One is huge, one is thin, and you maybe one is just
right for you
There are times when a USB key can’t handle the action we’re
throwing at it and we need something bigger to step in and get the job done.
Like a police officer for backup, it’s at these times that we summon a USB 3.0
hard drive. This latest batch of drives offers something for everyone, from
WD’s huge 2TB jobbie to Adata’s super-thin, sexy little thing. Toshiba’s 1.5TB
drive is thrown into the mix, too, for folks looking for a basic, affordable,
high-capacity solution.
WD My Passport 2TB
At 2TB, WD’s My Passport is the largest-capacity USB hard
drive we’ve ever tested, and its four chunky 500GB platters rotate at 5,400rpm.
In the palm it feels about as thick as a huge English muffin with a piece of
ham in the middle, or a water-logged deck of cards; it’s the thickest drive in
this roundup, but only by a tiny margin over is pudgier than the rest at
0.8-inch thick, it’s noticeably shorter than the other two drives at just 4.2
inches long. It comes in a variety of pleasingly subtle, matte color finishes
(red, blue, black, gray, white) and is available in sizes ranging from 500GB to
2 TB.
WD My Passport 2TB
The software package included with the My Passport is
well-rounded, and includes backup software, an encryption utility, and a
diagnostic tool. It should be noted that software for both Mac and PC are
included, though obviously we’re only testing the PC version. The backup
software is called WD Smartware and is based on Memeo Backup – it backs
everything instantly without any user intervention, so you just tell it to keep
an eye on “Documents”, for example, and it automatically copies and files it
sees that are documents. We learned the hard way, though, that “Documents”
means .doc files, and not just any files placed into the Documents folder,
which was confusing. Adding to the confusion was a lack of information about
whether a backup had taken place once new files had been added to a monitored
directory. You also can’t create a backup image of your entire use bundled
software, so this isn’t that big of a deal for us, but it’s a strike against WD
nevertheless. The software does include a file-retrieval service in case you
lose data, and it works well, letting you put files back into their original
location or just dump them into a predetermined folder. Other bundled software
includes a password-protection utility that requires a password to access the
drive, and a drive-health monitor, which is useful.
To test the drive’s mettle we copied 30GB of media files to
it from our desktop PC running a Samsung 830 SSD boot eight minutes, 46 seconds
to complete the job. This was the fastest speed in our roundup of these drives,
even though all the drives have roughly the same specs, so kudos to WD for the
victory. Its time was almost three minutes faster than the Adata drive and two
minutes faster than the Toshiba, so the performance difference is significant.
Overall, there’s a lot to like about the WD drive, but we’re
dinging it pretty hard for having flaky backup software. The password protection
function is nice, but our favorite two things about it are that it’s the
biggest USB drive available, and of these three, it’s also the fastest.
Verdict WD My Passport 2TB: 8
Information
·
Price: $150
·
Website: www.wd.com
Specifications
·
Type: External
·
System Type: Notebook
·
Storage Capacity (as Tested): 2000 GB
·
Ports: USB 2.0, USB 3.0
·
Tech Support: 2 years limited warranty
