Often, when travelling, I feel obliged to take my MacBook Air simply to make sure I can back up files from the camera’s SD cards. This last weekend, for instance, I rattled off over 500 shots and the MacBook was the only viable backup medium. The iPad is a non-starter in terms of storage. The answer to this problem could be the new Western Digital My Passport drive with a built-in SD card slot.
The USB 3.0 drive is battery powered and creates its own wireless network allowing up to eight devices, including cameras, to connect and share the storage. The built-in SD card slot is used to transfer files to the drive and, if required, the drive can delete the card ready for further use.
Available in late September, the My Passport drive comes in 500GB, 1TB and 2TB sizes and will cost from $130 to $219. These are very competitive prices, even for standard portable drives, and the additional features of the new WD offering will make it a must-have for keen photographers. It means lighter travelling–just an iPad and a disk drive instead of lugging around a laptop.
