WD Content Solutions Business WDBMWV0020BBK-NESN 2TB My Passport Ultra Black

delivered on time and as promised

Positives:* 2TB, all-in-one, ready to use drive, at a reasonable price.* No additional power required.* Formatted for Windows with NTFS, so ready to use.* Low level of vibration when spinning (at least on my device).* Seems sturdy and well-protected.* Comes with additional software and manuals pre-loaded onto the disk.Negatives:* Sustained write speed is not more than 35 MB/s, max 40 MB/s for a single large file, writing it to a yet un-fragmented, out of the box disk. Not exactly the "ultra-fast transfer rates" and "blazing speed" that are advertised in the manual. In comparison, an external SSD can write 200+ MB/s.* When connected to Windows 10, there is no "eject" item in the drive's context menu. It is necessary to remove the drive using taskbar tray icon, and even this won't work if any file is opened.* It is thicker (3/4" / 2 cm) and heavier (9oz / 256 g) than smaller drives.* The USB 3.0 cable is stiff. Combined with a flimsy micro-USB 3.0 connector, it doesn't exactly ooze quality. Inserting the cable into the drive doesn't result in any positive tactile feedback, it is just necessary to push it there until it stops. Earlier models came out with a better, more flexible cable. Nothing, however, can cure the poor mechanical design of the micro-USB 3.0 connector; wait until USB-C is more mainstream.* The software installation quietly installs Silverlight, which is an obsolete technology that will get used by your browser, too. This is done even for the very basic maintenance utility, and is not required for it to function. I didn't check what the rest of the tools do. Windows includes its own backup technology and it is possible to use BitLocker to protect the drive.* It vibrates when spinning. Not too much, but it is noticeable when it is close to a laptop you're working on.* The capacity is 2 million bytes or 1.82TiB.

Note: Be sure to read the update at the end info for on Windows use and ways to upgrade older computers to USB 3.0.I got 3 of the 2TB version of the My Passport Ultra to use with Linux as backup media. When I purchased them the older non-utra version was the same price or higher including shipping.To get best performance out of drive we installed a USB 3.0 PCI-e card in this server. The card ia a ORICO PNU3539-U3E Super Speed PCI Express to USB3.0 & eSATA . The card was instantly recognized by RedHat Enterprise Linux 6.5 (RHEL6) upon boot and has worked perfectly.The existing NTFS partition on the drive isn't recognized by RHEL6 To use the drive for Linux backups we used the disk manager to delete the existing partition and place an ext4 partition the max size of the drive. It now auto-mounts and operates much faster than our older USB 2 backup drives. Copying large files is between 3 and 4 times as fast.Our backups have gotten big enough the speed of the backup media was becoming a big factor getting a full backup completed overnight. The "My Passport" USB 3.0 drive addressed this issue nicely and plays well with Linux.An added bonus with My Passport is getting power from the USB port. The older drives we replaced had external power adapters. Now fewer wires and less power.Hope this is helpful for someone considering using My Passport drives with Linux.Update: Dec 3, 2013First the 15in cable that comes with the drive really needs to be longer. 3ft would have been much more useful. For my clients I'm now getting Cable Matters SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Type A to Micro-B Cable in 3ft or 6ft depending on their application.Second I've setup Acronis True Image 2014 using the My Passport Ultra 2TB drives for a client with Windows 7 and it's working great. Much faster than the older WD MyBook drives they replaced. It had external power and the wiring and power block associated with that.I setup their computer with a ORICO PVU3-5O2U USB3.0 7-Port PCI Express Card to give them lots of USB 3.0 connectivity. It uses the via chipset which seems very nice. But installation was painful because I had to find the right drivers and download them. But you can read about it in my review of that card. Once installed it works great and so does the My Passport Ultra as the backup media. It was easy to setup with Acronis. This is a feature for sure.When copying large files or large numbers of smaller files performance seems about the same in windows or linux. Is is my impression and not side-by-side tests. In either case, it's much faster than older USB2 drives.That makes 9 of these drives at clients and 1 in-house, and more soon. No failures or problems yet.Update:I had the chance to setup the My Passport Slim 2TB drive for a client recently. It is about 1/8th inch thinner than the Passport Ultra and a tiny bit lighter and smaller in other dimensions. It a sexy looking drive which presently is about 30% more expensive.Other than the packaging the "Slim" appears to be a Passport Ultra repackaged to be a bit smaller, lighter and mostly cooler looking with a metal case. Hope this helps if you are trying to decide between spending the extra money for the My Passport Slim vs. the My Passport Ultra.Older computers can often be upgraded economically. I've used the ORICO PVU3-5O2I USB 3.0 7 Port PCI Express Card (5 Rear and Internal USB3.0 20PIN Connector) on Windows 7 and Linux Desktops/Servers with good results providing lots of ports. I mentioned this in my main review.If your laptop has an express card slot a card like the HDE 2 Port USB 3.0 may be used to provide USB 3.0 to take full advantage of a drive like the My Passport Slim.

Overall very good, works faster than my toshiba, or seagate, and from what I hear from online reviews it sets the standard as the most reliable external Hard drive. (Which is by far the most important factor for me, even if it's not overly thin like the Seagate Backup Plus Slim).I agree with the person above me that the cord could be longer, however every portable external hard drive I have ever bought or seen has this same cord, as it is east to fold in 3 and carry it with you. You can purchase a 6' 3.0 USB extension cord for about $5-$6.Besides that A+++.