frequently cannot "stop" drive to remove with XP OS. Have had loss of data when pulled USB without stopping/rebooting or logging off.

Other Thoughts: Really a good drive, just a pain to disconnect at times.

Pros: Powered w/ 1 USB 2.0 Port.
500GB 5400RPM Drive. Not too shabby
Doesn't emit much heat.
Preformatted upon Arrival.

Cons: Case scratches EASILY
Doesn't work with most USB 1.1 Ports.
---- Didn't work on my Powerbook G4
---- I've already had some data loss since using this drive, but that was primarily my fault, so don't draw any concerns to this.

Other Thoughts: Could be cheaper?

Pros: 500 gig Portable that fits in a back pocket. decent read write speads. Overall i would recomend this drive

Cons: occasionally drive cannot be stopped on my XP laptop. there is no reading or writing to or from the drive but XP wont allow it to be stopped. i dont think it's a drive problem just an OS thing.

Other Thoughts: i believe this drive comes formatted in FAT32. this is a good thing if you want to take file inbetween a MAC and PC. can be formated to NTFS if you dont want that 4 gig file limit.

Pros: Works great with vista, xp, ubuntu, xubuntu. Capacity, portability, universality. Exactly what I wanted.

Cons: These are *very* minor nitpicks: it ran just a trifle warm when I hit the thing with an hour-long transfer (but that's reasonable considering it ain't flash memory); it's just a little slower than I'd like (which was expected); and the drive light's behavior doesn't always match expectation, e.g., when you've run the disconnector but the drive is still attached, the light stays on in dim mode. Again, very minor.

Pros: I use this to hang off a WD HD Media Player. It works fine. It is quiet, it is unobtrusive, it is small. All in all, a nice drive.

Cons: It collects fingerprints, but I didn't buy it to look at. It doesn't power down when ejected.

Other Thoughts: I had to format it to NTFS, no big deal. I have done a lot of read/write on it, no problems. I forgot to unplug it one night, it was still cool in the AM. I don't need any more right now, but given a need or a good sale, I'd pick another one up.

Pros: USB power, no need for extra cords. USB 2.0 is good enough for copying files for backup purposes. NewEgg has a really good price, should have purchased them here. Fits in a shirt pocket and my laptop bag easily.

Cons: Comes with FAT32 formatted drive and tons of junk on the drive. Immediately formatted to NTFS so that I could actually use this device with my larger files.

Other Thoughts: I own three of these little guys. I used store coupons to purchase my drives at a large wholesale store that everyone knows, wish that I would have bought them at NewEgg. My drives came with nice synthetic carrying pouch that zips closed.

Pros: This is a great drive for the price and storage. I picked one up before Christmas and have had no problems with it and I've transfered easily over 3 TB of digital media on and off this drive.

I am going to buy another one soon because I cracked the original case opened out of curiousity to find out it is Western Digital's new Scorpio Blue 5400rpm WD5000BEVT drive. I pulled out the drive and installed it in my MacBook Pro (which WILL void your warranty btw for both the external drive and the MBP!) and it runs great. On a full SATA interface the drive speeds are an average of 10-20MB/s faster than the 200GB 7200rpm drive it replaced.

Cons: A bit slow on USB but compared to other 2.5" external USB drives.

Other Thoughts: As others have said - an external drive should not be your only storage media for files. Best uses for a small portable drive like this are backing up files from multiple locations or using it a temporary storage to transfer media around (face it - if you're buying a 500GB drive you are probably using it for pictures, music or video). If you are using this as a primary storage for files make sure to back it up somewhere else.

Pros: Small, quiet, usb-powered. Gets the job done.

Cons: none

Other Thoughts: It goes well with my other WD passport white colored drive!

Pros: Lightweight and literally fits in a pocket - When I think of an external HD - I think of ease of portability as a necessity to take it places to share or enjoy your content elsewhere. This is currently the best you can get for that.

It's tiny but...Huge storage - 500gb!

No dedicated power supply - power comes from the usb connection.

Cons: It may take slightly longer to copy content onto this versus a full sized ext hd...but really its not much and nothing to worry about especially if you're using this as a portable hd.

Other Thoughts: You can get a full sized ext HD with double the storage for the same price... if you plan on using the hd as a stay in place and will never transport item... I'd get a full sized.. well...maybe... the size is still awesome even considering that....unless you really need 1tb...in which case I'd personally just buy an interal hd... they are simple to install.

