I am debating between those Western Digital portable drives that go up to 5tb that function with USB only (WD my passport) and the bigger ones (eg my book) that are bigger and need power outlet besides the USB connection.

Is there any difference in quality or durability to store media?

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[–] CmdrShepard49@sh.itjust.works 4 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

I havent seen inside a MyPassport but the MyBook is just a standard 3.5" SATA drive with a USB controller attached. For the smaller form factor, I'd imagine they're more integrated and not able to be shucked which means it could, in theory, be less reliable if the control board broke, but this is just speculation and the odds of that happening are probably pretty low.

[–] ui3bg4r@lemmy.org 2 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

That makes sense. And do you know between Mybook and Elements what is the primary difference? Besides the looks of the outer casing.

[–] CmdrShepard49@sh.itjust.works 1 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago)

There may have been a difference at one point before WD realized what people were commonly using these for, but I was previously using 5 shucked Elements and one MyBook (all 8TB) bought between 2018 and 2024 and they were all the same white label drives.