Nothing too special about Tosh's latest USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive -- just a good lookin' 400GB unit that should slide into most average sized cargo pockets on the market today. The 6-ounce drive is available in "Electric Blue and Black" (pictured) as well as Carbon Grey, Hot Rod Red and Gecko Green, and while pricing has yet to be revealed, those looking to size it up can chew on these dimensions: 0.65- x 3.19- x 5.0-inches. Not too shabby, huh?

[Via Electronista]

Iomega went out of its way to make sure you really, really understood that this here external hard drive would go nicely with your MacBook Air, but we'd prefer to see it as something that could slip right into just about any traveler's briefcase. The anodized aluminum shell measures in at just 0.63-inches thick, weighs 7-ounces and packs a 320GB 2.5-inch hard drive within. Additionally, the unit comes formatted with Apple's HFS+ file system, features the company's own Drop Guard design to protect it from falls of up to 1.3-meters (and not a nanometer more), and gets all the juice it needs from a spare (or only, in the MBA's case) USB 2.0 port. It'll be available across the globe next month for $149.99.

[Via Engadget Spanish]

Nice going, WD! Just days after rolling out your 500GB laptop drive (and by "rolling out," we mean "shipping), you've already found the courage to add a few half-terabyte units to your My Passport lines. Starting today, consumers can snap up the My Passport Elite or My Passport Essential in a 500GB flavor, both of which still weigh in at under 7-ounces and are available now. Prices? Try $199.99 for the 500GB Essential, $219.99 for the 500GB Elite.

It's hard to say if we've ever laid eyes on a family of portable hard drives with less vigor and pizazz, but Memorex isn't kidding around when it calls these things "essential." Boasting nothing more than the bare necessities, the new line of TravelDrives arrives with 2.5-inch HDDs that pack 160GB, 250GB or 320GB of space. You'll find a USB 2.0 port and a flashing LED to keep you from dozing off, and there's even a few color options to choose from in case you're partial to Spring Blossom, Tropic Green, Caribbean Blue or Cool Silver. At least they start at just $89.99, right?

Although Western Digital seems to have the portable hard drive sector all wrapped up, LG's looking to snag a bit of that market share by introducing a new line of stylish alternatives. Each member of the XD1 family possesses a 2.5-inch HDD with a SATA II interface and a USB 2.0 port, and just in case black isn't your bag, you can expect a red wine colored version as well. For now, we'll have to live without a price or release date, but you can look forward to units arriving in 120GB, 160GB, 250GB and 320GB sizes sometime in the future.

Father Time isn't slowing things down anytime soon, so it's good to see that Fujitsu is doing its best to keep up. Merely two months after taking the HandyDrive to 400GB, the firm has introduced an all new, totally marvelous 500GB iteration. Featuring the "world's highest capacity 2.5-inch external hard disk drive (likely the MHZ2 BT)," this bus-powered unit hasn't changed a bit in design, but it will hold a half-terabyte of information (in case you missed it the first go 'round). Grab it later this month in Europe, the Middle East and Africa for €229 ($364).

[Via Pocket-lint]

It's not the biggest portable hard drive OWC has to offer, but if speed is your top concern, you can now get a still impressive 320GB model from the company, which will spin at an always-desirable 7,200 rpm without the need for a pesky AC adapter. As with OWC's other Mercury-on-The-Go drives, you can also get this one in your choice of FireWire 800/400 + USB 2.0 Triple, FireWire 400 + USB 2.0 Combo, USB 2.0 + eSATA, or plain old USB 2.0 versions, each of which include a handy carrying case and the requisite backup software (for both Mac and Windows), and will set you back $280, $260, $258, and $240, respectively.

Yeah, we've let you folks toss out suggestions for a similar question back when a 1TB internal HDD was nothing more than a pipe dream, but it's about time we gave this one an update, don't you agree? Hear Ian out:

"I was wondering which portable hard drive was good enough to stand up to the life of a student. Something that can take a few bumps and not be harmed. It doesn't have to be huge in capacity, but I need one larger than 80GB. I'd obviously like FireWire and USB 2.0 if possible, but I'm not trying to spend a fortune here either."

Had any particularly good / bad experiences with battle-tested portable HDDs? We want to hear 'em all, so don't be shy, alright? To get your question up in the lights, send us a note at ask at engadget dawt com -- just don't forget to include the secret password.

