Western Digital My Passport Essential External 500GB Hard Drives Getting Limited Edition Designs

Were you waiting to get your new WD My Passport Essential external hard drive? Did you think that the standard black, silver, and white models were just way too boring to put on your desk? If that sounds about right, then you're in luck, because Western Digital is getting ready to launch a brand new series of the devices, with that coveted "limited edition" title tacked on for good measure.

As far as options go, you'll only get one when it comes to the storage department. Only the 500GB model seems ot be getting the aesthetic treatment. And how is any of this possible? Thanks to the students at the California State University, who are part of the Long Beach Industrial Design program. They've created some new designs, and Western Digital was nice enough to put them on their products. Choices wise, you're looking at either the Boom Box, Cityscape, Fuchsia Leaf, Wave, and Black Hole. All of which you can see pictured above.

Features come in all sorts of ways. The My Passport Essential will work with your PC, thanks to WD's SmartWare software. There's 256-bit hardware-based encryption and user-selected password protection. Each of the models will cost you a cool $119.99, and it comes with a two-year warranty.

[via UberGizmo]