Here’s another NAS for you, this time from Western Digital. Their My Book Live Personal Cloud drive has three storage capacity options, ranging from 1TB thru 2TB up to a whopping 3TB. The My Book Live gets a few mixed reviews but most seem to indicate that the unit is pretty fast at data transfer but lacks a few bells and whistles of other similarly priced NAS such as a USB port for extra drives.

Western Digital My Book Live Features

* Centralize and share media on your home network
* View your photo collection with your iPhone
* Stream media to your entertainment center
* Automatic backup with WD SmartWare for Windows
* Compatible with Apple Time Machine
* Leading-edge performance
* Play your music on any computer in your home
* Secure remote access

System Requirements

* Windows XP (SP3), Windows Vista, Windows 7
* Mac OS X Leopard, Snow Leopard, or Lion
* DLNA/UPnP enabled devices
* Internet connection for remote access

Supported Browsers

* Internet Explorer 7.0 or higher
* Safari 4.0 or higher
* Firefox 3.6 or higher

Western Digital My Book Live Reviews

Amazon - 3 out of 5
CNet - 3.5 out of 5
NewEgg - 3 out of 5

Pros - Value for money, fast
Cons - No USB port for expansion, no standard NAS features

We’re normally quite keen on Western Digital gear, but the WD My Book Live Personal Cloud drive doesn’t quite do it for us. No USB port, standard NAS features? The Western Digital My Book Live gets a thumbs down from Our Picks.

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We must admit the title of this post is a bit of a mouthful but the subject is certainly not large and fortunately neither is its price tag. The My Passport Essential HDD from WD measures a slim 4.3 x 3.3 x 0.7 inches and weighs a meagre 7.2 ounces. Ideal for those of us who need to carry around a whole one TerraByte of data. And for the more fashion consious amongst the data transporters, the unit comes in four colors, black, silver, metallic blue and metallic red. Back on more technical themes, the My Passport Essential sports 3.0 USB connectivity for speedy data transfer, up to 3 times faster than good old 2.0 connectivity according to the marketing blurb. Here’s a fuller list of the bits and pieces on the My Passport

* Dual USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 compatibility
* Connectivity today; speed for tomorrow
* Up to 3x faster transfer rates with USB 3.0
* WD SmartWare™ software - Automatic, continuous backup
* Hardware encryption, password protection
* USB-powered
* Uses recycled material
* Compatibility - Windows® XP, Windows Vista®, Windows 7, Mac OS® X Leopard®, Snow Leopard™

The model scores 4 stars out of 5 on Amazon customer reviews with size, capacity and transfer speeds being positives and issues with the backup software as a negative. So if you’re after a small compact external HDD that will fit in your pocket but aren’t fussed about backup software, then the Western Digital My Passport Essential SE may just be what you are after.

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Western Digital have extended the capacity of their slim-line models in the Scorpio Blue range with the addition of a 750 GB 9.5mm hard drive. It also uses Western Digital’s ‘Advanced Format’ technology which increases

media format efficiencies, thus enabling larger drive capacities

It also sports WD’s exclusive WhisperDrive tech which

combines state-of-the-art seeking algorithms to yield one of the quietest 2.5-inch hard drives on the market. These algorithms also optimize the way a drive seeks for data, which significantly improves power consumption. So now silence (and longer battery life) is golden.

So more space, less noise, longer battery life and all in a slim-line HDD drive - just what the laptop fans are looking for. Here are the numbers to round out the details on the 750 GB Scorpio Blue

* Model: WD7500BPVT
* Rotational Speed 5,400 RPM
* Buffer Size 8 MB
* Read Seek Time 12.0 ms
* Transfer Rates Buffer To Host (Serial ATA) 3 Gb/s (Max)
* Capacity 750 GB
* Interface SATA 3 Gb/s
* 9.5 mm x 100.2 mm x 69.85 mm
* 0.15 kg
* Idle Mode 22 dBA (average)
* Seek Mode 25 dBA (average)

So the latest addition to Western Digital’s Scorpio Blue slimline internal HDD range sure looks like a winner especially as it’s available at Amazon for only $120. If you’re looking for a hard drive upgrade to your laptop you could do worse than check out this Scorpio Blue offering from Western Digital.

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Western Digital’s latest portable HDD, the My Passport AV, is squarely aimed at the media-on-the-go types. Apparently the spinning drive is

engineered for the audio/video market, so this drive stays cool even in a hot entertainment center, uses less power, and delivers optimized streaming for smooth video playback.

