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Western Digital My Passport Essential 320GB External USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive - Midnight Black

Model number: WDME3200TN | SKU: 8744709

Take advantage of this convenient portable hard drive's 320GB storage capacity to store movies, music, data and more. This drive is USB-powered so you don't have to bring along an external AC adapter.

Average Customer Rating:

4.7 out of 5

27 of 28 (96%) customers would recommend this product to a friend.

Customer Reviews for Western Digital My Passport Essential 320GB External USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive - Midnight Black

Review 1 for Western Digital My Passport Essential 320GB External USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive - Midnight Black

Customer Rating

5.0 5

Excellent Portability 11/12/2008
By jcaughro from Dallas, TX

Value for Price

5.0 5

Ease of Use

5.0 5

Performance

5.0 5

Ease of Installation

5.0 5

What's great about it: fast, easier to use than my flash drive on my key chain, aesthetically pleasing
What's not so great: fingerprints if it concerns you

"Exceptionally pleased. Quick shipping, extremely easy to use, lightweight. Much faster file transfers than I had anticipated. Highly recommended. Simple USB powered drive is very quiet, and once again, faster than I figured it would be."

Would you recommend this product to a friend?: Yes
Is this product used primarily for business?: No

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Review 2 for Western Digital My Passport Essential 320GB External USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive - Midnight Black

Customer Rating

5.0 5

Great portable hard drive 11/09/2008
By Kel3 from Boulder, CO

Value for Price

5.0 5

Ease of Use

5.0 5

Performance

5.0 5

Ease of Installation

5.0 5

What's great about it: Easy to use, convenient, small size, portable, uses computer as power source

"This external hard drive is exactly what I was looking for: portable, small size, no extra power source needed, and easy to use. Have had no problems with it."

Would you recommend this product to a friend?: Yes
Is this product used primarily for business?: No

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Review 3 for Western Digital My Passport Essential 320GB External USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive - Midnight Black

Customer Rating

5.0 5

Very agile drive 10/27/2008
By Anonymous Reviewer from dallas

Value for Price

4.0 5

Ease of Use

5.0 5

Performance

3.0 5

Ease of Installation

5.0 5

What's great about it: The power is supplied by the usb driv
What's not so great: the black show scratches

"The drive performs. I am a computer engineer with 30 years of software. These dirves hold more information than the flash drives. I have used them in all kinds of areas. The usb power is what make these drives perfect. I currenly have 4
1 on a server
1 on a mac as a backup device
1 for my laptop
1 on my desktop"

Would you recommend this product to a friend?: Yes

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Review 4 for Western Digital My Passport Essential 320GB External USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive - Midnight Black

Customer Rating

5.0 5

Great Product 10/20/2008
By Runman317 from Indianapolis, IN

Value for Price

5.0 5

Ease of Use

5.0 5

Performance

5.0 5

Ease of Installation

5.0 5

What's great about it: Ease of use; Easy for storage
What's not so great: None.

""As soon as I bought this item, I ran home and immediately filled it up with items I wanted to remove from my PC. I still had room for more!" "I'd highly recommend this item to those who are wishing to store items they do not wish to permanently remove.""

Would you recommend this product to a friend?: Yes

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Review 5 for Western Digital My Passport Essential 320GB External USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive - Midnight Black

Customer Rating

5.0 5

My Passport Essential 320GB RULES! 10/15/2008
By Anonymous Reviewer from Bowie, MD

Value for Price

5.0 5

Ease of Use

5.0 5

Performance

4.0 5

Ease of Installation

5.0 5

What's great about it: USB Powered, Cheap, No Installation, Fast, LOTS OF SPACE
What's not so great: None that I can think of...

"Great External HD for anyone on the go. Plug and Play and affordable. Great Brand, Great Product!"

Would you recommend this product to a friend?: Yes

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Review 6 for Western Digital My Passport Essential 320GB External USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive - Midnight Black

Customer Rating

5.0 5

handi one 10/02/2008
By msepehr from USA, NM

Value for Price

4.0 5

Ease of Use

5.0 5

Performance

5.0 5

Ease of Installation

5.0 5

"in compare with my previous external hard, i think this one is fabulous"

Would you recommend this product to a friend?: Yes

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Review 7 for Western Digital My Passport Essential 320GB External USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive - Midnight Black

Customer Rating

5.0 5

Great Buy-Easy to Use 10/01/2008
By Debdie from Edwardsvill Il.

Value for Price

4.0 5

Ease of Use

5.0 5

Performance

4.0 5

Ease of Installation

5.0 5

What's great about it: Portable - Easy to care
What's not so great: None

"I really like the unit. It is very easy to use Plug in & Go to work."

