What's the life expectancy of the Western Digital My Passport Essential USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive: I'm looking to store mainly pictures and important documents and was wondering how long can one of these hold data before I should worry about backing...
1728998
2 years max. If you leave it on all the time or travel with it, probably just over a year. It's not clear to me your exact setup - if this is a backup of a laptop or a desktop and if this is a disk that stays in one place or travels with you. Sadly, of 2 different brands of disks I have purchased in the last 3 years, most have them have failed around the 1 year mark. (I had a pair of Iomega disks fail within a week of each other at the 1 year mark, a WD disk I bought 6 months ago just failed) My general backup strategy is 2 identical disks (currently 1TB) that stay in my home office where I store pictures, music, documents, etc.. 1 disk is a backup of the other. Anything important is backed up to the 2 disks that stay at home. I use my WD 320 to bring copies of files and music/films along with me on trips. Keep in mind that if you are using your WD 320 as a backup of your laptop and take it on a trip and your bag gets stolen or the disk gets dropped and breaks, you are without a backup.
398548
3-year limited warranty. If you go to the website I am sure they have a contact number, or email them and hopefully they will replace your product. mine still working, but for sure is not my favorite hard drive, I rather buying the passport external hard drive. I had one of those for 5 year now and is still alive.
1128742
I bought a Seagate 1tB about two years ago. I've had to have it replaces twice already and I'm looking for a third replacement. I still have a 150Gb WD drive that I bought nearly a decade ago. In my experience, I would go with the WD... I'm about to buy this one.
2234868
Same reason I bought it, the black ones also attract oil build up really easily. Anyways yes you can survive quite easily. I just have a USB 64gb flash drive hooked up but you can go as high as a terabyte portable HDD. Happy gaming &#128077;
95937
"This is something only reviewers who have opened their "My Passport Essential" drives can tell us."And you don't believe them? Usually the users who've actually "experienced" this offer more valuable information than the actual manufacturers do. And come to think of it, why would Western Digital let people know their new HDDs are now less versatile and flexible than they once were if they are trying to maintain their steady stream of revenue in this economic downturn? I would take the customer's word for it - caveat emptor.
1715988
Wow, at 2terrabyte why is that even an issue?? I have no idea.. Just use a huge external hard drive and it should be almost limitless. All I know is that 2tb seems like plenty, at least for me. In four years of many photos, I didn't even fill 250gig on my laptop that was my main computer at the time. I do like this all in one, tho it isn't quite as fast as I had hoped it would be. And I prefer the Windows seven side to the childish eight side. Love the large screen. Overall..I would recommend it..the storage should be plenty especially for a home computer.
202443
JUNK! read the failure rate of WD products. Search some of their products on amazon and you will know. Worst, usually die after warranty. But warranty is useless bcos no one will send in the drive with personal info in there. when you send in for warranty, you usually get a refurbish back (someone's problem drive that they fixed)
893937
Depends on what youre trying to store. Typically, for normal/average use, then it should be fine for quite some time. A full computer backup, without any files, is about 13GB of space.I purchased the 2TB...the bigger the better. But, I store a lot of movies, TV shows, and music.
1649615
*sigh*It's called flash memory. The device couldn't be this small or have as good battery life with a hard drive. Perhaps they'll release a HDD model in the future, but most people only need 16-32GB at most.
15213
They REFUSE to state it! Slimy! From the WD support site: Q: "What kind of hard drive is inside a Western Digital external product?" A: "We can only guarantee drive capacity. We cannot guarantee a particular internal hard drive model, data interface, rotational speed, or cache size in the external hard drive enclosure." http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1704/p/209,488/session/L3RpbWUvMTQ0MDkyMTE3NC9zaWQvX1REbVRidm0%3D
2046261
Regardless - Go with WD or even Seagate. I have 5 portable drives (2 WD, 2 Seagate, 1 Toshiba) the Toshiba is the newest. I treat them all the same but the Toshiba is the only one crapping out on me in less than a year. Their laptops are KILLER though. It's possible that I just got a dud, but that's my current experience.
563274
I don't know why someone would say that. I have found them to be the most reliable drives I have ever owned. In fact, I can honestly say that I have never had to replace a Western Digital RE drive because of a failure. We have replaced some that were small enough to be obsolete, but in my recollection have never replaced one for any other reason in 9 years of business. Of course, your mileage may vary. We do make sure to keep them cool.
562126
Why would you want to use archival media meant to last hundreds of years to backup an OS? If you want to do this backing it up to a backup hdd or standard DVD or DB media is sufficient. Do you think you'll going to want to restore an OS you had installed over 20 years later? Probably be lucky to even find hardware you could install it on. I have standard media that has lasted over 10 years when kept in cool, dry, dark places. Which only means in a dwelling that's not hot and out of the light, especially sunlight. You'll get more than enough life from standard discs or a backup hdd for that. These discs are meant for storing irreplaceable data like personal photos and movies. Why would you want to use archival media meant to last hundreds of years to backup an OS? If you want to do this backing it up to a backup hdd or standard DVD or DB media is sufficient. Do you think you'll going to want to restore an OS you had installed over 20 years later? Probably be lucky to even find hardware you could install it on. I have standard media that has lasted over 10 years when kept in cool, dry, dark places. Which only means in a dwelling that's not hot and out of the light, especially sunlight. You'll get more than enough life from standard discs or a backup hdd for that.... » Read More Why would you want to use archival media meant to last hundreds of years to backup an OS? If you want to do this backing it up to a backup hdd or standard DVD or DB media is sufficient. Do you think you'll going to want to restore an OS you had installed over 20 years later? Probably be lucky to even find hardware you could install it on. I have standard media that has lasted over 10 years when kept in cool, dry, dark places. Which only means in a dwelling that's not hot and out of the light, especially sunlight. You'll get more than enough life from standard discs or a backup hdd for that. These discs are meant for storing irreplaceable data like personal photos and movies. « Show Less
1967071
as I understand Western Digital offer 3 years warranty in some models... I have (5) 250 GB Hardrives with 3 Years Warranty.
969338
my longest lasting external is an iomega..i do keep it on its side dont use a stand usually its on the floor..it has had stuff spilled on it..cats vomit on it..dropped ..kicked..its still going..the main thing with an external in my experience is keep it on 24/7..my larger capacity WD external went out this year as and that one i dont keep running day and night..
95935
B. Meerdink, neither of the two information you brought are backed by the links you posted.I've been searching the internet for the same info D. Wong wants, I'm about sure there is no document on WD's website that will state which is the internal drive interface of "My Passport Essential" products. This is something only reviewers who have opened their "My Passport Essential" drives can tell us. Do you happen to own one of those? Have you opened it up?? Has anyone out there?
38731
Sorry, no idea. I bought WD (Western Digital) Passport as replacement. That seems better.