Pros: I bought this drive based on the idea that I would use it more than my 3.5 external drive (which requires a power source) as I was on the go. Boy has it paid off! This drive has come in so handy. I thought about buying a 3.5'' 1TB drive (about the same price) but opted for convenience versus sheer size. I love this drive; its the size of my wallet and probably weights about the same.
-Portability - don't have to lug around a drive that is twice the size and a power cord as well.

-Reliable - Have had no problems with it.

-Versatile - recognized in Windows and Ubuntu.

-500gb is enough room for anything the average user would need.

-Walletsize/weight

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: Worth the money; pretty good deal (after weeks of research). Could maybe to better price-wise on a non-name-brand drive, but not much better.

Pros: I ordered two drives and they're running really well so far. Formatted to NTFS and copied my library over. Quiet, smooth and cool running.

Cons: Short USB cable, no case

Other Thoughts: The packaging was good. However the WAY it was packaged was very sloppy. My drives were put at the bottom of the box with the paper packaging above it. Kind of defeats the purpose when the drives are vulnerable to impact like that.

Pros: Great little hard drive. No power cord needed. Just plugs in and works.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: If you need a small hard drive you won't be dissapointed.

Pros: Compact

Solid Case

Quiet

Doesn't get too hot

Cons: None to speak of.

Other Thoughts: This is a great little portable for a great price. I have owned two now and love them both. I have had no problems.

Pros: - Enormous amount of space! 500gb is as big as it gets!

- The price: wow!!! not gonna quote, but this is quite affordable for such a huge hard drive! And it went on sale shortly after I bought one - I introduced two friends to newegg and they bought one too :)

- powered by *one* usb cable - previous hard drives i have had needed 2.

- reliability - i have used Western Digital drives for a while now and they are a very reliable brand

Cons: as a previous poster said... does not make me coffee or shine my shoes :)

Other Thoughts: Keep in mind that hard drive space is measured very oddly - 500GB = 465 "real" GB when formatted. i think some people who have reviewed this apparently did not understand... but *all* hard drives are like this. it's just an oddity of computer hardware.

Pros: i can take this along in my pocket and just plug in where ever I go and it works great. Cool drive for the person always the run

Cons: scratches easily and the casing is plastic.

Other Thoughts: could have been made with aluminum to keep it cool.

Pros: Great Drive, Very Fast. Powered by USB.

Cons: Scratches very easy.

Other Thoughts: Great drive for $100.

Pros: Super small, no power cord needed, 500GB, sleek black casing.

Cons: Installation prompt when connected for the first 3 times.

Other Thoughts: I use it nearly daily for videos and music and works flawlessly. Even used it to back up my PS3 to switch the HDD to a 320GB on it.

Pros: Have been using it as my MacPro back-up drive for over 4 month now and it was very easy to set-up.

Cons: A case would be useful

Pros: USB powered, light, very fast data transfer rate for a 5400 rpm, 500 GB is a great size for just about anything, works like a dream for Mac to PC or vice versa.

Cons: as soon as you get it take off the sync software. just literally delete everything on it. it takes something with the ease of use of a data stick and makes it increadibly hard to use.

Other Thoughts: this is probably the best purchase you can make on this site.

Pros: I have had this drive in and out of my backpack hundreds of times since 11/04/08. It came formatted fat32 and that was how I used it for around six months. It has been connected and disconnecting between hundreds of computers at work and home with not one problem. For the last six months I have used it formatted NTFS to record bands. I plug it into the house sound or I connect it to my netbook. Since my sound files can be as big as seven GB, I had to use NTFS.

Cons: Can't find one. I paid $120.

Other Thoughts: This workhorse has paid for itself many times over!

Pros: works as it should. uses same usb cable for data and power. only one usb cable cable. 500GB, small, got it on sale with added promo discount :)

Cons: none

Other Thoughts: love this little drive. In 20 years I have only had one Western Digital drive fail, and it was over 2 yrs old. Western Digital sent me a new one that was twice as big to replace it. :)

Pros: Smaller that I expected it to be, fits in my pants pocket with no problem. Fast read/write speeds, no noise, lots of space.

Cons: Mine had some scraches on the back, I dont really care about how it looks, But I thought it was a small oversight by Westen Digital to let it pass with such large scraches on it.

Other Thoughts: Nice white activity light by the USB port.

Pros: Very small, quiet, runs very smoothly.

Cons: Included USB cable could be longer

Pros: Great value !!! Perfect for backing stuff up or as an extra drive for a laptop ... small in size big in storage and no need for external power supply works off usb power.

Cons: none that I can see...

Other Thoughts: great price and fast shipping from newegg

Pros: It just works.

