Western Digital My Passport and My Book for Macs

Western Digital today introduced its new, smaller, sleeker My Book Essential and My Book for Mac desktop external hard drives equipped with the new WD SmartWare software and hardware-based encryption. The new appliances visually present consumers’ data in a software control center, providing them peace of mind that their precious photos, videos and files are securely protected. Available now at select retailers, the new My Book Essential and My Book for Mac drives are offered in capacities ranging from 500 GB to 2 TB.

When the My Book Essential drive is plugged in for the first time, the simple and intuitive first backup process launches automatically. The real-time visual interface of WD SmartWare software gives users a reassuring view of their backup as it happens. After the first backup, users’ files are backed up automatically every time they change or add a file.

My Book Essential and My Book for Mac drives also feature user-selected password protection combined with military-grade 256-bit hardware encryption, which scrambles files before they are stored. Typically found only on much more expensive drive systems, the encryption acts as a virtual padlock to keep users’ data safe.

“Keeping an extra copy of your digital life used to be a painstaking, manual task undertaken only by the most expert and diligent of users. WD’s new My Book Essential and My Book for Mac external hard drives, powered by WD SmartWare, have finally made it easy enough so that anyone can do it,” said Dale Pistilli, vice president of marketing for WD’s branded products group. “WD’s new drives combine massive storage capacity, visual backup, and hardware encryption, so consumers can now actually see their digital life, safe in one place.”

WD SmartWare software works on Windows PCs and Mac computers. WD My Book Essential hard drives are designed for Windows-based PCs while WD My Book for Mac drives are formatted for Mac computers and are compatible with Apple TimeMachine, Apple’s integrated backup solution.

Availability and Pricing

The new My Book Essential drives are offered in capacities of 500 GB, 1 TB, 1.5 TB and 2 TB. My Book Essential drives are available now at select retailers and MSRP will be:

WDBAAF5000EBK-SESN P 4,900
WDBAAG0010HCH-SESN P 6,900
WDBAAF7500EBK-SESN P5,500
WDBAAG0020HCH-SESN P 13,900
WDBAAF0010EBK-SESN P 6,900
WDBAAF0015EBK-SESN P 8,500
WDBAAF0020EBK-SESN P 13,900

WD SmartWare software features:

– Visual backup displays that show content in categories and shows the progress of backup

– Automatic, continuous data backup will instantly make a second copy whenever you add or change a file

– Retrieve valuable data to its original location whether it’s lost data or the file has been overwritten

– Customizable data backup that allows user to set drive security, run diagnostics, manage the power settings, and more from the WD SmartWare control center.

My Book Essential

The new WD My Book Essential and My Book for Mac drives with WD SmartWare software feature:

– Smaller, sleeker, more streamlined design and elegant book-like shape that takes up minimal space

– 256-bit hardware encryption and password protection for peace of mind knowing that data is protected from unauthorized access;

– Illuminated capacity gauge lets user see at a glance how much space is available on the drive;

– USB 2.0 interface – for convenience and compatibility among multiple computers;

– WD GreenPower Technologyâ„¢ lowers internal drive power consumption by up to 30 percent, a sleep mode reduces power during idle times, and a power-saving feature turns the drive on and off with your computer;

– Planet-friendly packaging derived from recycled materials to minimize waste;

– Ready to plug-and-play with Windows PCs

– 3-year limited warranty.

The My Book for Mac drives are plug-and-play ready for Mac computer users and compatible with Apple TimeMachine.