Wd My Passport For Mac 3tb Review

​The WD Elements and the WD My Passport external hard drives are targeted at the portable drive, on the go market place. The WD Elements is positioned as their entry-level drive for the portable consumer and Western Digital is quite open in saying it is a basic drive. The WD My Passport drive is aimed at the market above the Elements drive and classed as the start of their premium external hard drive range. ​And the WD My Passport comes in a 'for Mac' guise, but more on that later. Then the questions you may have in mind are; If there isn't a special offer on at the moment is it worth paying the extra to move up to the My Passport drive?

Download microsoft project 2017. And when there is a price premium. Is the My Passport drive worth it?

The My Passport for Mac drive's built-in 256-bit AES hardware encryption with WD Security software helps keep your content private and safe. Just activate password protection and set your own personalized password.

Let's dig in deep and find out. Nope they come in identical drive sizes, we'll have to look elsewhere other than drive capacity to separate the two.

The important thing to remember when you are planning to buy an external hard drive is to work out how much capacity you need for your Mac and not to scrimp. For example If you are planning on using the drive as a backup for Time Machine then calculate how much disk you are backing up and times by two and that way you will have the capacity you'll need as a minimum for use with Time Machine. ​In some cases it pays to have a product that has been on the market a while. In the case of the this drive was released to the market in 2013. It is a strong seller and has been consistently amongst Amazon's best sellers in the portable external drive market. It's well priced, reliable and flexible in that you can attach it to a Mac, PC or connect the drive to a games console. Yes, it's basic and that means there are no frills that come with the drive.

And the painful truth is that sometimes those frills can look attractive but they can get you into trouble. More on that later. The My Passport drive is the newer product, released to the market in 2016, positioned by WD to be the next step up compared to the basic Elements drive. The product has also sold well, has proven to be reliable and has the same flexibility in that you can also plug the external drive into a Mac, PC or a games console. What is it about the WD My Passport drive that justifies the higher price? Well let us see. ​The USB standard is backwards compatible, thanks be.

This means that if you have a newer Mac, say a Macbook Air or Macbook Pro with Thunderbolt connections you will need to purchase for yourself a USB C to USB A adaptor, or a USB cable that is USB C at one end and USB B Micro at the other end. Neither the nor the My Passport drives are Thunderbolt drives and won't read and write at Thunderbolt speeds. But Hey, you do pay a price premium for Thunderbolt drives and if you are not a power user - and you would know if you are one. A Thunderbolt drives speed isn't needed for backup or for storage of normal everyday files, pictures or music. Armed with your adaptor USB cable you plug into your new Mac and due to backwards compatibility your Mac will send the information down to the Elements or the My Passport at USB 3.0 speed. Download coupon printer for mac. It may sound obvious to state but neither of these drives are classed as rugged in any way. Yes, they are sold as portable but there is little to protect the drive from shakes, drops excessive heat or cold.

If you are truly porting these drives around then a protective case is a must to protect the drive and your data. These are laptop class drives, which is why they are a convenient size and weight to carry around. But they are not the most robust of drives. This means that when in use place them on a solid surface before powering up. The My Passport user manual clearly states this. Knocks or shakes in use are particularly damaging and there is no ramp loading technology as on the to offer some protection.

Hitting all the primary colors and what's more the USB cable provided matches the drive. So apart from matching to your other accessories or clothing there is a practical aspect, when you have multiple drives. You can buy a drive color and team it with the function you want it to serve. • Spare backup drive - blue. • Drive for your music - yellow A drive color for particular types of projects you're storing on it.

The LED indicator light on the My Passport drive provides indications for; • When the drive is being accessed - fast flashing. • On standby - Slow flashing • Idle - steady constant light • Off - the LED is off Other considerations, the My passport has squared corners, I guess helpful for stacking purposes but some users have disliked the angular sharp corners Personally I think it depends on your personal preference here, The drive comes with a smooth end which some have said shows fingerprints and can look grubby quickly. The other end being patterned.