Western Digital's My Passport line of hard drives (formerly just "Passport") are portable external drives that plug into the USB (2.0) and now FireWire port of the computer and can be used with PCs or Macs. The enclosures are currently loaded with 2.5 inch drives and are served in three basic versions: Essential, Studio, and Elite.

The My Passport drives are handheld format drives (about 3 inches by 5 inches by half-an-inch high). They attach to the PC/Mac via a separate USB or FireWire cable and draw their power from the connection itself. An optional cable is listed as available for those computers that cannot fully power the drive from a single USB port.

As mentioned, three flavors of the drive are now offered:

- My Passport Studio drives ship with dual interfaces (USB and FireWire) and are pre-formatted for and targeted to Mac environments. The drives ship in Mac-gray and are offered in capacities of 160, 250, and 320 GB. They also include a visual capacity gauge that indicates drive free space whenever the drive is plugged in. They do not include Sync/Encryption, Backup, or Remote Access software (see below).

- My Passport Essential is the basic PC-targeted drive (only a USB interface), and ships in 11 colors and capacities of 120, 160, 250, and 320 GB. My Passport Essential includes automatic synchronization software allowing for the synchronization of files and E-mail between the drive and a desktop computer; support 128-bit encryption of data; and also includes Google software for drive/Web searching and photo management (sync, encryption, and Google software are Windows-only features). The Essential drives do not include a capacity gauge.

- My Passport Elite represent the top-of-the-line offerings; they ship in 4 colors and are offered in capacities of 250 and 320 GB. Like the Essentials, the Elite drives include only a USB port (no FireWire) and include synchronization, encryption, and Google software features (Windows only). The Elites additionally include automated backup software (data on the drives can be automatically backed up to the host computer when plugged in), remote access software from MioNet (Windows only), and the visual capacity gauge.

The My Passport drives are available now, with pricing ranging from about $99 (Essential, 160 GB) to $219.99 (Studio, 320 GB). Contact Western Digital for further information.

product submission by EITPlanet Staff

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