Dave's Favorites: Carry Digital Images in a LaCie Data Bank

How small is small enough? If you want to carry up to 40GB of digital images, video, and other multimedia files in your pocket, I suggest that you turn your attention to LaCie's Data Bank.

What impresses me most about the Data Bank is the fact that this external hard drive is so unbelievably small: It measures about 4.4 inches wide by 2.5 inches deep and weighs less than 5 ounces. It comes in two capacities (20GB, which is only 0.5-inch thick, and 40GB, which is 0.629 inch) and two versions, a USB 2.0 model and a USB 2.0/FireWire model. (The USB 2.0 version is compatible with USB 1.1, although at much-reduced performance.) It requires no external power. Just plug it into the appropriate port on your PC and you're ready to copy files.

I've used the Data Bank to shuttle large collections of digital images between my computer and PCs on which I want to display or edit them--places like computer user group meeting halls, my friend's house, and even just the computer upstairs. I've found the Data Bank to be one of the smallest, lightest, and most elegantly designed external hard drives I've ever used. I found the 40GB, USB 2.0 version at PC World's Product Finder for under $300: