Western Digital’s Newest Hard Drives Are Portable, Durable, & Colorful

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There’s a lot to love about Western Digital hard drives. They last for years, are super durable, and work as they should straight out the box. So that looks to continue with their latest fleet of products that launched today!
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Available today, Western Digital has released redesigns of their three most popular hard drive lines in the: My Passport®, My Passport for Mac, and My Book®.

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I had the chance to check out a 4TB My Passport and there is so much to love about it. Inside of the box you’ll receive your standard USB 3.0 cable and the instruction manual, but other than that Western Digital has kept it pretty minimalistic. The hard drive itself looks pretty cool in the sweet yellow color that I received but it’s available in black, blue, red, orange, and white as well.

It’s a welcome change to hard drives, since most tend to just be your standard black or silver, and shows that Western Digital isn’t afraid to do what their brand is already known for doing: Standing Out. One feature that I think is pretty nice is the fact that the My Passport actually has a textured bottom which will not only prevent it from sliding around on your desktop, but in unison with a funky new waistband on the center of the hard drive itself, it won’t slip out of your hand when you’re carrying it from place to place.

Transferring data on the My Passport is a delight as well. I’ve used other hard drive brands, but I’ve always come back to Western Digital because being able to transfer my media from my Macbook to my hard drive with this newest drive was lightning fast. And with the inclusion of password protection, if I were to ever leave the hard drive out at Starbucks, the likelihood of my information being compromised is minimal thanks to the 256-bit AES encryption.

While I live IN the cloud primarily, on top of the My Cloud Mirror that I previously reviewed by Western Digital, WD’s My Passport is the hard drive I have in my bag whenever I carry my laptop around. But Western Digital’s My Passport for Mac, as well as the My Book both offer the same features such as automatic backup thanks to the included WD Backup software, great hardware encryption, and plenty of terabyte space (My Passport for Mac has up to 4TB while the My Book doubles that).

It’s worth mentioning that Western Digital’s partnership with fuseproject, an award-winning industrial design and branding firm is one of the key points in the redesign. Being able to understand the consumer while reimagining their product seems to have paid off because not only does the My Passport I receive look cool, it simply works as it should.

   “As the storage landscape continues to rapidly evolve, and the bars for design and user-experience have increased, the team focused on the design and user experience to catapult My Passport and My Book to the next level,” said Jim Welsh, senior vice president, Content Solutions Business Unit, Western Digital.

“Through the reimagined design language, we want to engage consumers in a conversation about how storage is core to their lives and how they feel more empowered by the real benefits of capturing, protecting and enjoying life’s precious memories.”

“The way we use data is changing; it’s becoming much more of a personal commodity, something we value,” says Yves Béhar, founder and Principal Designer at fuseproject. “Western Digital lies at the intersection of our physical life and the digital world, and we wanted to create a quality aesthetic that symbolizes this intersection.”

I love my WD My Passport, and actually plan on buying the My Book for my Mac at home since I carry my own Plex server and the 8TB would be a GREAT addition. Both the My Passport and My Passport for Mac portable hard drives start at a retail price of $79.99 and are backed by a two-year limited warranty. The My Book starts at $129.99, and comes with the same two-year limited warranty.

 

  • My Book (MSRP):
    • 3 TB $129.99
    • 4 TB $149.99
    • 6 TB $229.99
    • 8 TB $299.99

 

  • My Passport (MSRP):
    • 1 TB $79.99
    • 2 TB $109.99
    • 3 TB $149.99
    • 4 TB $159.99

You can purchase any of the products over at wd.com today!

Source: Manufacturer supplied review unit

What I Like: Portability is key, but with the My Passport being password protected, I can carry anywhere, safely

What Needs Improvement: Nothing

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About the Author

Greg Alston
Diehard Apple fanboy, and lover of all things tech. Born and raised in Washington, DC, Greg enjoys spending time with his wife, family, and friends, live sporting events, good bourbon, Tetris, and pizza. In that order.