New WD My Passport Essential Drives Sport Smaller, Smarter Design

Following the introduction of its new, 640GB, 2.5-inch hard drives for notebook systems, Lake Forest, California-based Western Digital has just announced the introduction of its new My Passport Essential and My Passport for Mac ultraportable, external hard drives. The solutions have been specifically designed to incorporate the company’s new WD SmartWare software and are equipped with a hardware-based encryption solution. According to the company, one of the world’s leading vendors of storage products, the new My Passport drives are 20 percent smaller than their previous models.

“The smaller and sleeker design of WD's redesigned My Passport drives, combined with the intuitive visual backup experience of WD SmartWare software, makes this drive a smart and secure, travel-friendly storage choice,” Dale Pistilli, vice president of marketing for WD's branded-product group, said. “These ultra-portable drives are a stylish and spacious storage solution for consumers to confidently backup, store and carry their entire digital lives.”

The company’s new WD SmartWare security solution has been designed to provide a number of features that give users peace of mind when backing up their data and storing digital files. They can see in real time the entire backup procedure, which happens automatically and can retrieve files to their original location in case of lost data.

The drives are available in capacities ranging from 320GB to 1TB and in a range of colors including Pacific Blue, Real Red, Cool Silver and Midnight Black. They are featured with a traditional USB 2.0 interface and a military-grade, 256-bit hardware encryption solution that scrambles files before they are stored.

Western Digitial’s My Passport Essential drives are available in capacities of 320GB, 500GB and 640GB, while the My Passport Essential SE are available in larger, 750GB and 1TB models. The My Passport for Mac external drives are available in 320GB and 500GB capacities. Price-wise, the My Passport Essential and My Passport for Mac are listed at between US$109.99 and US$249.99, depending on the model.