If you have been using a smartphone, tablet or computer, you would have built up quite a digital collection of media files by now. Sooner or later you will find that you need additional space to house all your files — be it music, photos, videos or documents.
In the past, a small external hard disk would have been sufficient but as the quality of music, images and videos have increased tremendously over the years, this is no longer the case.
To store your high-quality photos and high-definition videos, you will need a sizeable hard disk and here we check out what Western Digital, one of the largest hard disk drive manufacturers in the world, has to offer.
On the go
If you are looking to take your digital content with you then you will need a portable hard disk that’s also durable. WD’s My Passport Slim fits this category, as it’s the company’s slimmest hard disk to date, measuring just 12.3mm thin.
This external hard disk works with the new USB 3.0 ports for transferring files up to three times faster than USB 2.0, which it also supports.
As it can be powered by the USB port, you won’t need a separate power supply for this drive.
According to the company, the drive is built to withstand minor shocks so that you don’t have to worry about carrying your data with you.
The Passport Slim comes in two sizes — 1TB (RM309) and 2TB (RM489).
Personal cloud
If you want your files to always stay within reach but don’t want to carry a hard disk with you then you will need a storage solution that can be accessed from anywhere.
WD’s My Cloud allows you to keep all your content safe at home and still access it via the Internet from a smartphone, tablet or computer.
You are essentially creating your own personal Cloud and the advantage of this is that you don’t have to pay a service fee to a third-party.
The device, which supports Windows and Mac, is available in three sizes — 2TB, 3TB and 4TB. Should you run out space in the future, you can connect another external drive to it to expand its storage capacity.
The price for My Cloud starts at RM499 for the 2TB model.
Dual drives
You can never be too careful with your personal data, as recovering information from a failed hard disk can be costly.
Users who want additional protection can check out My Cloud Mirror, the larger sibling to My Cloud, which uses double drives.
It essentially uses the extra drive to mirror all your content — in the event that one drive fails, your data is protected because it’s duplicated on the other drive. The individual hard disk drives are swappable if they need to be replaced or upgraded to larger sizes.
If you feel the redundacy is not important you can use both drives for maximum capacity and this will also speed up performance of the device.
Both My Cloud and My Cloud Mirror work with WD’s free My Cloud app for easily accessing your data from a computer, smartphone or tablet while on the go.
My Cloud Mirror is compatible with Windows and Mac, and prices start at RM1,099 for the 4TB model.
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