Fast, portable

Works with an older Dell Inspiron 1100 that didn't have the USB power to support a WD Passport 320GB. This is a nice surprise!

Cons: none detected

Other Thoughts: I wish I understood the power requirements of external drives and that I knew how much power my various computer could supply. It is kind of a gamble with my older computers.

Pros: I love this drive. Plugged in and works like a champ. No problems, spacious, got for a good price. Small and easy to carry in a laptop case.

Cons: Would be nice if it had ESATA but not complaining.

Pros: I love it cuz its light, portable and great size for storage. Already have the bigger western digital book version to back-up my desktop and other programs. I am using this to complement my laptop 250GB drive and take stuff I need.

Also, love the fact that I dont need a external power adaptor. Just connect to USB and its on instantly. Makes traveling with it so much easier.

Cons: None yet...

Pros: Small, works right out of the box. Newegg shipping is lightning fast.

Cons: None

Pros: It's really small, quiet, and doesnt need an external power supply to work. 500gb is a considerable amount of space.

Cons: its not free!

Other Thoughts: I haven't even had this thing for a week yet. kind of an impulse review. but from what i've read from other reviews, and what i'm experiencing now with it, im loving this hd. I would like to have more of a personal experience with how much of a beating this thing can take. I'm pretty clumsy with my hardware and I've already dropped it about 3 times, and it nothing yet. but ill see how this turns out in the long run

Pros: LOTS of storage, very quiet. 5 year warranty. Compact.

Cons: None.

Other Thoughts: I bought two of these to store movies, tv, and music I bring with me to my work at night. They're perfect, as I have over 400 .avi file movies on one, and the other I keep tv, sports, and UFC fights on. More space than one man needs really, but they keep me awake.

Pros: Reliable. Very small. No power cord needed. Very portable. Quiet.

Cons: None.

Other Thoughts: I now have three of these outstanding drives.

Pros: 500gigs for pretty cheap... Small, sleek, seksi, and amazing. Only requires 1 USB port for power + data transfer... none of the 2 usb stuff, or usb + power outlet.

Cons: No power button means it's always on if it's plugged in.

Other Thoughts: Wish they had a 1.5TB or that any of their passports were 7200 instead of 5400.

Pros: Good amount of space, portable, no external power required, pretty durrable.

Cons: Cannot stack with other similar drive because of overheating.

Other Thoughts: I own around 5 of these and they work great. My oldest one is beginning to make a small noise on startup, but still works like new. I reccoment reformatting to NTFS so you don't ever run into the 4gb limit cap. The one time a drive failed on me was because I had 2 stacked on each other and one overheated and didn't want to read. I let it cool down for 10 minutes and it worked great again. Great product!

Pros: This thing works great for me. Good size both physically and storage wise. Speed is plenty fine for watching video, pictures, music, whatever. Its very durable too. I accidentally dropped it from about 3 or 4 feet up, it landed on a corner and survived without a problem. I bought a silicone cover thing for it after that though. It made it half way around the world in my backpack without a problem too!

Cons: Wish it was matte black and not piano black. Would be nice if the case was rubberized for a little more durability. These are just nit-pick things though, I love this thing.

Other Thoughts: I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a good usb powered portable drive.

Pros: It's a very high storage capacity in a very small form factor. It works absolutely perfectly for the application I bought it for (to hook to a WDTV) and I have no real complaints with it.

Cons: Transfer on some computers appears to be a little slow. Not sure if this is a function of the drive's speed or the computer's hard drive speed, but it can take a little while to move a large chunk of data at times. This isn't a great concern of mine, and I believe the speed is on par with other USB drives I've used.

Other Thoughts: Get it if you want a lot of space without the mess of an external power adapter.

Pros: portability, Fat32 readable by both mac & pc, great price, seems reliable yet still made by imperfect people

Cons: not 7200rpm, but what the hey, its fast enough and a portable 465Gigs!

Other Thoughts: Beware of whiners - complaint is poverty; gratitude is riches. And, the worst I ever had was wonderful!

Pros: Very stylish and small. Fits in your pocket. Worked right out of the box. Plug and play action. High capacity for a relatively low price.

Cons: A bunch of stuff was included inside the thing. I haven't had to time to look at all the programs that were included in the drive but adobe was one of them.

The USB cord was short like many have said. Not a big con though since I use the front USB ports in my computer for external drives.

Other Thoughts: I would buy another when the price drops a little. Check out the exact model in red with pink edges. Great gift for girls who like computers! (Like my girlfriend).

Also wish this thing could help me with homework but newegg can't solve everything.

