My Passport Edge hard drive complements Mac laptops

Macworld - The My Passport Edge for Mac is the newest member of Western Digitals portable hard drive family. Its not wildly different from previous My Passport models, but the Edge does have USB 3.0 connectivity, and has slimmed down to an ultra-thin 4.40 by 0.43 inch enclosure. The My Passport Edge also has many of the features weve come to expect from Western Digitals Mac-centric drives: pre-formatted using HFS+, Time Machine compatibility, WD Security, and WD Drive Utilities. It comes in a 500GB capacity and is backed by WDs three-year warranty.

The My Passport Edge is a nice little drive thats designed to compliment the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. Its incredibly easy to use right out of the box, and its aluminum enclosure is one of the smallest on the market. In fact, the drive is probably thinner than your wallet, allowing you to easily slide it in your pocket and take your files anywhere you need to go. Western Digitals Security and Drive Utilities application let you encrypt your data to keep it safe, register your drive, or perform diagnostics.

The only drawbacks to this drive are that it comes in only a 500GB capacity and is outfitted with only a USB 3.0 interface. While the drive is compatible with USB 2.0, many Mac users (especially those with older machines) desire more connectivity options and use FireWire or Thunderbolt when they want the faster transfer speeds. If youre looking for a comparable drive with more connectivity, you may want to look into Seagates Backup Plus () or Buffalos MiniStation Thunderbolt (). Both of these drives come with USB 3.0, plus they have the ability to connect via Thunderbolt. However, to connect through Thunderbolt with the Seagate drive, you will have to purchase Seagates Go-Flex Thunderbolt adaptor ($99), and the necessary Thunderbolt cable ($50) separately from the drive. The Buffalo drive has both connectors and comes with all of the necessary cables.

When put through our series of lab tests, the My Passport Edge for Mac posted middling scores comparable to the Seagate Backup Plus and a bit faster than the Buffalo MiniStation Thunderbolt. In the AJA System Test, the My Passport Edge posted a write time of 111.4 MBps and a read time of 112.7 MBps. To write/read a 10GB file, the drive recorded transfer speeds of 112.6 MBps and 116.6 MBps respectively. While writing a 10GB folder, the My Passport Edge scored 85.3 MBps, while it read the same folder at 82.2 MBps.

Bottom line

The My Passport Edge for Mac is a great drive for easily storing your files for on-the-go use. Its thin enough to stick in your pocket as youre walking out the door to work, and its aluminum enclosure provides a durable exterior so you know your files are safe. Its not the fastest drive on the market, but its fast enough for what its designed for. And since its formatted HFS+ and backwards compatible with USB 2.0, it will work right out of the box. However, if youre an Apple user whos seeking a drive with more connectivity options, you may care to look elsewhere.