Western Digital have just added a couple of 500 GB portable HDDs to their Passport range. The My Passport Elite and My Passport Essential lines have had the new drives added and come with the following bells and whistles

My Passport Elite

* WD Sync™ synchronization and encryption software
* Connect to any PC and run MioNet® Key software to remotely access files
* Plug and Play

Both Models

* USB Powered
* Includes Google™ software to search your drive and manage your photos
* Speaks nicely to Windows 2000/XP/Vista and Mac OS X 10.4.10+, 10.5.2+ (not Essential)
* USB 2.0 connectivity at 480 Mbits/sec
* 15.0 x 125.15 x 79.5 mm
* 180 g

With the Elite rocking in at US$220 and the Essential US$200, these are nicely priced external drives and they both come in a good range of colours. The 500 GB capacity is a step up from the 400 GB maximum previously offered.

Featured tags: my passport my passport elite my passport essential passport portable HDD western digital

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Buffalo were the first to the 320 GB portable HDD mark, but Verbatim have just announced the release of the world’s first 500 GB portable 2.5 inch HDD. The new drive will be available in Q2 2008 and will be an addition to their SmartDisk portable HDD range. The price tag will be under US$300 - nice! Other bits and pieces on this little puppy include

* Perpendicular Magnetic Recording (PMR) technology
* spin speed of 5400 RPM
* powered by USB
* 85.9 x 137 x 16 mm
* 170.1 g
* USB and FireWire 400 connectivity
* 480 MBps via USB 2.0 and 400MBps via FireWire

Buffalo’s 320 GB offering was priced at US$230, so US$300 for Verbatim’s 500 GB version seems pretty good when the Buffalo only came out last November. Nice to see the prices dropping on storage, especially sexy looking storage too. So if you want to carry your zeroes and ones around with one you should probably check out the Verbatim SmartDisk.

Source: Press release

Featured tags: 2.5 inch HDD 500 GB HDD portable HDD smartdisk verbatim

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