It's a rarity nowadays in the age of 1 and 2TB harddrives to see something like the WD My Passport Essential 250GB. Most companies are aiming for the largest size they can fit, and not even worrying about the performance issues. I own several other, larger portable harddrives but I needed one that didn't require extra power from the socket. So I dropped into my local PC World and found a blue edition of the My Passport 250GB range in the bargain bin for £20. The box claims that it only requires power from the USB cable and that it was "plug and play", referring to the fact that it wouldn't need any drivers to be installed prior to use. Out ...  Read the complete review

the Western Digital My Passport Essential is a highly effective way of backing up PCs or laptops. i brought mine off the internet 2 weeks ago (end of may) as an urgent backup for my laptop. the transfer of information is not the fastest but the passport comes with software that can be installed and makes the syncronization of the device very easy. 250GB is sufficient for 70,000 photos. the design and structure of the passport is sleek and stylish aswell as hardy. the device is a similar shape and size to the standard british passport so its great for taking around with you and handy to transfer and share photos due to the ability of the device to create profiles for ...  Read the complete review

Having used various types of removable storage and on the whole found them to be clunky, large, noisy and, if accidentally knocked, somewhat unreliable, I was somewhat amazed at the build quality and ease of use of the MyPassport Essential drive. One of the main selling points for this drive is that it will fit easily into your pocket and for the first time when hearing such claims I found it to be true! Coupled with the fact that the unit requires no separate power source, taking power directly from the USB port, it really is the solution for people needing to store thier information in an accessible way. Loaded with encryption software there is ...  Read the complete review