It's Here! The Holiday Buyer's Guide 2004

Mini-size Your 40 Gig

Mrs. Claus really likes the tiny Archos ARCDisk40, a small hard drive that will easily add 40 GB of storage to your computer. Designed for the portable user, it weighs less than 3.5 ounces, and measures less than 3 inches on each side.

Installation is simple: no drivers are needed, you just plug in the device and let Windows detect it. Since the drive draws power from the USB2 interface, no power supply is needed either, adding to the convenience.

The ARCDisk40 is available now on the Archos website for $249.95.

Store It, Play It; Anytime, Anywhere

By itself, an external USB2/Firewire drive is not too exciting, but when you combine it with a memory card reader, things get more interesting. The Western Digital Media Center 250 GB drive will give you more storage with some cool options.

The drive can accept both USB2 and Firewire connections, and even has extra USB2 connections so you can daisy chain other devices to it. The built-in memory card reader accepts all the major formats. The drive spins at 7200 RPM and has an eight MB buffer. The "safe" power button will shut down the drive only after all data has been written. To top it all off, there is even a Kensington security lock in the back.

The Media Center 250 GB drive is $299.99 and can be purchased directly on the Western Digital website .