External hard drives are the logical way to supplement your laptop’s memory. It must be said, though, when you’re constantly on the road they only add to the clutter you are required to cart around. Western Digital’s new Scorpio Blue 9,5 mm 1 TB hard drive, specifically designed for mainstream laptops, solves all that.

Apart from giving your laptop a serious memory boost, it boasts advanced power management features and algorithms to optimise the way it seeks for data, thus significantly improving power consumption. The recording disc heads are parked off the disc surface during spin-up, spindown and when the drive is off – that means improved long-term reliability thanks to less head wear. Shock tolerance has been increased to 400 gs, protecting the drive mechanics and platter surfaces. Price: about R1 000. Contact distributor Drive Control Corporation on 011-201 8927 or visit www.drivecon.net