Western Digital 320GB

Go with this one:

http://www.buy.com/prod/western-dig...rtable-external-hard/q/loc/101/206608584.html

Why not check ebay? Quickly found this brand new blue Essential one for $140 shipped. You can probably find them even cheaper....

WD has updated the outside design, which is the only difference I believe. The newest model looks like a small version of the large models, kind of like a small book. The older one has a slightly different design.

Your top link is the old one, as the one posted from buy.com.

Is there any difference between the passport portable and essential? I'm looking to buy the passport essential to upgrade my hard drive.

I'm not sure which particular version mine is, but i own this 250gb WD Passport http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital-250GB-Passport-External/dp/B000W0BB2Y/ and the site lists some of the specs. For what it's worth, i've had no problems at all with using the drive and the read/write speeds seem more than quick enough

I used the Essential. Western Digital told me the drives were identical:

Dear sean,

Thank you for contacting Western Digital Customer Service and Support.

Sean there is no difference between the 2 drives. We are getting to change product lines and introduce drives in different colors, so the Passport Essentials will be the Black colored drive, the Passport Portable will be Pink, White, Green and so on.
But these two drives are the same.

Sincerely,
Jason S.
Western Digital Service and Support
http://support.wdc.com

I had no problems making the "essential" work with my 2.4ghz macbook. Works fine...did have a tough time cracking the case of the "essential" and also a tough time putting my 160gb back into the "essential" case. Tutorials and Utube videos opening "passport" looks to be a bit easier. Not enough of a difference that this would be a deal breaker. Get the cheapest one out there and enjoy all the extra memory.