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WD has extended its My Passport line of portable external hard drives once again — this time with the My Passport AV. The difference here is that the AV is meant specifically for video storage and playback. So how can a hard drive be optimized for video?

For one, it works with the Direct Copy feature in Sony’s new Handycam video recorders. That means Handycam owners can load and archive HD video to the My Passport AV without a computer.

Owners can also play back stored videos on Sony’s latest Blu-ray players or any WD TV media players just by connecting the My Passport AV to the USB drive. WD also says the drive will stay cool in a hot entertainment center and is designed to use less power.

The product page offers a full list of compatible devices. If that sounds worthwhile to you, the My Passport AV is available in one configuration, 320GB, for a list price of $109.99.

Western Digital’s My Passport Studio line has been spinning for years now, but today the outfit is pushing out a revamped version with a little something special. Boasting a FireWire 800 interface, a highly pocketable design and 256-bit hardware-based encryption, this here drive offers an “e-label smart display” on the front that actually remains on even when the drive is off and unplugged. Owners can tweak the text on the display as often as they like via WD‘s SmartWare software, and by utilizing e-paper technology, you’ll always be able to see what’s inside at a glance. Just so you’re aware, the company’s shipping this thing in 320GB, 500GB and 640GB flavors, but all three come pre-formatted for Mac use — thankfully your Windows 7 rig won’t have any issues wiping that slate clean and starting over once you hand over your $149.99 to $199.99.

WD’s My Passport Studio wears contents on its sleeve with always-on ‘e-label’ originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’ve got a notebook with an eSATA port, it’s time to put it to work. LaCie has expanded its Rugged family of external hard drives with the LaCie Rugged eSATA. Transfer huge files in no time with speeds up to 90MB per second. The drive is bus-powered when connected to a USB-eSATA combo port, also known as Power eSATA. It also works with standard eSATA ports with the included USB power-sharing cable.

The tough, orange, good-looking casing was designed by Neil Poulton, while the aluminum shell is scratch-resistant aluminum. Internal shock absorbers and a shock-resistant bumper protect you from drops and bumps. Besides the onboard storage, this external comes with 10GB of online storage with Wuala for one year. Pick one up and you’ll get 500GB of storage for $159.99.

Hey there, why so glum? You’ve overfilled your PS3’s internal storage with mission-critical data and don’t have anywhere else to stash your incoming Best of Miley Cyrus compilation? Fear not, Sony’s got you covered with a pair of officially licensed external HDDs built by Buffalo. They look remarkably similar to standard issue USB portable drives — so much so in fact that one of them is a rebadged unit that Buffalo already retails in the US — but let’s not nitpick here. The two drives on offer come with a generous 500GB of storage and their prices aren’t too bad with the rebadge setting you back around $130 while the more stylish HD-AV500U2 above will cost around $168. You could of course ignore Sony, buy any drive you like and jack it into your PS3; it’s just that these aren’t too terrible as far as unnecessarily licensed peripherals go. Both drives will be hitting Japan in March to coincide with the Torne DVR adapter release.

Sony licenses ‘official’ PS3 external HDDs, doesn’t fully comprehend concept of interoperability originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 05:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ll just come at you straight — the world needs a more varied selection of external hard drives. Aside from the occasional LaCie / Lego-inspired alternative, there’s really a stark lack of style when perusing the storage shelves at Best Buy. Sarotech’s been one to blaze its own trail before, but we’ve yet to see a serious update to the impossible-to-hate Wizplatz W-31… until today, of course. The Hardbox 3.0 is, for all intents and purposes, a refreshed version of the aforementioned unit, and this HDD enclosure sports a sleek, all-black exterior along with a full complement of updated hardware that supports USB 3.0. It’s apparently available with 1TB, 1.5TB, 2TB or 3TB within, though it sounds as if you’ll have to wait until at least February to find one available for shipping. It’ll be worth it, though.

Sarotech updates book-like Hardbox to version 3.0, embraces SuperSpeed USB originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 28 Jan 2010 07:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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