WD adds 500GB capacity Passport portable drives

Western Digital on Monday introduced a 500GB capacity portable drive in its My Passport Elite and My Passport Essential lines. The small drives are small and light enough at seven ounces to be carried comfortably in users’ pockets and connect to computers via a USB 2.0 port. They feature built-in 128-bit encryption for security and are compatible with gaming consoles such as Sony’s PlayStation3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 for added flexibility in loading music or videos.

All My Passport Elite drives include software that will automatically back up users’ personal media and digital files. The range-topping My Passport range also has a capacity gauge that shows how much space is still available and MioNet Key software that allows users to retrieve forgotten files while away from home from MioNet-enabled Windows PCs that allow remote access and sharing. While not formatted for Macs, the My Passport drives can be made compatible with Macs running OS X 10.4.11 or newer.

The 500GB Elite model is available in silver, blue, brown or red, while the 500GB Essential models get more color choices, adding white, pink, yellow, green, orange, black, purple and light blue, though it is not available in silver.

Before Monday, the largest capacity offered in a My Passport drive was 400GB. The 500GB My Passport Elite is priced at $220, while the 500GB My Passport Essential costs $200.

WD My Passport Essential