Portable 2TB drive from WD
These days, it’s not often you find a product launch to get excited about, but those clever chaps at Western Digital have just launched a portable 2TB hard drive in their popular My Passport range (see other Western Digital external hard drives already reviewed here). The new drive is effectively the first portable 2TB external hard drive on the market (in contrast with its desk-bound 2TB rivals it is USB powered so doesn’t need an external power source), has a speedy USB 3.0 connection (with backwards compatibility with USB 2.0) and comes equipped with WD’s own automated backup software and password protection with hardware encryption.
“Our goal in launching the next-generation of the popular My Passport drives is to encourage more consumers to protect their data before something happens,” said Jim Welsh, executive vice president and general manager of branded products at WD. “More than money, jewellery and other valuables, the item most missed if ever lost or stolen is ones computer – and everything on it – so our goal in launching the next-generation of the popular My Passport drives is to encourage more consumers to protect their data before something happens…it’s the perfect blend of monstrous capacity, reliability and user-friendly technology.”
Don’t be expecting any more “monstrous capacity” in this form any time soon though, as Dong Ngo at CNET notes:
“It’s predicted that 2TB is about the maximum capacity of 2.5-inch internal hard drives that use the current perpendicular magnetic recording technology. In order to further increase the storage space–a technique that involves shrinking the platter’s data bits and tightening the data tracks–a new recording method… is necessary.”
All in all though, this is an exciting new release from Western Digital. Be warned though that this portability inevitably comes at a premium – the My Passport 2TB model comes in at aprox. £200, roughly double what the 2TB My Book drive will cost you.
Tagged: 2tb, featured, my passport, wd, western digital
Got something to say? Click here to reply
