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Wednesday January 30, 2008
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Data is becoming lighter and lighter every day. By that, I mean it doesn't sit like a stone on a hard drive; increasing broadband speeds mean it can be sent quickly around the Internet, or saved to a DVD-ROM, or transferred quickly to a USB drive. Somewhere in the middle of all this are so-called portable hard drives that offer more capacity than a USB flash drive but still can fit into a shirt pocket.
New on the scene is WD My Passport Essential portable USB drives, which place a 320-Gbyte 2.5-inch standard hard drive inside a ruggedized case that fits in the palm of your hand. The drive weighs just five ounces and is priced at $199.99 from select retailers and WD's own Web site.
The drive also ships with some intriguing software features.
All data on the disk can be encrypted using 128-bit security. Interestingly, WD also apparently struck up a partnership with Google, for the drive includes the Google Desktop Search search tool, the Google Toolbar, and Picasa photo organizer software. It's perhaps a bit odd that Google's tools were promoted over WD's WD Sync backup software, which is just alluded to (and handles the encryption aspects). Note that while the drive supports both Macs as well as PCs, the WD Sync software is Windows-only.
The drive says it's bus-powered, but also ships with an external cable for underpowered USB 2.0 hubs. As we've warned before, bus-powered drives can suck, unless you take the right precautions.
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January 31, 2008 12:06 PM
I have the 160 Passport and its great. I also a 250GB and a 1TB desktop drive. WD makes great products. I wonder if I can hook up my passport to my Mogul?