As someone who can remember 8” floppy disks and giant magnetic tape reels, I should probably have got used to the ever shrinking size of storage by now, and yet I’m still constantly surprised by just quite how compact they can get things! The WD My Passport Elite is no exception, it brings a new dimension to high capacity external storage, 500mb in a shiny red & silver unit that’s just 11x8x1.5cm and incredibly lightweight - this certainly isn’t going to tax your luggage allowance on a flight!

The drive comes ready with 256-bit encryption & password protection, which can be enabled or left switched off as you choose. That should be enough of a deterrent to keep pretty much everyone from nosing around in your files.

The software install was a breeze; pure plug & play at its best, and the interface provided is one of the best I’ve seen for ease of use, with an excellent visual display of the space (used & available) and contents of your drive. Part of the interface provides a really simple backup and restore program, which I think anyone would be able to use without any help.

It’s possibly a little too simple in some respects though, as you are restricted to backing up what WD terms your ‘important files’, (pictures, music, movies, documents, other & mail) rather than being able to browse through your files and choose exactly what you want including. I certainly found that a little frustrating, although the restore function does allow you to drill down and select individual files, which was good.

That said drag & drop file copy works just as you’d expect, and was smooth and fast in both directions, so you can always do individual files in that manner. Also Windows backup found the drive no problem, allowing me to perform my regular scheduled backup through that.

I did particularly like the ability to maintain multiple versions of backed up files, something which I have discovered to be incredibly useful when I’m working on the website. No more ‘backtracking’ over work if it doesn’t quite go right, I can just rollback to prior versions. Even better the software allows you to choose how many versions to maintain.

The manual is available online, clearly linked via the interface software and seemed fairly comprehensive, although I didn’t actually need to read it in order to complete any of the tests on the drive.

The Elite comes supplied with both a USB docking cradle & a short length USB cable, making it perfect for connection to both desktops & laptops, and carrying with you anywhere. Just leave the cradle connected on your desk, and then slip the other cable in your bag along with the drive.

For comparison, I sat the Elite, in its cradle, on the desk next to my current WD My Book (which, it has to be said, has served me very well indeed), both are 500mb, fast, smooth, plug and play... but I know which one I’d rather take on holiday with me!

Overall, I’d give this an easy 9/10, for me the ‘important files’ backup isn’t quite detailed enough, but I know that for many it would be just perfect.

For more infomation see www.wdbrand.com. Available in red, blue or charcoal grey from Amazon for around £85 . And also from many other online & high street retailers.