Pros: As always, Western Digital makes great products and carries great support. The drive is small, compact, quiet and reliable with Windows XP, Vista, & beta, Linux and Mac OS X. The bundled USB cable is a decent length and the software is included on the drive.

Cons: The drive is formatted FAT32 (probably for cross platform compatibility)FAT32 allows file sizes up to 4gb only, which might cause a problem for some users. The pdf documents on the drive provide a solution to reformat the drive in NTFS however.

Other Thoughts: The backup software seemed to try and backup my entire drive onto the same drive instead of the WD Passport.

Pros: Excellent choice for a 2.5" portable USB hard drive. Plug N' Play on any OS. I've personally used this on Windows XP, Vista, 7 (Beta), and Mac OS X 10.5. Fits in your pocket easily and is durable. Has a HDD activity LED right next to the USB plug...pretty cool.

Cons: Doesn't come with a case. Not a con of functionality, but it would be a nice accessory.

The included USB cable is short (14.5", not including the plugs) but it uses the generic USB mini-B plug, so another longer cable can easily be purchased and used without a hassle.

The software that comes with it is useless. If you (like me) just want to use it like a giant flash drive, simply reformat the drive.

Also would be nice if it had a lower price...

Other Thoughts: I would definitely recommend buying this hard drive. Western Digital mobile drives seem to have more quality than other brands I've used in the past. If your looking for a small, spacious drive to bring with you on the go, buy this product. You won't regret your purchase.

Pros: The drive has lots of space and works very well.

Cons: Wish it had the rubber stopper on the end like the old 250Passports. Also wish the blue light, like the old 250GB was the same. The new design has a harsh white light next to the port. A blue or red light would've looked a lot better.

Pros: usb powered, small in size but large in storage - lifesaver at work

Cons: none

Pros: Perfect as ordered, plenty of storage space.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: Quick format to NTFS before use takes 5 seconds.

Pros: Large capacity in a compact package. Reasonably fast, although eSata would have been great for a drive with this much capacity. Extremely cool running. Not even noticealby warm after 3+ hours of use. I would have no reservations with buying another just like it when needed.

Cons: A simple case or pouch would have been a nice touch.
A port for eSata as well as USB would be nice as well.
Fingerprints, but in gloss-black, I expected that.

Other Thoughts: I like the short cord. The length is sufficient for use with my notebook and my Antec 900 desktop computers with the USB ports and storage tray on top. My son has had a 250 GB version of this drive for several months now with no issues, however, I needed a lot more than 250 GB.

Pros: Large capacity, small size, quiet, good speed

Cons: Case shows fingerprints, scratches easily

Other Thoughts: I bought one of these to cannibalize for its 500GB drive and put it in my laptop, installing the original laptop drive back in this case. Ah, but WD is now wise to that game and they now are installing drives with the USB controller integrated onto the drives circuit board. No more swaps allowed

Pros: Compact size, styling, large disk capacity, quiet.

Cons: Needs a protective carrying case.

Other Thoughts: Initially I had trouble copying large files (over 2GB) due to the default FAT format, so I had to reformat the entire drive using NTFS; no problems since then.

Pros: small, portable and runs directly of the usb without the need for an electrical outlet. mega space and so easy, a caveman can use it!!! XD 5 STARS

Cons: none that i have encountered so far. i dropped it once and it still works beautifully but the cover is a little loose. still, it works like a charm.

Other Thoughts: really awsome product i would recommend it to anyone who uses a computer and has need of a portable external drive.

Pros: This is a great little hard drive! It worked perfectly right out of the box. It is the perfect size, and the gloss black finish is great to look at.

Cons: Cable is short, but no biggie.

Pros: This drive is awesome. I was waiting for this to become available on NewEgg.com, because i always get what i pay for on time and in working condition. Got this in 1 day, free shipping. Get this if you need lots of space, it is quiet, and the black is so cool. Fits in your pocket, USB 2.0 FAST TRANSFERS. Has some extra software which i didn't use, but saved for later just in case, just format to NTSF 465GB.

Cons: No Cons, this thing rocks. Wish it had a soft case, and bit longer usb cable, but it sits nice on top of your pc, and has a little white light that flashes when its happy.

Other Thoughts: Great Price, Big enough to backup my 500GB WD Raid drives, and carry all of my files with me everywhere just in case. You never know when you'll need it. Thanks NEW EGG!

Pros: Great for carrying much needed info around (or music). Nice, small footprint. Transfer rates aren't bad. Very sleek and stylish.