It hooks up to game consoles, a WD TV unit, even certain camcorders to enable you to view/record HD video at a touch. It’ll talk nicely with a whole raft of Sony camcorders, Blu-Ray players and PS3s whilst still being friends with Microsoft’s Xbox 360 plus a handful of HDTVs. Check out the full list at WD. Here are the other details on the My Passport AV

* stays cool even in a hot entertainment center
* uses less power to operate
* delivers optimized streaming for smooth video playback
* light-weight storage companion for your camcorder
* Play videos, music and photos on your TV
* 320 GB capacity
* USB 2.0 connectivity
* 16.0 x 126.0 x 80.0 mm
* 0.18 kg

The WD My Passport AV certainly looks like a handy addition to a media-fiends home entertainment gadget collection. The 320 GB capacity seems a bit on the small size but its matched with a pint-sized price tag of $110.

But wait there’s more, Amazon have the WD My Passport AV marked down to $80 at the moment if you’re real keen.

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Western Digital have a media player out there called the WD TV Live and is only $120 at Best Buy. The TV Live sits between your PC and HDTV and enables you to view various media from the internet on the HDTV whilst providing an ethernet connection to enable media on other PCs in your home to be viewed too. Western Digital’s TV Live simply hooks up to the PC via a USB 2.0 connection and provides a 1080p display. Other specifications as follows:

* Supports AAC, MP3 and JPEG. H.264/AVCHD formats
* Dolby Digital and DTS decoders
* High quality progressive-scan picture
* HDMI port
* Ethernet connection
* 1.6 x 4.9 x 3.9 inches
* 10.7 oz

And over at Best Buy it’s a mere $120. We must admit we can’t see why you wouldn’t just hook up your PC directly to the HDTV but that’s just us. If someone out there has a TV Live please let us know why we should have one too!

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Surfing around the internet we occasionally come across a great deal and if you’re up for a bit of portable disk space then the Western Digital My Passport Essential may be what you’re after. It comes in five capacities starting at 160 GB expanding up to 500 GBs worth of zeroes and ones. There’s a whole raft of colour options too, too numerous to mention here. However here are some hard stats on the Western Digital My Passport external hard drive

* Model WDME5000TN
* Hard Disk Size 160 GB to 500 GB
* 3 year warranty
* Plays nicely with Macs and PCs
* 2.5 inch form factor
* USB 2.0 connectivity
* Spinning at 5400 rpm
* 2 MB Buffer
* 3.1 x 5 x 0.6 inches
* 6.3 Ounces

The My Passport is powered via the USB coonection and there’s no install required, just plug it into a USB port and you’re away. Here’s a price breakdown by capacity courtesy of Amazon listing the chepest colour option for each capacity.

500 GB at $99.99 (Midnight Black)

400 GB at $94.49 (Midnight Black)

320 GB at $79.95 (Intense BLue)

250 GB at $69.95 (Midnight Black)

160 GB at 59.99 (Real Red)

For some reason Amazon don’t want you to buy the 160 GB version, but the rest of the range are nicely priced. So if you’re looking to make your zeroes and ones portable then click on your capacity choice in the table to check out the Western Digital My Passport at Amazon.

As usual if you already have one of these portable HDDs then let us know what you think.

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Disk space just seems to be getting cheaper these days, and whilst the Western Digital Caviar Green 1 TB HDD has been out a while, we couldn’t believe the price of US$85 on it at Amazon. If you’re looking to upgrade your HDD then the Caviar seems like a good option with it receiving 4.5 stars out of 5 in customer reviews which tended to promote it’s power efficiency and quietness but highlighted a possible (if negligible) performance loss. For your US$85 you get no cables or power adaptor but if this is to be a replacement unit you may well not require them. Here are some details and specs on the Caviar Green 1TB HDD

* WD has reduced power consumption by up to 40 percent compared to standard desktop drives
* GreenPower technology yields lower operating temperatures for increased reliability and low acoustics for ultra-quiet PCs and external drives
* 1 TB capacity
* 3.5 inch form factor
* 7200 rpm spin speed
* 32 MB Buffer size
* 5.8 x 4 x 1 inches
* 1.6 lbs

Whilst the 1 TB Caviar Green may not be the latest HDD unit on the street, this US$85 deal at Amazon has to be one of the sweetest HDD deals around. That is, of course, unless you know different ….

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