I’ve been using WD drives all my life and refuse to use any other brand. I want to mention something that I’m sure many of your customers are feeling in that the New My Passport is probably the ugliest design we’ve ever seen on a hard drive. In contrast your previous design which was perfect.
I watched this video and was floored to see that your product development team actually thought this new design was “stylish”:
Please tell Sven Rathjen that him and his dev team got it all wrong. I doubt WD hired a firm performed a survey of what others thought of this new design. Look people are people - unfortunately we make decisions based on looks and functionality. The new style of the My Passports makes you want to fold it in half. Just looking at a picture of this new design makes it look larger than the previous My Passport. We’re buying these drives based on size as well. If a person decides not to buy the drive because it “looks” larger then a Seagate - then you lost the customer.
PLEASE scrap this new design. Everyone I’ve talked to has said the same thing - “My God this thing is ugly”
Stick with the previous design before it’s too late. Phase this new design out immediately. If you don’t believe what I’m saying then do this simple test:
Create an online poll and ask a simple question…
What do you think of the new design of the My Passport drive?
This should have been done prior to signing off on the production. Please take this post seriously. It’s bad enough that Costco is now only selling Seagate drives. They used to only sell WD. Do the poll and the next time WD “thinks” they have a better design - ask your customers first.
Well, I can’t just let the OP be the only voice here on this, so for the record, I do not find the new design ugly, but rather stylish. So there. To each his own. To the OP, be sure to buy enough of the old design drive to last you a while so you do not have to buy a Seagate drive or a new style WD drive.
I also can see in the video that the new style drive is smaller than the older one, because someone is holding it in his hand!
(Good grief; the things people complain about are endless.).
Thanks for passing on my feedback. The older WD Passport Ultra design was what I consider - design perfection. Proof, go look at the reviews on Amazon for the old Ultras. Let’s not forget that WD is a hard drive company with drive reliability being priority number one. Which in my opinion, they are. I don’t buy anything else.
What they tried to do with this new design is to add a new coat of paint on something and call it new. It’s just a shell for a hard drive. Unfortunately the many of people make their purchasing decisions based on looks. Of course on other things as well, but looks are usually high on their list. Take cars for example.
I’m only writing this due to all the people I talk to regarding the NEW drives. Their first words are “Is it two drives?” this is because of the line splitting the two halves. It looks larger than it actually is and as if you can fold it in half. It’s a bizarre design. The next thing I usually hear is that it’s ugly. Go Google “Western Digital My Passport Ugly” and you’ll see that I’m not the only one who feels this way. Christ even cNet mentions it.
Without a doubt I’ll continue to buy only WD drives and only the Ultras. I just don’t want WD to lose customers due to a poor decision on what’s being called a new “Global Design”. That’s just dumb. What WD should have done is to ask it’s customers instead of letting some design firm make that decision. They should have continued with the same design. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.
Last word of advice is re-negotiate with Costco to start selling WD drives again. All they sell now are Seagate drives. Millions of business owners shop Costco. Breaking that relationship was a horrible move on WD’s part. They already had their foot in the door, why back out of any deal with this giant reseller makes no sense.
I’m in Miami and I agree with you 100%! The new design is awful! The previous was clean sleek and professional looking! I can’t believe WD took a step backwards. An external drive has to be visibly displayed always and to think they didn’t spend time on a design that would be pleasing to the eyes. This new design looks wrong. I don’t like it at all! I think its the same drives: Passport, My Book, etc. Nothings changed, just the look. I’m buying the previous model because it looks nicer and its the same exact MyBook Drive.
This new design in far from attractive and odd looking compared to the older sleek versions. It does kind of remind me of a video game cartridge from the 80’s & 90’s. Or poorly done Art Deco, my apologies to those who like the way it looks.
I purchase WD drives for only one main reason: Reliability. They are very reliable and easy to use, My Passports are simply tough customers, they work hard and last a long time.
In my opinion, the best looking My Passport device I own is the My Passport Studio, the combination of black plastic top on the aluminium shell is a downright sexy look for a piece of hardware and the firewire daisy chain capability added serious flexibility for file storage and looks great stacked on my desk. The design is simple and attractive if a bit heavy.
If I need a new My Passport I will be taking the time to look around for one of the Classic case design instead of the new Artistic design. But, that is just my personal preference.