Cons: Most of the time, you need to plug the USB plug into the rear USB ports of the computer to get enough power for the computer to recognize it. See other thoughts.

Other Thoughts: On some computers, there is not enough power to the case-connected, or external, USB ports to power this HD. You must plug the USB connector into the REAR USB ports that are built into the motherboard of the computer to get it to function correctly. Suprisingly enough, I rarely have this issue on my Mac or PC laptops...it works just fine. **When under-powered, the computer will lock-up until you disconnect the unit.** This is more of a fault with the computer than with the HD, I think. Hope this helps some people out.

Pros: works excellent. huge amount of space in a very portable package. usb powered. fast transfer rates. longer usb cable then older models. few co-workers of mine have the older version, theres doesnt quite reach the desktop from the front usb plugin, as does mine. keeps nice and cool.

Cons: not really a con, but for all you people out there that dont like hearing your parts operate. you can hear the fan operating in it. but then again this unit is so small for the amount of space thats in it.

Other Thoughts: has a nice glossy finish. great price for this unit for the space. in comparison to one of those my book essentials. this is a much better option. usb powered, easy to transport, as where the my book is self powered. i didnt really notice a huge difference in speed

Pros: Very versatile, very quiet and lots of memory in one little product.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: I love the fact that even tho it's really small in size, it has an iternal fan which keeps it cool if you use your computer and the external hard drive a lot. It has a very glossy finish which makes it very attractive to the eye. Very happy with the purchase.

Pros: My 4th Passport HDD. Wouldn't even mess with any other brand. The price/performance ratio is unmatched by anyone, anywhere. Nice new look. I wouldn't recommend anything else to customers or family. It does the job - well.

Cons: It makes fools of us all who could not imagine ever needing more than a 4.2GB HDD!!

Other Thoughts: This is not a con, per se, but an annoyance. Somewhere along the way, HDD makers have developed a system for rating 'capacity' that is nothing less than misleading. This drive is actually a 465GB drive. That's 35GB short (8X the storage I thought I'd never need!) That's a lot of space. Still, it doesn't undo the fact that this is a terrific product.

Pros: See my other review

Cons: At first, I could not drag and drop a 4.35GB file, it said i exceeded max allowable size etc. I called their tech support (and was talking to an ACTUAL human in less than 2 mins, great!) and they said I had to reformat it to NTFS if I wanted to put in files larger than 4 gb. Once I did that, everything worked fine.

Other Thoughts: There is some software for synching email in outlook that comes with the drive (inside the drive, not a separate cd). for me this is useless and it's safe to delete everything that came in it.

Pros: Small, light, runs easily through USB connector.

Cons: The WD software is convoluted to an extreme. Easier to fdisk and format the partition(s) from inside the OS.

Other Thoughts: If Newegg puts these on a significant sale, I'll pick up a couple more.

Pros: I recently purchased a 320 gb WD drive to upgrade my Dell laptop. It was a great investment and nearly as quick as the Hitachi 7200 rpm it replaced. The Passport 500 gb was purchased as a companion to the WD Media Player and has been flawless in operation. It is quick, light and quiet. Should have bought 2 when Newegg had it's 3 day sale! The short cable is handy and should be used when attaching to a usb hub.

Cons: Drive appears to be a bit sensitive to where it gets its power. Works fine when attached to laptop usb port with any reasonable length cable, but will generate "late write" issues when attached to some usb hubs that don't have enough power available.

Other Thoughts: Only time will tell about how robust this drive will be in operation. I've not been a fan of WD drives, but recent experience with the 320 and 500 gb 2.5 " products may make me a convert!

Pros: Great Portable Drive....
It Powers Off if Your USB Powers Off.
On My Computer It Will Power Off When the Computer is Shut Down.
On the WD HD TV MediaBox, It Spins Down About 10minutes After The WD HD TV is Powered Down.

Cons: It Doesn't bring Me a Beer or Fetch my Slippers...

Other Thoughts: If You do not have a Western Digital Passport then You need one !
Transfer Speed is Between 33MBps and 36MBps.
I Can't Wait for a Solid State Version of This....
A Further Note : I never cared for Western Digital but the last 4 WD Products I have baught have made Me a Believer in there stuff.

Pros: These units are everything you want in portable extra storage. No power supply to keep up with, High volume for small factor, fast and reasonably priced.

Cons: Unit must be close to computer will not get enough power from a bus

Other Thoughts: Don't hesitate to buy. I probably would not use as a mirror

Pros: USB-powered, small, and portable. Have had this about one month and no issues to speak of. Looks like it came formated FAT32. Good amount of bang for the buck as far as disk space.