LaCie's bright orange Rugged Hard Disk hasn't changed much externally since it surfaced over two years ago, but what used to buy you 160GB will now land you a full half-terabyte with dough left over for several In-N-Out runs. The latest Rugged drive packs Hitachi's 500GB Travelstar 5K500 and still maintains the scratch-resistant aluminum shell and shock-resistant rubber bumper. As for ports, you'll find a USB 2.0-only edition or a more versatile iteration that includes USB 2.0, FireWire 400 and FireWire 800 sockets. Either flavor comes bundled with the company's Setup Assistant and backup software, and if you're tired of waiting for 1TB in your pocket, you can make do with this one for just $299.99 / $399.99 depending on your choice of interface(s).

OWC's Mercury On-The-Go family of pocket-lovin' hard drives has been around for quite some time, but the group is getting an all new leader courtesy of the recently announced 500GB edition. Packing a half-terabyte of space on a 5,400RPM, 8MB of cache drive, the unit even includes FireWire 800, FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 to ensure compatibility with pretty much whatever rig you're dealing with. You'll also find a copy of Prosoft DataBackup III for OS X and NovaStor NovaBackup for Windows bundled in, but you won't be getting any closer to this bus-powered unit than the photo above without laying down $359.99 to call one your own.

Face it: Western Digital's My Passport Essential family of portable hard drives was hamstrung from day one. After all, with just about every other external HDD from the company coming in any amount of colors, who exactly is going to be kosher with just black? Never fear, as WD's dutiful painting squad has stepped up and given prospective buyers 11 different hues to select from. Each drive comes in 120GB, 160GB, 250GB and 320GB capacities and gets all the juice it needs via USB 2.0, but choosing between candy apple red and banana yellow could really slow up the checkout process.

[Via I4U News]

Cute though it may be, Sarotech's Cutie Bio portable hard drive is downright serious about data protection. Not one to let a lingering stranger peek beneath its dazzling shell, this pocket-friendly drive touts a built-in fingerprint scanner to protect the owner from spying eyes should it become lost or stolen. Additionally, the drive is built to handle drops and shocks as the head parks itself in freefall, and the USB 2.0 connection ensures speedy transfers when in a rush. Inside, you'll find a 2.5-inch 100GB hard drive just hankering for piles upon piles of juicy information, and this uber-protective device will run you ₩150,000 ($162) whenever it lands in South Korea.

[Via AVing]

While Lexar does a fine job competing in the flash memory arena, it appears that the outfit is giving it a go in the solid state disc realm as well. According a marginally descriptive product page, Lexar is offering up an 8GB ExpressCard SSD, which should go nicely above that 120GB PCMCIA NAND drive as you attempt to cram more storage into peripheral slots than inside your laptop's casing. Moreover, the device features a peak data transfer rate of 250Mbps, and while it doesn't appear to be available for shipment just yet, it'll run you a penny under $200 when it formally launches.

[Thanks, Anthony P.]

When lugging around dozens of unlabeled flash cards just won't suffice, there's nothing better to have around than a memory card-lovin' portable hard drive. Joining quite a few others in this growing arena is the XS-Drive 2 Smart 2300, which rocks anywhere between 40GB to 160GB of internal hard drive space, a swank OLED display, two hours of battery life, USB 2.0 connectivity, and a "simplistic two button control scheme." Additionally, you'll find support for CF, MicroDrive, MSDuo, MSPro, SD, miniSD, microSD, SDHC, MMC, MMC, xD, and a host of lesser used flash card formats, and you can also utilize the built-in GUI to delete unwanted pictures before slapping it back in the digicam. Best of all, the XS-Drive 2 Smart 2300 is purportedly available right now, and considering the relatively low £99 ($197) asking price for the 60GB rendition, it doesn't look like a half bad option for consolidating.

[Via PhotographyBlog]

While Toshiba's certainly no stranger to hard drives, the company hasn't exactly been quick to jump on the crowded portable storage bandwagon. It now looks to be doing its best to make up for lost time, however, introducing a new line of external USB hard drives boasting capacities all the way up to 200GB -- apparently a first at the 2.5-inch form factor. Descriptively dubbed the Toshiba USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive, the drives also appear to be at least somewhat ruggedized, with a "special patent-pending" shock mount system and a "scratch-resistant" housing. Look for the drive to roll out in 100, 120, 160, and 200GB varieties this week, with 'em running $130, $150, $180, and $230, respectively.

[Via AP/Yahoo News]