WD, of the Western Digital family, has announced the new My Passport Pro, the first portable, Thunderbolt-powered dual-drive solution for you hard drive discerning folks. Designed For Mac systems, My Passport Pro has user-selectable RAID functionality, doesn't need power adapters or extra cables, and clocks in at up to an impressive 233 MB/s.
The My Passport Pro is available in 2 TB and 4 TB capacities. What makes it special is it is the only Thunderbolt dual-drive solution that is bus-powered. By combining dual storage drives on a portable, bus-powered device, the My Passport Pro from WD is a uniquely powerful mobile hard drive.
Directly powered via the integrated Thunderbolt cable — a design unique to WD —performance of My Passport Pro clocks in at speeds up to 233 MB/s, providing super-fast transfer, edit and backup capabilities. Another key feature of the dual-drive My Passport Pro is its user-selectable RAID function, which lets users choose data striping (RAID 0) for high performance or mirroring (RAID 1) for data redundancy, depending on the user’s needs. Superior to both FireWire 800 and USB 3.0, the integrated Thunderbolt technology of My Passport Pro makes video manipulation quick and easy—with the ability to copy a 22 GB high-definition video file in half the time typically required by a USB 3.0 drive working in RAID 0 format.
So how much does it cost? The 2 TB My Passport Pro is $299.99 and the 4 TB model is $429.99.
I currently employ both a My Passport and a LaCie d2, and the LaCie boasts what I thought was an impressive 180 MB/s transfer rate (though in my own speed tests it generally comes in at about 190MB/s so that's sweet). I am very curious to see how well the new WD drive performs, but if it comes anywhere close to what WD is claiming, I'll be very impressed.
![[Editorial] Hard Drives: What, When, and Where to Buy in a Marked Up Industry](https://cdn.fstoppers.com/styles/small-16-9/s3/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Hard-Drive-Internal1.jpg)
To see pics and specs check out http://www.wd.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=1240
In Germany they want 369 EUR. In EUR the US price equals to 217 EUR!!! If you order it in the US, you pay 19% taxes + 3% customs which equals to 268EUR. Put on top $40= 29EUR shipping you are at 297 EUR. I don't know why everybody thinks they have to rip us up in Germany.
It's the same here in the Czech republic (and whole EU). I would like to know the reason.
Seagate does the "backup fast" which is USB 3.0 and only raid 0. But it's a lot cheaper. Not bad for a 4tb live work drive... Just FYI.