Cons: --NONE CONFIRMED-- It does seems like if you were to drop this from a decent height it would be a goner. Luckily I have not had any "shock-load tests" at this point. Will update on the durability if I should happen to drop it.

Other Thoughts: Great buy and no complaints...best plus is that it is USB powered!

Pros: Small size, powers/reads/writes via single USB 2.0 cable, great performance for such a physically small drive.

Cons: Glossy plastic is a fingerprint/scratch magnet. Why do they make things in shiny plastic? Matte surfacing makes so much more sense!

Other Thoughts: USB 3.0 is on the horizon for super-fast transfer speeds, especially for hardware like hard drives. If this is a "just because" purchase for you, you might consider waiting a few months for the improved tech.

Pros: Small, clean design, fast enough for everything I use it for. The variety of colors make it easy to tell which drive is which, if you have more than one. Just purchased a 3rd drive before they are phased out by the new model.

Cons: This finish does attract dust and fingerprints, but this isn't a fashion accessory, and it doesn't impact performance. I wish the 500GB models (the old models) had come in a wider variety of colors.

Other Thoughts: I felt compelled to write this review upon seeing the new line of My Passport drives. First of all, the new ones use a Micro USB instead of Mini USB. Fine if you only have one, but if (like me) you already have Mini USB cables stationed at several computers to accept your other My Passport drives, it defeats the purpose of buying all one line. There is also firmware on the new drives that eats up space, cannot be removed, and is a hassle to disable.

The older line (this line) of Passports, I couldn't be happier with!

Pros: fast light and travel worthy

Cons: none

Other Thoughts: this drive gets passed around and dropped all the time. no problems with performance what so ever. it gets recognized in every computer system i have used it in. by far the best drive on the market. i take it outdoors with me to backup my photos on adventure trips and even in 100% humidity and rain to this day it still works. please dont try that on your own unless u want to buy a new one. the warrenty does not cover it getting wet. sorry. i will purchase one again in the future.

Pros: Works right out of the box. Very quiet and runs cool.

Cons: Slower than the WD MyBook that it replaced but that's the tradeoff with USB-powered external HDs (5400 vs. 7200 rpm).

Pros: Great product. Nothign required to install with Vista 64... just plug it in ang go. I use it with Pinnicle 12.

Cons: Sometimes I have to refresh the disk to recognize the size fo the disk in the player.

Other Thoughts: Can't wait for them to get cheaper

Pros: Fast transfer rates, looks nice. It makes my Nintendo Wii look fat.

Cons: My Nintendo Wii is now anorexic.

Other Thoughts: Like everyone else says, just delete the files that's already on the drive. If you want the case to hold up well, put a miniature dress on it. Mine's in a Versace.

Pros: This thing is wonderful, so happy I bought it. I got mine from Dell in the summer but I've been looking for another one of these drives because I'm actually running out of space so I decided to write a review for this while browsing.

This thing is seriously like my new flash drive, all you need is the usb cable that comes with it and it's small enough you can just stick it in your pocket and go although I do carry mine in my backpack (I'm a college student). There's really not much else good I can say about it. It's small, has a lot of space, and is usb powered. 100% satisfied.

Cons: I personally have no cons about this drive but I'll just write a few (and I mean few) things down that may sway one's decision to buy it or not.

- It is a magnet for fingerprints but it's black so you won't really notice unless you're just gazing at it in the light at how sleek it is.
- The USB cable is pretty short (about 18" or so) but this is due to that it's USB powered. Power degrades as it moves across the cable so the drive may not have enough power to run with like a 3ft cable.

Other Thoughts: Like I said, I really have no cons about it. The cable is long enough to set it on the floor with my desktop and the drive is small enough so I can set it on the corner of my laptop (vaio vgn-fw490) and still be able to type or do whatever. 5/5

Pros: The drive looks real nice and it was easy to format to NTFS. I haven't used the software that came with it so I can't comment on it. The xfer rate isn't the greatest but it isn't bad either. There wasn't anything to install, just plug and play(I am running Win 7). The price was great. Thank you Newegg.

Cons: It attracts finger prints very easily. You really need a case for it. I don't want to buy one, but I'll probably end up paying for one in the long run.

Other Thoughts: I really looked at the many different external drives before going with this one, but I decided to go the WD because of their reputation and the excellent price on this item.

Pros: plug-n-play, no external power needed (it's usb powered), small, very clean neat design

Cons: finger print land (i personally don't care), usb cable too short

Other Thoughts: Speed averaged @20MB/s (maybe affected by the fact that i used my own longer usb cable). Overall highly recommended!

