Low-power WD My PassPort AV Drive, New Best Friend of Sony Handycams

Western Digital's My PassPort AV is a tweaked version of their portable storage line specially designed to work with a selected few camcorders, LCD TVs and other CE devices, including XBox 360 and PS3. The USB hard drive enclosed is one of Western Digital's lower power model, packing about 50% more space than most drives while still able to function on USB bus power. The 320GB drive is encased in the standard Passport enclosure that dissipates heat efficiently, which has been tested over and over by WD on all their many previous versions. This is an important feature for any device that will spend extended periods in a bag or next to warm theater components.

Additionally, about a dozen of camcorder models now support the option to connect directly to USB drives to transfer video to. Many Blu-ray players also are able to play digital media from connected devices. However, only Sony's HandyCam camcorders released in 2010 and players are specifically mentioned on their site as compatible, but others should follow. The price is set at $109 and is available from their online store right now. The box also includes a proprietary adapter cable to connect the My Passport AV to the said Sony camcorders. Due to the power requirements of larger drives, there may not be many other models released with additional capacity.