Would you recommend this product to a friend?: Yes

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Review 8 for Western Digital My Passport Essential 320GB External USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive - Midnight Black

Top 100 Contributor

Customer Rating

5.0 5

Great 09/30/2008
By Genref

Value for Price

5.0 5

Ease of Use

5.0 5

Performance

5.0 5

Ease of Installation

5.0 5

"This is a great little device to backup your important computer files every now and then. For me, this has more than enough space, and it's very fast."

Would you recommend this product to a friend?: Yes

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Review 9 for Western Digital My Passport Essential 320GB External USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive - Midnight Black

Top 25 Contributor

Customer Rating

5.0 5

great! 09/30/2008
By brassa

Value for Price

5.0 5

Ease of Use

5.0 5

Performance

5.0 5

Ease of Installation

5.0 5

What's great about it: Everything
What's not so great: none

"Quite simply a great price and easy to use, Western digital is a trusted name and it is excellent for storing and freeing your internal HD. Did the job for me!"

Would you recommend this product to a friend?: Yes

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Review 10 for Western Digital My Passport Essential 320GB External USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive - Midnight Black

Customer Rating

5.0 5

Much needed Disk space 09/28/2008
By Macroego

Value for Price

5.0 5

Ease of Use

5.0 5

Performance

5.0 5

Ease of Installation

5.0 5

"Great to put away data that is needed for every so often."

Would you recommend this product to a friend?: Yes

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Review 11 for Western Digital My Passport Essential 320GB External USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive - Midnight Black

Top 250 Contributor

Customer Rating

4.0 5

A Great Value In Portable External HDs 09/27/2008
By GreatAchilles

Value for Price

5.0 5

Ease of Use

5.0 5

Performance

4.0 5

Ease of Installation

4.0 5

"The Western Digital My Passport Essential 320GB USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive (Midnight Black) is the largest capacity in the portable essentials line-up. They say that this is the update to the regular Western Digital 320 GB Passport Hard Drive and I own both of them. In fact I also own many other portable hard drives in the Western Digital passport lineup and so far I couldn't be happier. All of these are great for mobile backups of data, though slower to copy large backups than their A/C powered MyBook big-brothers.

Some will be considering the Western Digital My Passport Essential 250GB and the Western Digital My Passport Essential 160 GB sizes of these drives. I started with the 160 GB and have owned multiple versions in all sizes, and capacity aside these drives are basically the same. If you are on the fence between a smaller or larger size, the decision will come down to what you really need most. If you need a drive for complete backups, don't box yourself in purchasing a 160 GB model when your hard drive is 120 GB. Give yourself some room and go with the 320 if you can.

For those with backup needs of 80 GB or smaller, look into the other capacities. Periodic specials are being run on some of the smaller sizes, making them very attractive. Plus a 500 GB model should be on the way soon. So if you need the largest size, then by all means get the 320 GB version. But if you can make do with the smaller size, then the value pricing may entice you. Weigh your options but whatever size you pick now make sure it's enough to meet your needs right now and for at least the next 6 months. In fact, some people who are extremely picky like me are going to want to buy at least 2 drives so that they can have 2 copies of their backups, just in case.

>> Pros:
+ Great capacity options at good prices available in this line of products.
+ Nice portable form factor that easily connects via USB.
+ USB powered, no A/C required, which is great for portability.
+ Works well on Windows Vista, XP and Mac OS X.
+ Easy to set up disk encryption for security and privacy.
+ Nice looks, and cool color options for those that care about that.
+ Turns on and off with your computer or easily ejected via system tray.
+ Easy plug-and-play installation.
+ Integrates nicely with my growing stable of WD MyBook drives.
+ Included software may be useful for some novices.
+ Drives are sufficiently durable holding up to normal use over time.
+ 320 GB capacity is just about right for most users.

>> Cons:
- Somewhat slow file transfer speeds for larger backups.
- Included software not useful for power users.
- Shiny body attracts scratch, fingerprints and dust.
- Only USB, so look to the LaCie 250 GB Rugged Hard Disk if you need fire-wire ports too.
- Only up to 320 GB right now, so look to the LaCie 500 GB Rugged Hard Disk with FireWire and USB if you need more capacity in a portable drive.
- Have to spend your cash to get a case that should have been included.

The Looks:
The drive has a nice shiny exterior. The case can scratch in transit and the surface also attracts fingerprints and dust. But the look is still nice and you can easily purchase a case or holder for the drive if it bothers you. Most versions don't ship with the case included, but you can pick up the CaseLogic Small External Hard Drive Case (Black) for $10 or $15.

The Features:
I had no problem connecting this drive to any computer, including Windows XP, Vista and Mac OS X. Keep in mind this is a USB 2.0 device so ancient computers may not yield the same results.

