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Review: WD My Passport Ultra hard drive

The drive couples sleek design with high capacity to store users' important digital content.

Admire Moyo
By Admire Moyo, ITWeb's news editor.
Johannesburg, 20 Sept 2013
The My Passport Ultra range comes in 500GB, 1TB and 2TB capacities, and in four different colours.
The My Passport Ultra range comes in 500GB, 1TB and 2TB capacities, and in four different colours.

As the volume of data being produced on a daily basis by businesses and consumers skyrockets, storage needs rise accordingly.

Not only do we just need somewhere to store this information, but we also need to back it up on a device or platform that we can access whenever we need to, or can carry around wherever we go.

WD's My Passport Ultra hard drive is one gadget that meets these requirements.

Look and feel

As its name suggests, the My Passport Ultra is about the same size as the travel document, although it is much thicker than a traditional passport.

In this review, I put the 500GB version under the microscope, but 1TB and 2TB versions are also available in the My Passport Ultra range. The passports come in four colours - black, red, titanium and blue.

The device weighs 130g, making it easy to carry around everywhere you go. With dimensions of 110x12.8x81.6mm, it fits perfectly inside a pocket. It comes with a pouch to protect against damage, and the four rubber pads fitted to the bottom of the device make it sit securely on any surface, even glass.

The 500GB version has a sleek design with high capacity to store all your important digital content. I saved hundreds of movies, and thousands of images and music files - in fact, my entire digital collection - and the device still had additional space.

Performance

For Windows users like myself, there's nothing to setting up the storage device. All you need to do is plug it into a computer and it's ready to go. And connecting directly to a TV was effortless - just plug and play. However, for Mac users, you'll need to reformat the device before you can write to it. The drive could not be read on a DVD player, however - something I found rather weird.

In summary

Pros: USB 2.0, 3.0 compatibility; portable, sleek design
Cons: Expensive; not compatible with DVD
Capacity: 500GB
Connectivity: USB 2.0, USB 3.0
Dimensions: 110x12.8x81.6mm
Weight: 130g
System compatibility: Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP
Price: R2 299 including VAT (500GB)
Rating: 9/10

The drive comes preloaded with WD Utilities and WD Security for both OS X and Windows. WD Utilities can be used to monitor the drive's condition, and to reformat it, among other functions. Using WD Security, one can turn the drive's security features on or off. Note, however, that once this security feature is activated, there is no way to access the data if you forget your password.

Backup

Another feature is WD's automatic backup via software that works quietly in the background to help protect your data, while using minimal PC resources. Whenever you add or change a file, it's instantly backed up.

Using the WD SmartWare Pro automatic backup software, users can also use their Dropbox accounts to back up files to the cloud. However, here WD warns that cloud services may be changed, terminated or interrupted at any time and may vary by country.

With this single drive, you get compatibility with USB 2.0 devices as well as the ultra-fast speed of USB 3.0 when you're ready to step up to the next generation. When connected to a USB 3.0 port, My Passport lets you access and save files with blazing speed. According to WD, this reduces transfer time by up to three times when compared to USB 2.0 transfer rates. The drive is also powered through the USB port, so there's no need to lug around a bulky power adapter.

Western Digital backs the new My Passport with a three-year warranty, and the drive costs R2 299, including VAT. This is a little too expensive, in my opinion, considering that some 1TB products from WD's competitors retail for a lot less.

Conclusion

In terms of appearance and performance, the My Passport Ultra hard drive is a good investment for those who want their digital content protected and with them wherever they go.

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