WD2TB Black My Passport Ultra Portable External Hard Drive - USB 3.0 - WDBBKD0020BBK-NESN

This model is the 2015 generation of the many My Passport drives I've owned or purchased for clients. They have proven reliable and good performers. They have incrementally improved with each new generation.BOTTOM LINE (for the impatient):The new model is a little bit faster than last year's and adds a 3TB and 4TB model. This My Passport Ultra has a more attractive satiny finish and there is now a white model to fit in better for Mac users. Otherwise it's almost identical to the older model.If these differences are not important for you, you may want to get this or last year's My Passport Ultra depending on which is least expensive. You'll have an excellent drive in either case.NOTE: As of Oct. 10th there is a new 2016 model with (in my opinion) a less attractive case, but slightly faster drive inside. Otherwise they are similar.If you want more details, read on...SUMMARY:The My Passport USB 3.0 drives are simple to use and come with reasonable software tools and backup/sync software. There are Mac versions of WD tools on this drive as well as the Windows tools. The newer software can also be downloaded for older models. I don't use this software, but plenty of people do as basic backup and/or sync with your WD MyPassport.Pluses:+ This drive works fine with Linux or Mac out of the box. It performs best when reformatted with a native file system for the respective operating system.+ This generation adds a 3TB model to the 500GB, 1TB and 2TB sizes in previous versions.+ This drive is faster than the last generation. Up to 25% faster in benchmarks, but just noticeable in practical use.+ The form factor of the new drive is almost exactly the same as before and they have a nice satin like finish.+ The titanium color has been replaced by a white color (never liked the titanium color)Minuses:- It comes with the same very short USB 3.0 cable as previous versions.I like a longer 3ft (or more) USB 3.0 cable: a very good upgrade purchase for the My Passport drives.- There is no drawstring pouch with this generation of My Passport Ultra drives. Some protection for toting drives around.IN THE BOX:The My Passport comes in a easy to open retail package containing the drive and a annoyingly short USB 3.0 cable. That's it. The cable in this model is the same as previous versions. This may be just fine for a lot of folks but I keep some 3ft (or more) USB 3.0 cables handy for longer runs to my desktop or even on top of a tall computer.FORM FACTOR vs PREVIOUS GENERATION:I'll compare the new generation of My Passport Ultra with a My Passport Slim (a repackaged version of last year's My Passport Ultra).This My Passport Ultra's dimensions:500GB: 0.32lb, 4.33in X 0.62in X 3.21in1TB: 0.34lb, 4.33in X 0.62in X 3.21in2TB-4TB: 0.50lb, 4.33in X 0.83in X 3.21inLast year's My Passport Ultra's dimensions:500GB: 0.30lb, 4.33in X 0.50in X 3.21in1TB: 0.34lb, 4.35in X 0.61in X 3.23in2TB: 0.50lb, 4.35in X 0.82in X 3.23inTESTING:I tested both my older My Passport slim 1TB drive and the new My Passport 2TB model using CrystalDiskMark benchmark software and by copying 11GB folder of updates and files to the drive. This was to compare the benchmark with real-world copying. The 11GB folder has a broad mix of file sizes and types including files over 2GB iso DVD images.Using CrystalDiskMark I found sequential reads were about 25% faster and writes about 10% faster with the new model. Random reads were just a tiny bit faster, but writes were about 25% faster. While the benchmarks showed significant differences in practical use the difference was noticeable but not great.For my testing the My Passport drive was connected to the Renasas USB 3.0 chip set on my Dell Precision E6500 laptop. I have the latest Renasas drivers installed. The laptop also has a Samsung EVO SSD as the hard drive (matters for my real-world copy testing).CRYSTALDISKMARK Results:The New Generation My Passport:Sequential Read: 112.750 MB/sSequential Write: 72.353 MB/sRandom Read: 4KiB 0.584 MB/s [ 142.6 IOPS]Random Write: 4KiB 1.373 MB/s [ 335.2 IOPS]Sequential Read: 110.736 MB/sSequential Write: 70.680 MB/sRandom Read: 4KiB 0.522 MB/s [ 127.4 IOPS]Random Write: 4KiB 1.340 MB/s [ 327.1 IOPS]The Older My Passport Slim:Sequential Read: 79.434 MB/sSequential Write: 63.436 MB/sRandom Read: 4KiB 0.525 MB/s [128.2 IOPS]Random Write: 4KiB 0.941 MB/s [229.7 IOPS]Sequential Read: 78.850 MB/sSequential Write: 63.329 MB/sRandom Read: 4KiB 0.493 MB/s [120.4 IOPS]Random Write: 4KiB 0.861 MB/s [210.2 IOPS]REAL WORLD COPY:In my real world copy test the new My Passport Ultra drive was just noticeably faster than the older. It peaked out at about 60MB/s with large files. I never dropped below 29MB/s even with large amounts of small files being copied to the drive. The older My Passport Slim peaked out at about 55MB/s and dropped several times to just above 25MB/s.I'm thinking the newer drive may have a larger on-drive write cache or maybe it's just a bit faster drive. Maybe both. On big copies the new My Passport Ultra may save you a few seconds here or there but your last generation My Passport Ultra drives are pretty close.CONCLUSIONS:The My Passport line of drives from Western Digital has been very good to me and to my clients. This reliable and good to excellent performing line has a long positive history with me.This WD My Passport Ultra is an evolution over the last generation. I'll pick it for new purchases over the older model, but won't rush out to replace older drives. It's a 5 star successor to a 5 star predecessor and continues to be a very good external storage choice.For making improvements and not messing up something that has been working well for a long time This new generation of My Passport Ultra drives is worth 5 stars in my opinion..Hope this helps someone!

