Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

We all have external portable hard drives. Most of us have several of them. Like rabbits, they seem to multiply over time. And they get larger--much larger. What was 250 GB the day before yesterday was 500 GB yesterday and a terabyte today. The more they hold, the more we stand to lose if they are dropped and the data is not backed up elsewhere. Sadly, the portable drives that carry around our prized possessions (photos, music, videos, data files, etc.) often go unprotected. (True, some portable hard drives come with cases of sorts--but, really, how good is their protection?) And consider how many portable drives we purchase that come with no case at all. Nothing to protect that which is protecting our valuable data. How can this be allowed? Apparently, the folks at Amazon have recognized this shortcoming and have offered us a solution in the AmazonBasics Hard Carrying Case for My Passport Essential. The case feels rugged enough and while it doesn't offer a great deal of padding, the webbing and elastic drive strap inside may help in the event of a few minors falls. The case has a stiff outer shell that may provide some additional protection. Most importantly, you have something to keep your portable drive housed in while it is not in use. Although they do vary a bit in size and shape, most modern portable drives seem close to being the same form factor. That led me to wonder why Amazon singled out the Passport Essential Drive for this case. Was it some cross advertising deal with Western Digital? Was it that they plan to offer an entire line of AmazonBasics Hard Carrying Cases each intended for a specific manufacture's model? So, in the interest of science, I conducted an experiment to see what other portable drives might fit in this case. I gathered my portable drives together and tried each one individually in the carrying case that I had received. Here are my results: * Maxtor 320 GB (very old drive) - Too large to fit * OWC Mercury 250 GB - Too large to fit (besides it comes with its own leather case) * Seagate Expansion 500 GB- Too long to fit * Seagate FreeAgent Go 640 GB - Too large to fit (besides it comes with its own case) * WD Elements Portable SE 320 GB - It fits, but it is a very tight squeeze * Toshiba 640 GB - Fits perfectly * WD My Passport 500 GB - Fits and actually is a bit small for the case * WD My Passort Essential 1 TB - Fits perfectly (as was expected) * WD My Passport Studio 500 GB - Too large to fit * Apple iPhone 3GS - Fits perfectly (it's not a hard drive, but I just had to give the iPhone a try) (* No drives were intentionally harmed during this testing.) Obviously, Amazon was right in making the case specific to one drive. One size fits all certainly isn't the case with portable drives. And having a case to protect my 1 TB My Passport Essential portable drive is really worthwhile. So go ahead. Pick one or more up for your own My Passport Essential portable drives. Your drive and your data will thank you.