Typically I like Western Digital drives and this is no exception. However when the package arrived, the packaging for the drive seemed a little odd, including that the seals were broken and the box was cellophane taped. Not serious per se, but the box labels indicated the drive was refurbished, and the Amazon write-up never mentioned refurbished drive only that the drive was an old model.

Drive appears to be factory set - thus no previously used or if used properly refurbished. The plastic casing appeared to have micro scratches and not the pristine factory new.

Although not a real problem, I have used and like refurbished electronics due to the cost savings, but failing to mention that it was refurbished certainly diminishes the integrity of the write-up.

I have been a long time WD customer. But after I put priceless memories (photos & videos) onto this hard drive and got rid of my old computer, this drive failed. I sent it to an authorized repair facility and they wanted $1300 to get my files off! WD policy states that they will replace the drive but you have to return the old one. However, in this case, I was asking to just hold onto the faulty one until which time I could afford to get the files off. Once you send in the old faulty drive, they keep it and my memories would be gone forever. After supplying WD with all the necessary documentation, they denied my request. I was then forced to buy a new external hard drive. Congrats Seagate - your Seagate Backup Plus Slim 2TB external hard drive is a product I should have bought the first time. Not only does it seem faster, it is super sleek looking and the user interface is light years better than WD. Goodbye from a long time customer WD, hello Seagate.

As of December 2016, the information has been corrected on this product. Thank you Amazon for for your diligence! At the time I bought this I was specifically looking for a Windows 10 compatible hard drive. Western Digital was advertising this very one as such. When I received it, it even had a Windows 10 sticker on the box. Because I trusted what WD claimed, I didn't even notice that right on the side of the box itself, it says "Compatibility + Windows 8, Windows 7 or Windows Vista".

It did work for a very short time (about a week). I'm guessing, to be fair, the next Win 10 update probably put it under the bus completely.
3 updates, 4 phone calls, and months of unsuccessful searches through WD support and various tech sites later, it now shows that it's offline (totally unrecognized).

Update: Tried it on windows 8...did not work at all. My only conclusion then, is that it is just defective, which is even worse since I can't even operate it long enough to remove my data.

WD 1TB Black My Passport Ultra Portable External Hard Drive - USB 3.0 - WDBGPU0010BBK-NESN

This is the first time I have ever used a portable (tiny) external hard drive. I currently use a Cavalry dual disk external drive in RAID configuration which is huge and not really portable.

This new WD drive is fantastic in that it is quite small, doesn't require external power, and it is quite good looking. It is amazing how they fit 1 TB drive in such a small package. One bonus is that when I replace my computer in future with one that has USB 3.0 interface, this drive can handle that. (It works fine with USB 2.0 also.) The device looked and felt solid.

The USB port that is on the drive seems to be proprietary, but it could be a standard port for USB 3.0. The cable that comes with the drive fits snugly and works well. The cable should be saved carefully - I don't have any other cable with that specialized connector.

The backup software resides on the hard disk of the drive. I didn't bother installing that software. I just want to use the drive as plain old storage drive. I connected the drive to a PC with Windows 7, the OS complained with "WD SES Device USB Device - No Driver Found", but showed the drive contents anyway. I could immediately use the drive without haveing to do anything.

Drive properties showed the following:
Used 565 MB
Free 930 GB
Capacity 931 GB

I have split the 1 TB drive into 3 partitions easily (using Win7's built-in tools). I copied a bunch of JPG files into one of the partitions. Everything went smoothly. I am yet to find any issues with the device.

I will update this review if I come across anything significant as I continue to use it.

Thank you for your consideration in reading my review in pursuit of your product research. I take leaving reviews seriously. I too read customer reviews to help me decide what purchases to make. I only leave my honest opinionated review for products as I see them. Time and comparisons may change my view of a specific product. Though my opinion may vary from yours on the same product, these views are of my own. If you find this review helpful, please let me know by selecting "YES" where asked below "Was this review helpful to you".

Unfortunately, this drive crapped out on me after only two months of using it. I have lost all my files, which were precious photos, music and work files recovered from friends after losing everything in a wildfire. It took me almost a year to get those files and this drive was my only copy. As soon as I tried uploading everything to the Cloud, the drive chose that exact moment to become a brick. It is extremely traumatic for me to be losing everything again.