Western Digital 2TB My Passport: a tiny, portable external hard drive $124.99 Costco B&M

If you're looking for
- a tiny (slightly bigger than my palm) high capacity 2TB backup drive
- with passworded hardware encryption
- compatible with both USB2 and USB3
- without an external power supply
- completely silent

Yesterday at Costco I picked up a 2 TB Western Digital passport for $124.99.
My receipt shows $139.99 minus a $15 automatic discount, which was consistent with the signage.
I did not show any coupons.
It is available from Newegg and a lot of other places for $149.99.
Amazon Prime has it for $138.99.

Links:NewEgg, Amazon,and WesternDigital

Previously I used a Buffalo extreme mini-terastation, because it has those features as well as integrated cable management. However like others I am plagued by this incredibly annoying problem which makes it unusable on half of the systems I plug it into. Therefore the Western Digital is the answer for now.

In addition, the Western Digital security software has an interesting optional feature: It will optionally auto unlock the drive if you are logged in using the account that installed the drive and it software. I am not going to use that feature, but I can definitely appreciate how it creates simplicity for those people who simply want to have drive security protection against loss or theft of the drive itself.

I am backing up all data to it right now, starting with Christmas photos. The attitude I take with myself and family re: data is: Only amateurs lose data. There is no excuse for a significant amount of data loss due to either hard drive crashes, viruses, fire, or theft, between the backup drives and our safe deposit box. I use GoodSyncto sync to backup drives.

Cons from Newegg reviews:
1) You can NOT remove this drive from the enclosure and transplant it into your laptop.
2) The connector shape that plugs into drive itself is proprietary. (the other side is standard usb3/2 compatible). My guess is they needed that connector they designed to eliminate the need for an external power supply. Edit: As Pythie says below: pythie said:   The plug looks like a USB 3.0 micro type B. It is not proprietary. Just not all over the market yet.
3) 2 year warranty, not 3.

Those 3 things are OK with me, but I do wish it had integrated cable mgmt. It makes the overall form factor bigger but you can't forget the cable.

I'm thinking about getting another, and having that be part of my safe deposit box quarterly back up rotation . It will take up a lot less room than the drives that are in there.

I'm going to call Frys to see if they price match Costco prices. EDIT: Fry's only matches Costco Online, not Costco B&M. I believe Frys has red and silver colors of the same model. Costco has black, but it comes with a nice case with mint green piping so it won't get lost when tossed in a black bag.

The word is "portable" not "tiny". Portable = 2.5" (laptop size) drive.

Amazon link click here
Seller offering drive with 1 or 2 hours use for $114.95

sneuman said:   Amazon link click here
Seller offering drive with 1 or 2 hours use for $114.95

He must have gotten bored with it...Or accidentally drop kicked it. Either way, Costco has a better return policy. Thanks OP!

Thanks OP, in for one. Its size is about 3x4, very small.

You're welcome everyone!

I picked up a second one from Costco.

FYI - Fry's only matches Costco online, not costco in-store prices.

-- She with the mutant sized palm

MeIsCheap said:   OP, I don't think your guess on the proprietary cable is correct. There are plenty of portable, i mean tiny, drives out there with standard connections that don't need a power supply.If that's not the reason why WD decided to incur the considerable expense of a proprietary connector vs simply applying a known standard and avoiding engineering, design, and manufacture tool-up costs, what else might be the reason?

i.e., What is your theory on why they chose to do what they did?

OceanMist said:   
i.e., What is your theory on why they chose to do what they did?

Shortsighted security feature? I have older WD passport drives that use regular mini USB connectors.

You can use a standard USB 2.0 Micro-A cable with these portable drives (the kind most cellphones use now). That is 1/2 the connector of the USB 3.0 cable the drive comes with. I think the only drawback is that you won't realize the USB 3.0 transfer speeds.

pythie said:   The plug looks like a USB 3.0 micro type B. It is not proprietary. Just not all over the market yet.Aha - good eye! Thank you. That makes sense.

Squinting at Wikipediaand my cable's end, Pythie is definitely correct. The number of pins match on both the squared and rounded side

The good news for me is that if years from now I lose the cable, I'll be able to order a replacement from Amazon or go to Fry's.

freddyfoster said:   You can use a standard USB 2.0 Micro-A cable with these portable drives (the kind most cellphones use now). That is 1/2 the connector of the USB 3.0 cable the drive comes with. I think the only drawback is that you won't realize the USB 3.0 transfer speeds.Excellent! I have a couple of those now.

MeIsCheap said:   also, I was going to mention that if anything is a tiny drive, it would be a 1.8" drive that is uncommon, but does exist. I would change your title to portable (2.5" drive), as it might trigger some peoples deal alerts. that's one of the main reason to put the right key words in the titleGood point, MeIsCheap. I added the word portable. But I'm holding strong to 'tiny' - because it is tiny tiny tiny in comparison to the ones I've been rotating through my safe deposit box!