Pros: Sleek design. I got mine in silver. Lots of space about 476GB. For me, it was NTFS OOTB which was convenient. I needed strictly for backup purposes since I want to avoid rebuilding from DVD backups and had a time of it when my 4 yr old WD harddrive crashed last summer. Backup of about 90GB took about 75min. Not too bad. USB powered which is key. I wanted portability and I got it. It's about the size of an address book and seems sturdy. FYI - small magnets are not an issue - don't ask.

Cons: Cord waay too short. Needed to buy an extension AND update my USB ports. Guess it needed to be done anyway. Couldn't back up on some other computers even though running the same OS. Could be a problem with the computer, I'm not sure, but it was expected to have been easy. Backup software didn't get recognized right away. I had already done a manual backup before it began the setup wizard. Can take a really long time to run via software, and exploring the files turns it into gobbligook after it's done. Might as well just manually drag over your documents and exe's. I don't think you can install windows and programs and make an exact mirror. There's no case or bag to transport it in, will have to buy something so it doesn't get scratched up.

Other Thoughts: Will need to upgrade your USB ports if they're not already 2.0. Overall, I really like WD products and am happy to have this. I am thinking of exchanging it as I paid a little high right before the holiday deals. Dumb! In that case, it would be dumb not to get this because the price is still really low and is a value compared to constantly burning DVDs or paying out the wazoo to recover files from a crashed harddrive.

Pros: Large Capacity, Portable, Take data always with you. Auto Backup software which come free is aweosme. Syncs all data. Very realiable and works under heavy duty. It is self powered, connect to usb and works like a charm.

Cons: Not much..maybe the capacity coz now 1TB is also available but expensive

Other Thoughts: This is best suited for users like me who move a lot and need their data whereever they go.

Pros: I backed up all of my video files to this drive. It worked like a charm. No issues or problems. This is a compact and wonderful hard drive you can put in your pocket.
Newegg has the best prices and offcourse don't forget the free shipping.

Cons: None that I could find

Pros: Small, sleek form factor; Works well on a single USB port, using a standard cable on a Dell desktop, Dell laptop, and Macbook; Speed good for its class; Silent; Runs long without getting too hot.

Cons: Unfortunately Apple's made delicate glossy finishes de rigueur. Whatever.

Other Thoughts: Buying a hard drive is like Russian Roulette these days, but these seem to have better success rates than many. With drives so cheap, always keep backups!

Pros: Very compact and stay relatively cool.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: I've backed up one PS3, 1 laptop and 3 PCs. Very affordable sleek design with enough space to keep older computers clean.

Pros: Works great, fast and quiet.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: I seem to remember having some problem once when I assigned a drive letter to it and it didn't pick up right away, I had to unplug it and plug it back in. I can't take it down marks for that though, it was probably XP.

Pros: I've been a long-time consumer of the Western Digital brand, and needed a bigger drive to connect to my WRT610N for media streaming. I have an older 160GB WD Passport, which is my "junk drive" that contains installers and miscellaneous files that I carry between home and work.

There's not a lot to this drive. It plugs in, starts up, and you're ready to roll in no time. The design is different than the older drives. Instead of a rubber flap covering the USB port, it's open access. Also, the USB cable is longer, which is a nice change. There's also a white drive light instead of a blue-lit ring. All in all, it's a great drive.

Cons: No neoprene case included, as it was with older models.

Other Thoughts: First of all, let me say that Newegg customer service is outstanding! They handled a UPS shipping screw-up and turned it into a positive experience! It is that level of service, and concern for its customers, that Newegg will continue to receive my business. Bravo on a job well done!

Pros: This drive from Western Digital is a great drive that I use to store my downloads from the laptop computer. This thing is also wicked fast for USB 2.0, I typically get anywhere from 25-30 Mbs on my Windows 7 machine.

Cons: The outside coating of the drive is very glossy and supportable to scratching. This is more of an annoyance rather than a con, but I thought I would not it. In retrospect, I would of definitely purchased a case for the drive.

Other Thoughts: Everyone should own one of these for external laptop storage!!

Pros: I have found that Western digital is always the way to go! The 500 GB passport is quiet and fast. It's great to use for storage with a netbook. Great price for a great product!

Cons: None

Pros: Compact, looks great, ready to use out of the box, works flawlessly with XP & Vista

Cons: Piano black finish lets you know if you're in a dusty environment. the appearance of every spec of dust and every fingerprint is amplified. Wish it came with a carry case.

