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Western Digital Passport Portable

320 passport said 298 gigs of space...

I bought this drive and installed it today in my Macbook. I partitioned the disk and everything is up and running just fine. However, during the whole set up process I noticed that the drive stated 298gigs of space, and not 320.. Does anyone know where the other 20+ of space is? and how do I get rid of it?
Thanks,
 
Jim82 said:
I bought this drive and installed it today in my Macbook. I partitioned the disk and everything is up and running just fine. However, during the whole set up process I noticed that the drive stated 298gigs of space, and not 320.. Does anyone know where the other 20+ of space is? and how do I get rid of it?
Thanks,
Click to expand...

You're seeing the difference between advertised space and actual space, so there's no other space to recover. My 160GB Passport only has 149GB of free space.
 
Jim82 said:
I bought this drive and installed it today in my Macbook. I partitioned the disk and everything is up and running just fine. However, during the whole set up process I noticed that the drive stated 298gigs of space, and not 320.. Does anyone know where the other 20+ of space is? and how do I get rid of it?
Thanks,
Click to expand...

that's how the hard drives work. it didn't go anywhere. when it says 320 it's not quite 320.
 
Do these hard drives have a built in USB plug or is there a cord that plugs into it? Might be a dumb question, but I'm curious.
 
I have used the exact same HD with time machine for the last two months on a Mac Book Pro with no problems at all.
 
7200rpm

Is there anything similar to this with a 7200rpm speed? Or is 5400 the maximum for a typical portable HD?
 
Bakkalohriat said:
The Passport has a rubber flap that covers a mini-USB port; it comes with a 6" USB cable that, sadly, doesn't retract.

But it would be cool.
Click to expand...

I see...

Well, what is a good portable hard drive that has a retractable USB plug on it with no cables needed? I'd appreciate any help in looking for a portable one to replace or use for a side dish for my Nintendo Wii- sized 320 GB Seagate external HD that needs a power supply.
 
donga said:
that's how the hard drives work. it didn't go anywhere. when it says 320 it's not quite 320.
Click to expand...

Well, then WD shouldnt put these specs on their website:

Drive Specifications
160 GB 250 GB 320 GB
Formatted Capacity1 160,041 MB 250,059 MB 320,072 MB
 
One other thing: all you people that already have the drive and are happy with it - would it be ok just to carry it around in a backpack-pocket, or would you use some neoprene cover-thingee to avoid damaging and scratching?

I just hate carrying to much stuff around... :D



and, does it scratch easily?
 
ZballZ said:
Well, then WD shouldnt put these specs on their website:

Drive Specifications
160 GB 250 GB 320 GB
Formatted Capacity1 160,041 MB 250,059 MB 320,072 MB
Click to expand...

Sigh. Hard drive manufacturers report drive space in GB = 1000*1000*1000 bytes, MB=1000*1000 while the OS will report the drive size in GiB = 1024*1024*1024, MiB=1024*1024. The OS will always report ~8% less space than you expect.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigabyte#Consumer_confusion

B
 
vadim.iablokov said:
Has anyone bought one of these sexy back-up drives (WD)? I've read some reviews that it won't work with macbook because it can't draw enough power from the usb port and that it doesn't have it's own DC connector. Can anyone confirm this. I've been hunting for external drives, and this option seems better than building your own. And then when leopard comes out I'll be time travelling like a pro!
Click to expand...

i have one and it works great. G-Media makes a mini G-drive that's also very smart-looking, rugged (made of metal like the powermac appearance) and small, and comes with a snazzy little faux-leather carrying satchel.
 
For some reason at Wor$t Buy, the Pink "Breast Cancer" Passport 250 GB was 60 $ less than the White and Black ones... so I support breasts and me saving money at the same time!

This thing rocks btw. It also happens to be pink, haha :p
 
I just bought one of these to use between multiple computers. It works great with my iMac and even my Asus eee, but it doesn't mount at all on my Powerbook (15" Al, 1.25). I was prepared for the lack of USB power, so I bought one of those Y cords with 2 USB connectors, but that also failed to mount the drive. I'm at a loss. I don't know why it isn't working.

The spacing of the USBs on the Powerbook is also a bit of a pain, with one on either side.

I was hoping for something portable I could use with all my computers, but I suppose this might not be it.
 
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