Transfer speeds are ok but definitely slower than the A/C powered MyBooks. This guy is still limited by the 480 Mbs connection speed of USB 2.0, but performs somewhat slower than this when performing large backups. The USB 2.0 speed rating can not really be achieved in production and you will get a fraction of that. But it's a trade-off that's worth it since it's USB-powered. Check out the LaCie 250 GB Rugged hard disk if you need fire-wire ports too. Or try the LaCie 500 GB Rugged hard disk if you need more portable capacity.

The software utilities included with this device will be most useful for beginners. I tested the backup software in particular but found it to be slow and impractical. I mean REALLY slow. It works, but cutting and pasting is better. Take my advice: don't use these utilities and just do cut and paste backups and saves to this drive.

Reliability:
I've had good luck with the passport line of drives. They seem to have lower failure rates than many MyBook drives, though I also own those and haven't had issues there either. Maybe my gentle care has helped me to get lucky with these guys so far. Maybe it's because these drives are generally off when in transit. Regardless, these guys have held up fine.

Conclusion:
This drive is great or those who want a portable drive for backups on the run. It's nice getting the 320GB capacity in one drive. There are smaller drives but other than capacity there is no real difference between them. Watch the price changes and choose the sized drive that's right for you."

Would you recommend this product to a friend?: Yes

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Review 12 for Western Digital My Passport Essential 320GB External USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive - Midnight Black

Top 100 Contributor

Customer Rating

4.0 5

must for pc archiving 09/25/2008
By BestBuyConsumer123 from Boston,MA

Value for Price

4.0 5

Ease of Use

4.0 5

Performance

4.0 5

Ease of Installation

4.0 5

What's great about it: small size; fast;usb powered
What's not so great: limited storage

"everyone should have one to backup their important pc files, especially large video/audio media. quiet, fast, and requires no external power source"

Would you recommend this product to a friend?: Yes

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Review 13 for Western Digital My Passport Essential 320GB External USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive - Midnight Black

Customer Rating

5.0 5

Great Product 09/16/2008
By kj1234

Value for Price

5.0 5

Ease of Use

5.0 5

Performance

5.0 5

Ease of Installation

5.0 5

What's great about it: Ease of use
What's not so great: none

"I bought this product after purchasing a Maxtor back up hard drive.
It is much easier to use and retrive stored data -just plug into and USB port and use.
It is user friendly and very portable. I bought a color coordinated case for it and carry it in my laptop case. It is very small about the size of a wallet."

Would you recommend this product to a friend?: Yes

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Review 14 for Western Digital My Passport Essential 320GB External USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive - Midnight Black

Customer Rating

5.0 5

Great Portable Drive 09/15/2008
By mrdcs1 from Washington, DC

Value for Price

5.0 5

Ease of Use

5.0 5

Performance

5.0 5

Ease of Installation

5.0 5

What's great about it: Very Small, Easy to Set-Up & Use
What's not so great: None

"I have a big around the world trip coming up in a month and wanted a portable hard drive that I could take with me so I can back-up my Macbook Pro laptop while on the road. This little drive is perfect - a huge 320 GB, very small form factor, fast, easy. A great buy!"

Would you recommend this product to a friend?: Yes

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Review 15 for Western Digital My Passport Essential 320GB External USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive - Midnight Black

Customer Rating

5.0 5

Awesome Product! 08/08/2008
By JALT from California

What's great about it: Convenient, Sleek, Portable, Huge Storage Capacity, Reliable, Great Included Software
What's not so great: None

"I've had Western Digital hard drive products and they are just the best in terms of reliability, cost, features, and usage. I've had the previous version of the WD Passport and I traded it in for this one because of its larger storage capacity. I do a lot of video editing and I need to have all my files with me because I work at different locations. I can even edit video from this hard drive even though it is rated at 5400 rpm. Plus, it's powered by only a USB cord so I don't have to lug around my other WD one that has to be plugged in. And aside from video editing, it carries all of my data as a backup and the included sync tools work excellently. This is truly the best product if you want a good portable hard drive that's cost efficient as well as having nice features."

Would you recommend this product to a friend?: Yes

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Review 16 for Western Digital My Passport Essential 320GB External USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive - Midnight Black

Customer Rating

5.0 5

Life Saver 08/07/2008
By InsigniaFan from Indiana

What's great about it: Sleek, Spacious, And Portable
What's not so great: None

"I have hooked my Passport up to several different computers and have never needed a driver disc, which I find very convenient. The WDSync software that is included makes it easy to keep files on your PC in sync with the Passport. My laptop has crashed and died on me twice and fortunately I have had most of my files on my Passport to back me up. With all the space I have been able to back up three computers worth of files and still have plenty of room to grow. Great product and well worth the money!"

Would you recommend this product to a friend?: Yes

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