Western Digital External Hard Disk Drives

Western Digital has a wide variety of external storage products for both the PC and Mac markets. The external drives are available in both large desktop and smaller portable formats. Under the portable segment alone, Western Digital offers five drive families for the PC, and three drive families for the Mac.

Today, we are going to take a look at one of their portable drives for the Mac market - the 640 GB Western Digital My Passport Studio. Of course, it isn't specific to the Mac. PC users can use it too. In fact, it has features that will interest PC users, like :

• Custom E-label that allows you to create your own drive label and check available storage capacity at a glance.
• 256-bit hardware encryption and password protection.
• dual-interfaces - a high-speed FireWire 800 interface, and a standard USB 2.0 interface.
• cross-compatibility with both PC and Mac systems, including Apple Time Machine.
• WD SmartWare backup and configuration software for both PC and Mac.

So, let's find out how this portable hard disk drive fares against the usual PC-centric portable drives!

Packaging

The Western Digital My Passport Studio 640 GB portable hard disk drive came in a nice, printed cardboard box. The drive's storage capacity and dual interfaces are printed clearly in front, with details of its key features listed at the back.

Inside, you will find the My Passport Studio drive enclosed within a plastic case. Removing it reveals an assortment of cables and printed material. You should find the following items :

• the Western Digital My Passport Studio 640 GB portable hard disk drive,
• a FireWire 800 cable,
• a FireWire 800 to FireWire 400 adaptor,
• a USB 2.0 cable, and
• a Quick Install Guide.

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