I don’t blame anyone at WD for deciding to give their External HDD Line a little facelift, looks are just important as quality when you are competing for customers. Unfortunately, for hard working designers everywhere, Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder.
Oh, I do own a Seagate 1.5TB Drive, I only use it for downloading stuff from things such as iTunes, I store all those things on WD Drives, the newest in my collection is a WD My Passport Ultra 4TB (old case style) which preforms to the high standards I have come to expect from WD.
I will add to the voices to the negative on this redesign. This is ugly.
The previous form factor was not broken, I have seen no complaints, and it did not need to be fixed. The money spent on the “designer” would have been better spent on either improving shock resistance, or lowering the end-user price.
My organization has been buying about 20 of these drives per year, for various purposes. I was tasked with replacing a handful of those drives before the end of this quarter. We will not be replacing the current WD Passports with these.
As an engineering firm, we value utilitarian design, and form over style. While I see a few folks who like the new design, there already exist niche markets for “cute” hard drives. A simple, black box as small as possible to hold the drive is what we valued in WD drives
I second the suggestion that you actually poll your users. I know that I never heard from you on the redesign, although I have been registered for years. Perhaps you would have made a different decision had you asked those of us who actually spend money on your products, rather than a design firm who has a vested interest in selling you an idea.
TL/DR: It wasn’t broke, you shouldn’t have “fixed” it; lost all of our business as a result.
I agree. I wouldn’t be seen dead with this dreadful looking device in my possession. Whoever thought of this shiny plastic monstrosity needs to be fired. I’ll go elsewhere for now till they get this issue sorted out.
I just googled this topic casually and was surprised that it popped up as the very first result. Based on the posts by customers on various forums it is obvious that the new design has not gone down well with the users even though WD actually spent significant time and money to incorporate the new design.
This design gives the notion of splitting the hard disk into two halves
1)Reduce the glare of status LED
In the dark while watching movies, the incessant blinking can be slightly annoying. Though it can be ignored by just obstructing it with some cloth.
2)Avoid pre-loaded software
Many people prefer to have their new hard disk completely blank without any preloaded stuff. It is kind of pleasing to start something from scratch. The applications and softwares should be optional and can be provided via downloads from the website.
3)Integral rubberized lining on edges to dampen the impact from accidental falls
A rubberized lining (or some other suitable material) on the edges can be incorporated in the body itself which can cushion the impact from accidental drops. External hard disks are quite prone to it and many customers end up with damaged hard disks because of mis-handling. The secondary benefit is that it can act as a grip and help in grasping the hard disk firmly.
I hope WD finds these feedbacks helpful and incorporate them in their upcoming models.
Hi @webauthor - We do read every comment on the WD Community and although our product teams do not reply directly, I can assure you that feedback left on this board does get seen. Another way to submit feedback is to be sure and fill out those surveys you get from us if you haven’t unsubscribed from WD emails.
I won’t comment on the aesthetic but I do want to add that I was just searching for a new My Passport drive on Amazon, and based on the pictures alone I was avoiding the drives that have this new design as I thought they must have been double the size. It took me a while to realize something must be off, and only after some googling did I find this thread which confirmed they were not larger. If I hadn’t found this, I probably would still be unsure (at the least). WD very nearly lost a sale from me.
When will we get a nice, clean design again? There are good deals on this design but then I imaging pulling that thing out of my bag and getting snarky comments about its appearance (because I would comment if I saw one).
The lower-left picture @shourya posted was really nice — single color with an accent. I’m also hoping for a thinner 4TB HDD.
Oh my God that image made me laugh so hard!! Hey if Western Digital won’t take their customers serious, then at least you have to laugh. That lego image is hilarious. Good job!
Come on WD, listen to your customers and bring back that perfect form factor. Implement the suggestions of your customers! Go read what your customers on this forum and others are demanding. Above all, step up to the plate and have someone from your marketing or management department reply to this thread. Tell is what your plans are. Should we wait for reason to sink in or buy another brand? Chime in and explain what’s going on. We won’t bite - Promise.
“Once you’ve accepted your flaws, no one can use them against you.”
― George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones
I own about 30(!) WD drives, but have held off on buying any new drives since the new design was released. I am at the point where I need to purchase 3 to 4 new drives. Unfortunately, I will be switchinh to another brand because WD drives in their current form are UGLY indeed.
