That sound you hear is Western Digital grabbing hold of an udder and not letting go as it continues to milk the My Book brand for every penny it's worth. Today, the outfit is introducing a new line of dual-drive units that come ready to mirror whatever information you shove on 'em. The RAID-based Mirror Edition drives tout USB 2.0 connectivity, RAID 1/0 support, a fanless design, user serviceable enclosure, a capacity gauge and intelligent drive management features including automatic power-up and Safe Shutdown. The external HDDs arrive in RAID 1 (mirrored) mode -- which creates automatic duplicates of your files in case one drive fails -- but RAID 0 (striped) can be configured during setup. Stack your My Book collection even higher right now for $289.99 (1TB) / $549.99 (2TB).

LaCie introduced the Little Big Disk Quadra back in January, but the diminutive four-interface dual-drive enclosure is getting a new 1TB sibling today. Nothing new here apart from the capacity bump, but if you're into the aluminum RAID 0 scene, $700 is all you need to ride.

Iomega's getting quite fed up with listing those GBs, and thus, it's exceptionally thrilled to be offering up a brand new 1TB model for your consideration. Fittingly christened the Super eGo, the external hard drive you see above packs a single one-terabyte HDD, USB 2.0 port and a one-year warranty. Folks who don't care to wait for a 2TB edition can grab one now in ruby red, midnight blue or jet black for $269.95.

Great, just great. Soon after Western Digital made a fool of itself by introducing an external hard drive "certified" for use with DISH Network HD DVRs, along comes Seagate to further fuel the hype machine. Announced at this year's Cable Show (after being mentioned at CES), the Showcase storage solution is "designed" to extend storage capacity of DVRs and media centers. In a similar vein, the outfit's newest drives are "compatible with Motorola's s-SATA-capable HD DVRs," and they also come with USB 2.0 ports and up to 1TB of space. No word on a price or any of that jazz, but those who can't figure out that an external hard drive is an external hard drive can look for 'em to land in Q3.

From what we can tell, this is just marketing hoopla to get you to buy a drive "certified" for use in a particular application; in all actuality, users can connect any USB 2.0 external hard drive to their DISH Network HD DVR and expand their storage capacity for a one-time fee. Nevertheless, Western Digital has just let loose its 500GB My DVR Expander, which "more than doubles" your available recording hours by storing up to 300 hours of SD content and 60 hours of high-def goodness. As predicted, the drives work with the satcaster's ViP family of HD DVRs, and WD is apparently looking to expand the brand to other carriers as soon as they get with the program and enable USB storage. Those willing to fall for this ploy can procure the half-terabyte drive for $149.99, but considering that the port activation fee is still charged, we can't imagine looking elsewhere first.

[Via FarEastGizmos]

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.

Just because Maxell left the disc manufacturing to other rivals doesn't mean that it's bowing out of the external HDD market. Announced this week, the firm has introduced its all new iVDR, which "connects directly through a bi-directional USB or eSATA adapter to a shoulder-mounted camcorder capable of delivering 10-bit, 4:2:2 master-quality video and native full HD video." In layman's terms, this here drive caters to those logging clips in the rough, and its innate ability to resist drops of up to 4-feet makes it the ideal candidate for even the clumsiest shooter. Unfortunately, mum's the word on price, but we are told that a 160GB version (with a 540Mbps transfer rate) is set to land in Q2, while a slightly more capacious 250GB edition is hitting shelves in Q3.

[Via BIOS, thanks Christian]

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]

Confused by all the various permutations of Western Digital's My Book line of external drives yet? No? Well, go ahead and add the My Book Studio Edition II to your stack of flashcards, Mr. Smart Face. Just like the previous 2TB My Book products, you're getting two RAID 0 drives in a quad-interface external case, only this time it's the updated My Book Studio design. WD's also gone and upgraded the drives themselves to GreenPower units, which run cooler and use less power, and Mac users will be pleased to know that everything comes HFS+ formatted. Got that? Expect a quiz in the near future. Available now, we're told, at $349 for 1TB and $599 for 2TB.

LaCie's been known to launch a few products under the cover of darkness before, and sure enough, it's decided to do just that with a trifecta of new externals. Starting from the top, we've got the 1TB Desktop Hard Disk, which sports a USB 2.0 port (only) and an exceedingly simplistic black design. Next up is the more compact 250GB - 500GB Desktop Hard Disk, which sports the same name (and sole USB socket) but a much less bulky chassis. Lastly, the Mobile Disk comes in 80GB, 120GB, 160GB, 250GB and 320GB sizes, fits in most cargo pockets and gets all the juice it needs from your machine's USB port. Word on the street has both the Desktop and Mobile drives starting at around €80 ($123), and if you look hard enough, you can actually grab these right now.

Read - LaCie 1TB Desktop Hard Disk [Via Gizmos]
Read - LaCie 250GB - 500GB Desktop Hard Disk
Read - LaCie Mobile Hard Disk [Via Gizmos]

Although Buffalo managed to squeeze one whole terabyte of storage into its new LinkStation Mini, the firm is looking to give the bytes within its latest external drive a bit more breathing room. The 500GB MiniStation TurboUSB is a touch more capacious than the previous 320GB king, and as with other TurboUSB devices, it supposedly offers up "30-percent faster transfer rates than most USB hard drives." Additionally, the firm throws in its own Shock Resistant technology along with its SecureLockWare in order to prevent "unauthorized access in the event the drive is lost or stolen." Heck, you'll even find Memeo's AutoBackup right in the box, and as for the box itself, look for it to land later this month for a cool $329.

We'll be honest with you -- it can't get a whole lot easier than one-touch backup, but that hasn't stopped ClickFree from serving up an alternative that quite literally removes the whole "one-touch" requirement from backing up your data. Similar to other devices we've seen in the past, the HD700 arrives in a 4.52- x 0.67- x 2.99-inch enclosure and houses a 120GB 5400RPM SATA drive. Additionally, the unit is USB 2.0-compliant, requires no additional power source and immediately starts duping your data as soon as it's plugged in to your Windows-based computer. So, how do you put a price on simplicity? Ask ClickFree -- it's the one that tagged this piece with a $169 sticker.

[Via Coolest-Gadgets]

WD's Passport portable drive a bit too clunky for your tastes? We dig your style, and if you're always looking for something sleeker and sexier, the new My Passport Essential is likely to satisfy -- if only for a moment. Reportedly, these were tweaked to look more like the firm's popular My Book family, and each one weighs in at less than five ounces. Available now in 160GB, 250GB and 320GB flavors, these USB-powered drives cap out at $199.99 and (for now at least) only arrive in the glossy black finish you see above.

Apparently, this one's been on a few store shelves already, but LaCie didn't even bother trumpeting its release to the world. Fret not, as the LaCinema Premier can hide no longer. This USB 2.0 "multimedia hard drive" arrives in 500GB, 750GB and 1TB flavors, packs 7,200RPM hard drives within and outputs via composite / S-Video / component (rear shown after the break). Furthermore, it supports 1080i upscaling and provides S/PDIF optical and coaxial digital audio outputs, and just in case you're curious, it'll handle MPEG1/2/4, ISO, IFO, VOB, MP3, WMA, AC3, OGG, JPEG, BMP, TIF and PNG file formats. Yeah, it also touts that played out "one-touch backup" feature, but we know it's the bundled remote that really turns you on. Apparently, the trio starts at around £149.99 ($299) and tops out at £324.99 ($648) for the 1TB edition.

[Via Gizmos]