WD 2TB 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of the new drive is almost exactly the same as before and they have a nice satin like finish.+ The titanium color has been replaced by a white color (never liked the titanium color)Minuses:- It comes with the same very short USB 3.0 cable as previous versions.I like a longer 3ft (or more) USB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!

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 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.

Works as expected. small compact, had it for years and never a glitch. I trust it to save all my original music, family videos important docs. Speed is good.

This gets four stars instead of five because there is a major glitch with the included software that comes installed on the drive. Additionally, it is purported to be formatted for Mac but did not function properly out of the box (could have just been my computer, but I doubt it).RECOMMENDATIONS------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------If you ordered this for something like a Macbook Pro, as soon as you get it and plug it in, delete the software on the disc and reformat it to Mac OS X Journaled.IF YOU PLAN TO COPY OVER TO THIS NEW STORAGE THE CONTENTS OF AN OLD EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE, CHECK THE FORMAT OF THE OLD DRIVE: If the old drive is formatted as a case-sensitive device, format this new drive as case-sensitive as well. Otherwise, the transfer will not work.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Otherwise, the drive is great and works as expected. Great deal for 2 TB. The read/write speeds are 8-9 times slower than my internal Samsung 850 EVO SDD, but that is 1) expected and 2) not a noticable factor in day-to-day use.