Western Digital My Passport Essential 320GB Portable Hard Drive
WDME3200 - 320GB My Passport Essential Portale External Hard Drive from Western Digital
The passport has been western digital’s most successful line of portable external hard drives for several years.
When we are in a holiday, and having a high-end camcorder, we would hate to worry about the storage needs. Unfortunately, if we are on a long holiday, the thought of running out of memory is unavoidable as you will have to think about a whole lot of memory cards. But, this was only until the Western Digital released its long running line of passport portable hard drives. Here we review the high capacity 320GB model of Western Digital My Passport Essential Portable Hard Drive. Let us see if it lives up to the performance of Passport Essential ‘s another model, the stylish and expensive WD My Passport Elite.
Ultra-portable:
Being ultra portable, they fit in to just any bags including your pockets. The dimension of Passport Essential 320GB is almost similar to its other predecessors of the passport series. Being a portable hard drive, it will not be fair on our part to neglect its dimensions, said that, its dimensions are, 0.59” x 3.1” x 4.967” ( H x W x D) and weighs 0.18kg. The length of the USB cable also counts and hence, its length is, 11”.
Body and design:
As you can see below in the image, the size and shape are certainly impressive. The finish is simply extraordinary, it had a soft touch finish. This is not a good reply to the common complaint that was raised by the users of the previous passport series devices that, since it has a glossy finish, it was a finger print magnet and was increasingly difficult to hold it securely in hands. The plastic finish on the Passport Essential only given the device an easy grip, but then, the high gloss finish still attracts finger prints, scratches and smudges. The matte finish that was given to Passport Elite was the best giving a solid grip and not attracting any finger prints giving the device a cleaner look. The enclosure is very stylish too with no design with just a subtle Western Digital logo. The bottom is also simple sans the rubberised feet that was available in the previous models and all that it has is a small black sticker that contains product information including the model number, serial number and country of manufacture.
The Passport Elite had a sliding panel that protects the USB panel and originally, it was a small rubberised flab, which when opened reveals the USB, but the Essential ’s mini USB connection is simply exposed to the elements of the latest version and is present just below in the bottom of the WD logo. There is an illuminated USB icon that glows blue when the drive is connected and communicating with your PC. The rear side of the device has four small rubber fleet that enables the drive to be placed securely over the angled desktops.
Wide range of colour options:
In My Passport Essential 320GB (WDME3200) Portable Hard Drive, there is a wide range of colour options available including, midnight black, real red, intense blue, vibrant pink, raindrop blue, arctic white, viola, super sunny yellow, brilliant orange, ultra mint, cherry red and cool silver. There are eleven colour options available for you and these vibrant colours makes the device stand out in the normal bland grey and black tinted gadgets in the market. Most of the sides of the device is rounded and since three of its sides are just white and not coloured, it gives you an illusion of a book or as its name says, a passport. The devices slim profile and light weight makes it ultra-portable with a whooping capacity of 320GB.
Set-up:
Western Digital My Passport Essential WDME3200 320GB Hard Drive is instantly recognised by both MAC and Windows. If you own a Mac exclusive environment, passport studio is available which is an appropriately formatted version. When the device is connected for the first time to your PC, then the passport’s software installation page appears. The installation with the help of a simple auto run screen. Once the set-up is complete, using the software is extremely easy. The interface is very user-friendly and informative. The status of migration of data is displayed.
Useful software Package included:
The Passport Essential is pre-loaded with utilities including WD Sync, Copy Application Software and Google software. The WD Sync is a synchronization and encryption software that enables the synchronization of your data between different computers using the Passport Essential. It also protects your data on the Essential with 128-bit encryption. The WD Sync interface is very user-friendly in terms of layout and content, it quickly creates a profile and password. This application allows you to include a section to fill in your personal information which is viewable without the use of a password. This feature is very helpful, in-case you miss your device and some good soul on earth finds it. The options section allows you to select what you can select to sync between your PC and the external hard drive. You can even synchronise your desktop’s wall paper, so that it is visible while using WD sync on any other PC. With the help of advanced settings, you will be able to sync even the directories, sub-directories and even file extensions.
Copy Application Software allows you back up the software included in the Passport Essential. Google Software includes the entire suite of web browser tools and other utilities provided by Google. Elite’s Anywhere backup application is not provided with Essential.
Features and performance:
Western Digital My Passport Essential is available in five capacities which includes 160, 250, 320, 400 and 500GB. The device has a spindle speed of 5400 Rotations Per Minute. It is connected via the USB2.0 port and has a maximum transfer rate of 60MB/sec. The Passport Essential has an average transfer rate of 28.4MB/s. The overall performance of Passport Essential is very impressive. It had a very impressive internal unit transfer rate. There was no lag in the portable drive compared to the internal drive even while handling graphics and video files. It had an average read/write speed performing in par with Toshiba portable hard drives. The unit is powered entirely by the USB connection. This single cable is very easy to tote around.
Passport Essential managed to control heat dissipation in an efficient manner and working for around one hour, was only warm at the most. The plastic case proves to be an excellent noise insulator and hence no noise. Hereby, Passport Essential has responded in a great manner to the performance factors.
My Passport Essential 320GB is ideal for storing digital music, videos and pictures.
Finally, when not in use, the entire Essential package is easily tucked away into a convenient neoprene zippered case, complete with a spot for the USB cable.
Box contents and warranty:
The box contents include the Western Digital My Passport Essential 320GB portable hard drive, USB2.O cable and a quick install guide. An optional cable is available for few PCs that limit power from USB port.
My Passport Essential comes with a warranty of 3 years.
Conclusion:
My Passport Essential 320GB USB 2.0 Hard Drive has a sleek casing, solid built quality, reasonable speed and tons of storage space, all of which continues to keep this 2.5” portable hard drive very popular. The softwares provided are very useful. The added ability to sync email account information, internet browser favourites and even your desktop wallpaper serve as icing on the cake. Its performance is on par with WD My Passport Elite. And costing much lesser, it is a great model for all your large storage needs.
Check other 320GB Hard Drive Reviews, latest Western Digital External Hard Drives in this website.
Western Digital WDME3200 320GB 2.5″Hard Drive - Technical Specification Table
| Manufacturer | Western Digital |
| Model Name | My Passport Essential |
| Model number | WDME3200 |
| Dimensions ( H x W x D) | 0.59″ x 3.1″ x 4.967″ |
| Form factor | 2.5″ |
| Capacity | 320GB |
| Available Colours | midnight black, real red, intense blue, vibrant pink, raindrop blue, arctic white, viola, super sunny yellow, brilliant orange, ultra mint, cherry red and cool silver |
| Weight | 0.18kg |
| Spindle speed | 5,400 |
| Compatibility | Mac and PC |
| Interface | USB 2.0 |
| Bus transfer rate | 480 MB/sec |
| Power source | USB bus |
| Warranty | Three years |
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