Western Digital My Passport Elite 320GB - Great for MacBook Pro
May 26, 2008 – 9:18 pmAfter having upgraded my MacBook Pro to a 200GB, 7200RPM hard drive a few months ago, I spotted a great item on sale at Costco. It was the Western Digital My Passport Elite 320GB external 2.5″ hard drive. The regular price was $170, and I got it for $140. As soon as I got it home, I took it apart so I could put it to proper use - inside my MacBook Pro.
Here are some pics showing the process of taking the WD Passport Elite drive apart.
Here’s the prey in its natural habitat:
A credit card or thick fingernail is the best tool for prying the wide edge open. There are quite a few notches - very tough, very resistant to force. Careful, or *snap*, the case will break!
You can see the notches that hold the case together.
Because the case wants to snap back together, it’s necessary to hold it apart from all angles. I used four credit/gift cards to do the trick.
Here’s the center frame extruded from the outer case.
All the parts…
As you can see, the drive inside is a Western Digital 320GB SATA drive with a 5400RPM rotational speed. These drives sell for $130 to $170 online, and for much, much more in retail stores.
Here you can see the SATA drive separated from the tiny little SATA-USB controller. This controller works fine on its own. You can use it with or without the WD enclosure.
BONUS PICS:
I dropped the 320GB drive into my MacBook Pro. It formats to 298.09GB. So far, I’ve got 219GB free. Wow.
Close-up inside the MacBook Pro…
Another close-up inside the MacBook Pro. I like the paper-thin SATA interface.
FINAL WORDS:
What I like about the Western Digital My Passport Elite 320GB is that it’s a great hard drive for laptop use. It’s much cheaper than a generic OEM drive. The outer case is flat-out awesome - better than most 2.5″ cases you can buy online for $50 or more. An additional perk - the Western Digital My Passport Elite 320GB case is 100% bus-powered. No need for an external power supply or dual-USB cable setup to power the drive. I’m very happy with this purchase.
Caveat: moving from a 7200RPM drive to a 5400RPM drive can result in a slow-down here and there, but I’ve found that this 320GB drive is pretty swift on its feet so far. Boot time is only 3-4 seconds slower, Photoshop runs roughly the same and only video conversion seems significantly affected (by about 20%). All else is good.
Stumble it!
Tags: 320GB, MacBook Pro, My Passport Elite, Western Digital
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An
12 Responses to “Western Digital My Passport Elite 320GB - Great for MacBook Pro”
Good Blog. I will continue reading it in the future. Nice layout too.
Aaron Wakling
By Aaron Wakling on May 26, 2008
Hey i was wondering if this drive makes a clicking noise. I have head that every 30 seconds or so it makes a very loud noise. Thanks
By Fahad Choudhary on Jun 2, 2008
Hi Fahad,
So far, I have not heard any uncommon noises from this WD 320GB drive. No clicking, no ticking. It’s been very quiet and runs cool.
I hope that helps.
Jason
By JasonTomczak on Jun 2, 2008
That’s a neat idea. I’d never have guessed it would fit like an OEM drive. Does the MBP’s motion sensor work for an install like this?
By Doug Eberle on Jun 16, 2008
Hey Doug -
The accelerometer in the MBP will control/cease head movement on any compatible SATA hard drive, not just a particular brand. It shouldn’t matter which drive is used. There have been reports of some drives being extra sensitive to the Sudden Motion Sensor control, but I haven’t experienced this.
The best way to test whether your SMS system is functioning is to try a fee app like “Splash”. Here’s the link on versiontracker.com:
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/31405
As for this particular WD drive, it’s just like any other SATA laptop drive - same size, specs, etc. Just check the model number of the drive.
This HDD swap is just an ingenious way of getting an awesome laptop hard drive and a sleek, high-quality portable enclosure for major savings.
Jason
By JasonTomczak on Jun 16, 2008
I was looking to do exactly this and wasn’t sure if those Passports could be pried open. Thanks for the pics!
Did you place another hd back into the case successfully? I plan to put my MBs 160gb back in, I just hope I don’t break anything…
By Luke on Jul 28, 2008
Hey Luke - I was able to pop my MBP’s 160GB drive into the WD enclosure. Once the enclosure is actually opened, it loosens up a little bit, so dropping a replacement drive in there is pretty simple. If you decide to extract the 320GB drive from the WD enclosure, just be sure to take your time - don’t rush things. It’ll also help if the drive enclosure is a little warm (sit on it or put it under your armpit for a bit) as warm-ish plastic is much less brittle than cold plastic.
Good luck! =)
By JasonTomczak on Jul 29, 2008
HELP! Please!
I can’t get the original Macbook Pro 160 GB hard drive to be recognized (power on!) when I try to use it with the Elite’s SATA adapter!
There are no jumpers to remove or move, to address the possible need for the “low power” option (as the original 320 GB hard drive does).
Anyone know how to get it work? Did I miss something? All the connections are tight and when I plug the USB connector into the powered USB hub, the lights on the SATA adapter flash on and then go off. When I unplug the drive’s cable (either from the back of the adapter or from the USB hub) it seems to power down.
By Robert in SF on Aug 2, 2008
hey jason.
was the speed comparison relative to the original hard drive or the 7200 hard drive you put in?
By rex on Aug 5, 2008
Rex - good question. The final mention of boot times being 3-4 seconds slower, etc. (prefixed by “caveat”) is a comparison to the 7200 RPM drive, not the original 160GB 5400RPM drive.
By JasonTomczak on Aug 5, 2008
WOW u have been a real help!
thank you very much please do more! hahaha
By Troy on Aug 8, 2008
Bought the Samsung 320GB because it was way cheapier. 110$ with taxes & shipping, instead of the 147$ with taxes & warehouse pickup at Costco.
Bonus: no enclosure to pop open!
Alright.. what to do with the 120 GB then? Upgrade the the 60GB macbook. And then? Oh well… why bother with 60GB these days.
By orfgei on Aug 26, 2008