Other Thoughts: Had some initial trouble getting it working in windows 7, but I re-installed windows 7 and it worked after that. More than likely a OS problem

Pros: Small/no extra power required/good disk size/works as advertised

Cons: not bigger-would love to have a TB/not faster

I understand the size-speed-power issues but just dreaming of a 2 TB drive that can variable spin from 5400 to 10K and yet still not require extra power....

Pros: Very small and light however feels very solid and quality in your hand. The fact that you do not need external power makes it easy to jump computer to computer.

Cons: Nothing major.

Cosmetically it is a finger print magnet and will get all smugged on that shiny black surface.

The activity light is white in color and super bright located right next to the USB cord. Can get annoying.

Other Thoughts: Great buy! I got it from Best Buy on sale and now have transfered all my files to it and ready to reformat my laptop.

One thing, as soon as I pluged it in I formated the drive, they include some software that could be useful for backups but I need to move data around not just from one pc.

Pros: Compact and light, with a very durable feel. I wouldn’t go dropping it all over the place, but it should put up with some abuse. Pretty fast write speed, with a mix of large and a few small files transferring at about 30MB/s according to Vista’s transfer box.

Cons: None that are that significant. The case has a habit of attracting some fingerprints & scratches, the USB cable is about a foot or so, and it doesn’t fulfill all of my dreams & wishes. Nothing of major concern.

Other Thoughts: This external drive replaced my old bulky 3.5” external, so of course anything’s better than that. I love that it doesn’t require external power, and it doesn’t even have that split USB adapter so you only use one port to run it. The USB symbol next to the port lights up bright white when you plug it in and blinks during transfer, but that’s fairly typical. I’d say it’s a fantastic drive based on speed, look, and portability.

Pros: one of the most reliable product...trusted wd for 8 years now.

Cons: none

Pros: Small and silent. Does not require external power supply. It's working great so far.

Cons: None really. The surface is glossy so fingerprints are visible but I just wipe it off once in a while.

Pros: Compact, uses only one USB port, no external power needed, quiet, quick W/R speed, cool looking.

Cons: Case is a finger print magnet, cord a bit short, no case or stand included, no way to remove the drive to use as a internal replacement.

Other Thoughts: If you thinking of replaceing you laptop's HDD, then buy this drive with a external enclosure.

Pros: It works fantastic! Easy PnP even on a system that uses BIOS to PnP. Very light, durable, and portable. Perfect! Very sleek and cool design too!

Cons: None whatsoever.

Other Thoughts: It does what it's supposed to, no problems, easy to operate.

Pros: Great value/price ratio at 120 bucks at newegg.
Data transfer/power supply through one USB cable.

Cons: Don't see any.

Pros: The drive has lots of space and works very well.

Cons: Wish it had the rubber stopper on the end like the old 250Passports. Also wish the blue light, like the old 250GB was the same. The new design has a harsh white light next to the port. A blue or red light would've looked a lot better.

Pros: Great and Small, works perfectly. No power cord needed for 500Gb!

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: The black cover really gets some fingerprint dirt, but i don't mind.

Pros: I use this for all my anime, and games and im very glad i got this, my 350gb hdd was full and i needed more room, this was so small and perfect for me, i dont have to worrie about give my friends little bits from my flash drive.

Cons: comes in Fat format changed it and i was good to go

Pros: *No External power needed
*Lightweight

Cons: *It cant buy my groceries
*My dog wants to eat it

Other Thoughts: This thing is pretty awesome. I use it for my WD TV HD (love that also) and my Eee PC. No problems with it whatsoever, except my dog really does want to eat it, not sure why...

Pros: Works perfectly, no issues while formatting for Mac or afterward, transfer rate unbelievably fast.

Cons: None.

Pros: The wd books are great based on the fact they are formatted to work with xbox's. so if you have an xbox and you want to plug ur external in to it with no problems go with western... I had a seagate and it was formatted in something other then FAT32

Cons: ...

Other Thoughts: Big plus not needing a bulky power supply

Pros: Great drive. This is my second WD Passport drive, my other was a 300 GB. These drives are great for on the go. It fits in my pocket and no power adapter. Fast reliable storage.

Cons: The LED is on the back where the port is. This might be good for some, but I like where it was on my old one.

Pros: Very fast compared to my other usb drives. Huge amount of space for such a small drive. I use this drive with my WD TV and it works great!!!

Cons: None yet!

Pros: A very reliable hard drive for the price.

Cons: The cord could be a little longer.

Other Thoughts: Newegg as always very fast with outstanding customer service.