Verbatim has just come out with a 2.5″ half-terabyte hard drive. Big storage, small size. This is the first 500 gigabyte 2.5″ external hard drive with an industry standard 9.5mm Z-height drive. The drive can be used with Mac or Windows desktops or laptops and is the size of a PDA.

This is a great device for those who want to back-up or share their video, music or digital photos. The size makes it highly portable. When the new SmartDisk hits the market this quarter, it is expected to retail below $300.

The new drive weighs less than 6 ounces and has the very portable dimensions of 3.38 in. X 5.38 in. X 0.63 inches. Buyers who purchase the Combo FireWire/USB interface will be able to transfer files between a Mac and a PC.

The USB 2.0 version is capable of transfer speeds of up to 480MB per second. The FireWire version is capable of 400MB/sec. Both versions come with back-up software.

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