While it's not the cheapest 320GB drive out there (it's about average in price for its capacity), the Western Digital My Passport Elite's extra features allow it to stand out from the pack. Though you'll no doubt find the drive for less than $200, it's still a good value at that price. The drive is slim, full featured, and comes with a good mix of Windows backup and sync software. I recommend that you stow this drive in your laptop bag for transport, even if you use desktop PCs at both ends of your commute.

Portable hard drives are getting smaller and smaller in physical size, yet larger and larger in capacity — both properties are a very good thing. Western Digital's latest "My Passport Elite" is a simple faux-metallic plastic box, with a high gloss black edge. At one side is the USB 2.0 connector port, and next to it four white LEDs that rotate to designate that the drive is being accessed, and represent the amount of free space left when it is not.