WD3TB Elements Portable External Hard Drive, USB 3.0, Compatible with PC, Mac, PS4 & Xbox - WDBU6Y0030BBK-WESN

I bought this during Prime Day for a sweet sale with the 3TB version that includes a 32GB flash drive. This will be my fourth WD Elements drive (none have failed on me yet and I can only hope it will continue to be that way!).For this review I'd like to point out a few things that could be relevant to the next person who considers purchasing it..1. If you're considering the portable drive for the purpose of shucking it, DON'T BOTHER! While the Elements series do not contain hardware encryption (compared to My Passport), the drive inside does not use a standard SATA connector and it will only be a waste of time outside of curiosity. On top of that, the warranty will likely be voided.2. Transfer speeds are 2-3x faster compared to USB 2.0. Because this portable drive receives all its power from the USB port, the transfer rates are a little lower compared to the desktop version. I tested with about 1 TB of files transferred over and was able to get between 50-90MB/s (desktop version can go as high as 140MB/s). All while remaining silent.3. Try not to confuse TERABYTE with TEBIBYTE. Drive manufacturers tend to use the former for their storage capacity, while the operating system reports the latter. For example, actual space reported after formatting will be 2.72TB (for the 3TB model). But if you right click on your drive and go to Properties, under the General tab the capacity reports a little over 3,000,000,000,000 bytes (for the 3TB model).4. You CAN plug in a micro-USB 2.0 cable to this thing and it will still power up normally. While I can't question the reason for this (since it will be limited to USB 2.0 transfer speeds... on a large capacity drive), this should be avoided at all costs unless it is that really desperate moment (maybe you lost/damaged the original cable and needed a quick solution while a replacement is arriving, etc...). On the reverse side, you can plug the included cable with into a USB 2.0 port (only do this if you have no other choice at the moment). Computers made within the last several years comes with USB 3.0 ports so using that is pretty much a no-brainer.5. If you did purchase the HDD + Flash Drive combo, it comes with a Sandisk Cruzer Blade 32GB flash drive (USB 2.0). Again, the combo was on sale during PRIME Day and it was a better deal compared to the other options.This is still a good drive and should be great for any laptop user. Just make sure you're getting the most out of it by using a USB 3.0 port. It's compact and lightweight for portability.

I have read some other reviews on this product that have made many comments about it not being compatible from machine to machine or Windows version to Windows version and I would like to say that I am happy to not have a clue what they are talking about. I bought the 3TB version and this puppy is as easy to use as advertised and quieter than a church mouse.My Tasks: I am attempting to back up all of my personal files as well as a few business ones so I am continually taking this external hard drive from one PC to the next. It is truly plug and play and those that say moving from different Windows versions gives them trouble must be doing something different than me. I did exactly as instructed and just plugged in the hard drive and then opened "This PC"/"My Computer" and it showed up just like a thumb drive does. I dragged and dropped my files and presto everything is good.Background: I work daily off two HP's and one Surface Pro. I have one HP (work computer) that runs Windows 7 and the other HP (personal) as well as the Surface Pro (work) runs Windows 10. There was no lag and no delay in the different systems with regard to picking up the hard drive via USB. But, the one thing I did notice when connecting to my Windows 7 work HP is that it did not want to read when plugged in via "USB extender" (I have 2 USB ports on this computer and several items that run off USB connections so I picked up a generic USB extender from Amazon a while back) like a normal thumb drive does. Instead, it would only read when directly connected to the USB on the laptop. Maybe this is something some other people are doing (not giving it a direct connection). Now, I did not have to google, I did not have to install updates, I did not have to format, or change the drive in any way other than how it arrived in the box. I simply used my many years working on computers (I am 42 and worked on a computer since 2004 in an office setting with only On The Job Training/learning as you go) to employ my common sense and the mantra of "if at first you don't succeed consider that the problem might be 'user error' or a PEBCACK (problem exists between chair and keyboard) issue". In fact, I have discovered that most of the time when something doesn't work like its "supposed to" it is usually something I have done wrong by over thinking it.

Like most people who have dealt with computers for some time, I've had disk crashes that have been disastrous (like losing my money management data right at tax time years ago), so I'm obsessed with backup drives. My wife is also scanning hundreds of old family photos (going back over 50 years), so the idea of losing history and time makes me wake up at night. But I'm cheap. So when I saw this on sale for $70, I jumped.Western Digital is the brand of choice in our household for backup disks. USB bus-powered means no extra AC plugs (I've already filled up two surge protectors and I'm wondering what my electrical fire risk is now), which is important. The size is also great, this one basically being the same as the 1TB model but thicker. And while Windows doesn't allow automatic backup to a USB drive (seriously? why would I back up to the disk I'm worried is going to crash?) with their built-in backup, there are plenty of inexpensive software alternatives that do work for my nightly backups.I love this little drive. Sits unobtrusively on the desk and has 3 times the capacity of the drive its backing up, so space is not an issue. My one regret is that I didn't buy more when they were on sale.