Western Digital has today announced their latest portable hard drive solution in the form of the elegant ‘My Passport Elite’ range with capacities of up to 500GB. The drives run on USB bus power, weigh less than 7 ounces and sport a capacity gauge that informs you, at-a-glance, of all remaining storage space.

The slim HDD drives feature a soft-touch finish to make them easy to grip, automatic backup software, remote access software (windows only) and data encryption. They are designed to be durable and represent a huge jump in portable hard drive capacities enabling you to carry up to half a terabyte of data in your pocket (albeit, a pretty large one).

The My Passport Elite drives are available now through WD’s store and are priced at a reasonable $150 to $220 depending on the model. You can choose from 250GB, 320GB, 400GB and 500GB capacities in either titanium, bronze, westminster blue (my favorite) or cherry red.

UPDATE: The 500GB My Passport Elite drive is now available at Amazon.com, with the titanium version going for $132.95 and the bronze model priced at $119.99.

Sources:
WD Press Release via PCLaunches