I helped a friend set up a new computer and again when she acquired a malware infection. She had one of these little Passport drives. I liked it so much, got one of my own. White version, 1TB.I've been using it about 8 months now, still love it.For me, it has a whole bunch of pluses:Western Digital has always been my choice for external backup hard drives. Good rep.1TB is more than I need to backup my tons of photos, recipes, email, tax returns, and other important records on my laptop PC.The small physical size is a HUGE plus.It has 4 very tiny rubbery feet which help it stay put.Uses only ONE cord - USB. It does NOT require an electric outlet. Yaaaa.I used to use one of the standard large external drives, also WD, but it took up too much precious space, got knocked over a lot, and required an electric outlet, which are in short supply in my computer area. (Landline phone, modem, router, tv, printer, smartphone charger, charging laptop etc.)I plugged it into a USB port and let it sit on my 17" laptop - lower left corner. That's it. Fits perfectly and so small it doesn't interfere with using the keyboard. This works for me because I don't have a desk. I move the laptop from the table next to my chair to my lap frequently. After all, it is a LAPtop, not a desktop or table top PC. <grin> My Passport moves with my laptop. I have a 17" monitor/keyboard area, so there is room for it. Not sure if it would fit in the same spot with a smaller laptop. If you use your laptop at a desk, or just plug in the Passport once a day to do backup, not a problem. I just prefer keeping it connected all the time. I prefer a mouse over the touch pad, but this is small enough that keeping it on the left side of my laptop does not cover the touch pad, should I need to use it.I use a third party software which checks for changes hourly and backs up any I made. So far, have not needed to use it for restore purposes, but sooner or later, hard drives fail. I have no doubt it will save the day when that happens.However, even external hard drives fail, so to be safe, I also have a cloud backup just in case. Can't be too careful.

Bought this 9 years ago, and it's still holding strong! It is kept in a padded case, but does amazing and is still just as fast as it was when new. Highly recommend

I have used Western Digital products for several decades. Generally speaking, they are reliable (absolutely essential for this application) and fulfill my requirements perfectly. Most human beings, but especially Americans, are "hoarders", whether they will admit it or not. In the case of storage devices for computers, software, movies, photographs, and files we seem to never have enough available storage capacity available. This product should provide a permanent solution for most of us, but only a temporary solution for others.In my situation I have a 16 TB Network Attached Storage (NAS) device that required a firmware upgrade that would delete all of the existing files. This product was purchased to provide a pre-upgrade storage location for my important files. After the upgrade was completed I planned to move all of my files back on to the NAS device. This strategy and plan worked perfectly for me.Now that the upgrade has been completed, I am continuing to use this product as a secondary or tertiary storage device for my tax practice. Almost all of my tax return documents and files cannot be replaced.I recommend that you read the "User Manual" for this product before you install it, and also use the WD Utility software that is included. I do not use all of the utility and functionality features and functions. I believe that the utility can be used to shut this product down before it is moved. This external storage drive is portable, but should not be moved while power is on and the device has not been properly shut down.