xocruiser1 said: That's bf price at Staples i think. wonder if itll be cheaper ON bf The Staples BF ad shows that it is a WD 500GB Passport Hard Drive, so it's not the same thing. Anyone have a good comparison between the "Passport" and "Elements" models?
From what I gathered with a search of the WD site: The My Passport Essentials from Staples BF ad is more stylish(IMO), lighter smaller and carries a 3 year warranty. The WD Element in this thread is made from metal case components, is heavier, slightly larger, and has an AC adapter option and also carries only a one year warranty. The Passport is more portable and I can wait for BF.
Passport Essential is better for the automatic continuous backup feature w/ password protection & hardware encryption, though the biggest bonus is the 3 year vs 1 year warranty. It's shorter, but no difference in weight than the Element (see specs below). Both the Passport & the Elements use the same USB mini to USB 2.0 connectors and both cases are actually plastic.
$70 seems to be standard normal pricing for a 500Gb portable lately though, so not really a stellar BF deal--I picked up the Elements last month for a similar price from Dell from a previous Hot Deals Post to swap the hard drive w/ my laptop. (Inside was the WD Scorpio Blue-- Model: WD5000BEVT ; 2.5 inches, 500 GB, SATA 3 Gb/s, 8 MB Cache, 5400 RPM).
Good writeup on the differences between the two. I wasn't aware of the 1 yr vs. 3 yr warranty difference. I know that the "Elements" model can be powered strictly via USB. Is that also true for the "Passport Essentials"?
Bruzer said: Good writeup on the differences between the two. I wasn't aware of the 1 yr vs. 3 yr warranty difference. I know that the "Elements" model can be powered strictly via USB. Is that also true for the "Passport Essentials"?
Yep, both are powered by a single USB port and don't need a separate power supply. Hope that helps!
joshbosh
Ancient Member
posted: Nov. 11, 2009 @ 9:10p
yosemite150 said: Passport Essential is better for the automatic continuous backup feature w/ password protection & hardware encryption, though the biggest bonus is the 3 year vs 1 year warranty. Hi, yosemite150, thanks for bringing the warranty difference to my attention. I just now checked the manuals for WD external hard drives, and there seems to be three different warranties, not just two. Here are my findings.
"Elite" hard drives have a 3-year warranty in the US:
Western Digital My Book Elite External Hard Drive (3-year warranty) Western Digital My Passport Elite Ultra-Portable Hard Drive (3-year warranty)
"Essential" hard drives have a 2-year warranty in the US:
Western Digital My Book Essential External Hard Drive (2-year warranty) Western Digital My Passport Essential Ultra-Portable Hard Drive (2-year warranty)
"Elements" hard drives have a 1-year warranty in the US:
Western Digital WD Elements Desktop External Hard Drive (1-year warranty) Western Digital WD Elements Portable Hard Drive (1-year warranty)
sang22dongthap said: "Yep, both are powered by a single USB port and don't need a separate power supply. Hope that helps". You are wrong. Element need an adaptor. From the product description:
This 500 GB drive comes with a USB 2.0 interface which does not require any power adapter as it is powered directly through the USB cable.
joshbosh said: yosemite150 said: Passport Essential is better for the automatic continuous backup feature w/ password protection & hardware encryption, though the biggest bonus is the 3 year vs 1 year warranty. Hi, yosemite150, thanks for bringing the warranty difference to my attention. I just now checked the manuals for WD external hard drives, and there seems to be three different warranties, not just two. Here are my findings.
"Elite" hard drives have a 3-year warranty in the US:
Western Digital My Book Elite External Hard Drive (3-year warranty) Western Digital My Passport Elite Ultra-Portable Hard Drive (3-year warranty)
"Essential" hard drives have a 2-year warranty in the US:
Western Digital My Book Essential External Hard Drive (2-year warranty) Western Digital My Passport Essential Ultra-Portable Hard Drive (2-year warranty)
"Elements" hard drives have a 1-year warranty in the US:
Western Digital WD Elements Desktop External Hard Drive (1-year warranty) Western Digital WD Elements Portable Hard Drive (1-year warranty)
Keep in mind that these warranties only apply to the newest models. The last version of each had longer warranties. In fact, I just bought the older 320gb Elite model from Newegg for $70 shipped, a price I still think is good, because it has a 5 year warranty. Nothing else on the market touches that warranty and we all know that drives will eventually need it.
Hmm, seems to be quite a bit of variation in WD warranty--ie, Passport Essential varies between 2 & 3 yrs based on "Product Designator", though their fine print notation also states 3 years if purchased since March 1st, 2007.
Interestingly, though the Elements is 1-year, the bare drive they have inside, the Scorpio Blue carries 3 years (I'm sure they base warranty off original form of the product & of course, extracting the HD probably voids all warranty)
Here is their USA warranty policy straight from WD website (pdf also attached):
Disclaimer: By providing links to other sites, FatWallet.com does not guarantee, approve or endorse the information or products available at these sites, nor does a link indicate any association with or endorsement by the linked site to FatWallet.com.
Members of our community may attach files to a post in accordance with the User Agreement. FatWallet is not responsible for the content, accuracy, completeness or validity of any information contained in any attached file. Files have *not* been scanned for viruses. Be especially wary of Excel files which may contain malicious content.
