A Small USB External Hard Drive
Western Digital has introduced a line of small USB external hard drives. It is the My Passport Elite which is available with a 320 GB or 250 GB capacity. There reviews have been generally positive:
link: My Passport Elite
link: WD Expands Its Portable Storage Family
With the wonderful help of Mike at Complete Computer Technologies (CCTech - USA), I have found that buying just the external housing gives me greater flexibility. I can select the size of the 2.5 hard drive that I need and buy the drive when it is on sale. Having the housing, I can use various hard drives interchangeably in that one enclosure.
The 2.5 hard drive enclosure are indeed small - and not overly expensive. They are easy to transport in terms of size and weight. One would fit into a shirt pocket, for example. The one drawback that some may find with the 2.5 hard drive enclosure system is that it requires two USB ports. The mechanism draws power from the USB port and does not require a power brick. At least that applies to the enclosure that I have. Therefore, there is a need to take this into consideration if the USB outlets are limited.
I have found that the USB enclosure does not draw too much power from a laptop battery. Of course, variables would be the quality and performance of the battery. I have found that constant use of the USB enclosure with my present laptop battery (which is in only ‘fair to good’ condition) decreases battery life about five minutes for each hour of power capacity. That, to me, is a small sacrifice.
I have found that my 2.5 USB enclosure is ideal for carrying data with me. It is a cost effective way of having huge data storage. Since Mike from Complete Computer Technologies has encouraged me to try this system, I have had very little use for the jump drives and SDHC flash cards that I had been using. This small USB enclosure provides far more tools for my immediate use. (Thanks, Mike!)
Catherine Forsythe
Director of Operations
FlyingHamster: http://flyinghamster.com/
Tags: western digital, usb, storage, 2.5 hard drive, complete computer technology, size, weight, cost, my passport elite
