Portable, external drives are more affordable than ever. We put 22 through our speed tests so you’ll know which ones really shine.

We tested all three versions of Western Digital’s 500GB external drive, the My Passport Essential, Elite, and Studio—and each had something going for it. First, these drives were the top USB performers in their category. If you don’t care about FireWire performance, these are the speediest USB hard drives.

We tested all three versions of Western Digital’s 500GB external drive, the My Passport Essential, Elite, and Studio--and each had something going for it. First, these drives were the top USB performers in their category. If you don’t care about FireWire performance, these are the speediest USB hard drives.

We tested all three versions of Western Digital’s 500GB external drive, the My Passport Essential, Elite, and Studio—and each had something going for it.

 

Toshiba is a well-known brand in the laptop hard-drive business, having been used in Macs for many years as stock drives shipped by Apple.

We tested three Seagate FreeAgent Go drives: a 500GB USB-only drive, a 500GB USB+FireWire, and a 320GB USB+FireWire. The drives with FireWire are from Seagate’s For Mac line, so they come preformatted for Macs

We tested three Seagate FreeAgent Go drives: a 500GB USB-only drive, a 500GB USB+FireWire, and a 320GB USB+FireWire. The drives with FireWire are from Seagate’s For Mac line, so they come preformatted for Macs

We tested three Seagate FreeAgent Go drives: a 500GB USB-only drive, a 500GB USB+FireWire, and a 320GB USB+FireWire. The drives with FireWire are from Seagate’s For Mac line, so they come preformatted for Macs.