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.

Featured tags: hdd internal hdd laptop hard drives western digital

Sphere this entry»

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.

Featured tags: hdd western digital

Sphere this entry»

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!

Featured tags: western digital

Sphere this entry»

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.

Featured tags: external hdd western digital

Sphere this entry»

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 ….

Featured tags: amazon hdd internal hdd western digital

Sphere this entry»

If you’re looking for a simple solution to network storage and backup then Western Digital may just have the answer with their My Book World Edition II Dual-Drive Network Storage unit. The unit comes in two capacity flavours, namely 2 and 4 TB, both of which are initially setup as mirrored RAID units to make your backup doubly safe. If you’re the gambling type or need the extra capacity, the My Book World Edition II can be unconfigured from this RAID setup to allow the full capacity to be available. Here are a few more details on the World Edition II

* backup software for scheduling automatic data backup
* act as a media server - with DLNA support for sharing music with their Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, wireless digital photo frames etc
* internet access to the drive via the MioNet remote access service and ethernet port
* talks nicely with both Mac and Windows PCs
* funky gauge to show when it’s full of zeroes and ones
* USB 2.0 port for extra capacity
* WD GreenPower Technology to suck less juice
* 166 x 160 x 99.00 mm
* 2.50 kg

Western Digital are offering the 2TB unit for US$400 and the larger 4TB version will set you back $700. Not bad for an all singing dancing networked external hard drive. We also managed to find the 4 TB big boy hanging out at Amazon for only $600.

We like the My Book World Edition II as you can probably tell - it seems to encompass all the file server requirements we can think of necessary for a home network. If you’ve invested in one of these suckers please let us know what you think.

Featured tags: external hdd network hdd western digital

Sphere this entry»

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

Sphere this entry»