WD 2TB Black My Passport Portable External Hard Drive - USB 3.0 - WDBS4B0020BBK-WESN

Being previously familiar with WD ext hard drive products, this 2TB unit I purchased was easy to setup/use right out of the box. We backup hundreds of our family photos, along w/ company and personal business files. WD is highly reliable with a very quick speed for boot up, despite it not being an SSD. I would certainly purchase again from WD.

It has recently come to my attention that Ive been lazy with my backups. Enter the WD My Passport external hard drive. The difference between this and the slightly cheaper WD Elements portable HD seems to be that the former is better suited for backups. At least thats what Western Digitals marketing claims. ***The good*** As an external hard drive it works just fine. Ive posted screenshots of some DiskMark benchmarks I ran and read/write speeds are largely in-line with what I see from my SATA internal HDD. All good there. ***The Neutral*** Build-quality is just so-so. It feels extremely plasticy and doesnt seem like it would take much abuse. That said, it doesnt necessarily feel fragile either. If I were regularly tossing it in a bag or traveling with it I might be concerned. But for in-house backups its fine. ***The Bad*** I appreciate simple, reliable software. Unfortunately WD Backup is a little too simple. Ita about as barebones as one can get. Its only two options are backup frequency and source. The biggest problem being that it doesnt include any option to sync instead of backup. For example, say I create a backup on Monday that includes files 1, 2 and 3. Then on Tuesday, on my PC, I delete file 2. When using sync software, file 2 would be deleted on the drive mirror. Using backup software, file 2 would remain. Neither method is better than the other, just different. However, I would prefer to sync, and not backup. In order to accomplish this one will need to acquire additional software. I find this very annoying considering a) its marketed as a backup-centric product and b) the competing product from Seagate includes software which allows for both. Finally, it didnt even work right out of the box. The backup process kept hanging up. I had to format the drive and download the latest software from WDs website. No big deal but a little annoying. ***Conclusions*** I would not buy again. Most likely, I would purchase the Seagate Backup Plus instead. Alternatively, I might purchase the cheaper WD Elements external HD and also a 3rd party all-in-one backup/sync software solution. ***My Rating Criteria*** Build Quality(47.5%) - 3.5 Stars Efficacy(47.5%) - 3.0 Stars Post-Sale Support(0.0%) - n/a Packaging/Presentation(5.0%) - 5.0 Stars WEIGHTED AVERAGE(100.0%) - 3.3 STARS

This is the second WD 2TB Black My Passport Portable External Hard Drive - USB 3.0 - WDBS4B0020BBK-WESN I bought from Amazon. Its slimmer than the first one which I like and its just as good if not better than the first one. The first one has been working hard for over a year now and has never failed me and I dont expect this one would. WD external hard drives are the best out there.

Working IT for decades, I always back up files to Flash/Thumb drives, but use this external drive as a clearing house... Especially while traveling. Laptops are something I go through like paper towels. Mainly, because I dont have the luxury of waiting for them to cool down before throwing them into its case. So, I Save As files onto the My Passport ONLY. Then transfer them (when I have time) onto a digital storage device. FYI, if the name wasnt already taken... they should have called it Timex (takes a licking and keeps on ticking)... Well, a hard drive ticking really isnt a good thing, but you get what I mean.

I wanted a storage unit. No where in instructions in box or online could I find any. (just plug it into a computer). If I want to use it for backup, there were instructions. still not sure if I can use it for both. Nor is it clear if used as a backup it only backups changes since the last backup.

Western Digital Passport drives have always been my go-to for a compact, no-power-chord-needed, portable storage solution with a lot of space. And most importantly, they wont cost you a fortune! I must have about 10 of these drives laying around, in different colors, across the past four generations of product. None of them have failed, and the color options help you to easily organize your projects. Buy a cheap case to go along with it, and youre all set to go!

im using this for my ps4 cause I had gotten the 500 gb model works like a charm for downloaded games totally worth. I dont know how it fairs for actual storage for computer/ laptop stuff but I think every console gamer PlayStation/Xbox gamer should definitely have this in their inventory XD

Bought this to use as long term storage for essential files including documents, photos and videos. Decision factors included cost/storage capacity, portability, USB 3.0 compliance, generally good user reviews and manufacturer reputation/track record. Have used an older 1TB My Passport external USB interface drive for about 7 or 8 years with no issues. Am expecting high-level of durability with appropriate handling and care. Of course time will tell. I never use bundled software on hard drives, and so cannot speak to this. On first plug-in this My Passport was immediately recognized on my Linux Mint 18.3 and 19.1 systems, which are primary production systems. It was not recognized immediately on Windows 10. It appeared in the connected hardware icon in the system tray, but not in File Explorer. Using Administrative Tools in Control Panel was able to assign a drive letter. That assignment now persists across reboots and the drive is recognized routinely in W10.

First thing I did when I got this was to format it because I dont really care for what came installed out of the box. Capacity is awesome and USB 3.0 helps transfer speeds considerably. Absolutely no complaints. I plan on getting another one very soon. For those curious, I use mine for backing up my movies, TV shows, roms, and other things ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

NoBrainer USB3 ext drive for a MacBook Pro. I DO NOT understand some others issues formatting this drive for OS X/macOS. High Sierra, Sierra, El Cap, Yosemite - IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE... Goto Disk Utility/Partition and follow the prompts to format as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). By default this will blow out the included useless WD Windows junkware on the drive. I set up 2 logical 1GB partitions, one for Time Machine, the other for Carbon Copy Cloner, both Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Cheese for the mouse, it truly gets no simpler than this...