Around the world, untold amounts of power are wasted each day by gadgets and electronic devices that are left running when they are not in use. Many countries are trying to legislate changes to laws to reduce this wasted energy. Samsung has announced that its STORY Station line of external HDDs is being updated to meet new European rules for lower power consumption at rest.

The line of Samsung external HDDs is getting a new circuit design that allows it to be turned off when the power supple is plugged in and the USB cable is not connected to the computer. This will allow Samsung to cut power needs from 2.5W of the current version to 0.09W with the new version of the drive.

Meet the DMR-XP200 and XE100, two new DVD and HDD recorders from Panasonic., Both have similar specs and look the same design-wise.

The Panasonic XE100 has a 320GB HDD and a digital TV tuner, while the Panasonic XP200 features a 500GB HDD, a digital and analog TV tuner, and a BS/110 CD digital tuner. The XP200 can also record 1Seg TV programs and save recorded video on an SD card.

I love my DVR and out of all the tech in my home, my DVR and my computer are the two devices that I just can’t live without. What I always want in my DVR is more storage; the measly 20GB that DirecTV gives me just doesn’t cut it.

Hitachi announced two new hard drives today that are aimed at use in DVRs and HTPC computers. The drives are the 1TB CinemaStar 7K1000.C and the 1TB CinemaStar 5K1000 CoolSpin. Both of the drives are optimized for streaming video.

No matter what sort of crap you fill your hard drive with from porn, to digital photos, or music we always seem to need more space. At one point people thought they would never need more than a few megabytes of storage space. Today we know those people were loons.

Hitachi has announced the industry’s first 2TB hard drive that spins at 7200 rpm. The drive is the Deskstar 7K2000 and uses five platters to reach its capacity. Hitachi has platters that are 500GB each so why exactly it takes five is unknown.

Samsung is most associated with consumer electronic devices like HDTVs, Blu-ray players and computers. The company also makes a line of storage products like hard drives that it may not be as well known for.

Samsung has announced its latest hard drive line that features new 500GB per platter technology allowing capacities of 1TB with only two platters. Competing drives with 333GB platters need three platters to reach the same capacity. The new drives are called the Spinpoint F3 line.

Years ago, you could find some Windows PCs that had FireWire ports and if you really want a FireWire port today you can probably still find some PCI cards that will add them. For the most part the FireWire port is something that you find on Mac computers today.

Verbatim has announced a new external hard drive line called the SureFire series that sports both FireWire 800 and USB 2.0 connectivity. The drive is compatible with Mac and Windows PCs. When used with a USB port no external power adapter is needed.

Looks like Toshiba is serious about the HDD and DVD recorder market in Japan. They’ve just released the 1TB Regza RD-E1004K and the 320GB Regza RD-304K.

Both HDD and DVD recorders can record HD video in Blu-ray format or in a standard format (MPEG-4 AVC/H.264). The 1TB RD-E1004K retails for 65,000 Yen (or $677). No word on pricing for the 320GB model.

Check out I-O Data’s latest 3TB external USB 2.0 HDD that looks like a NAS with a dedicated passive cooling system (fanless). It’s not the sexiest thing we’ve ever seen, but it’s pretty attractive.

The HDC2-U series sports two HDDs on the inside along with all of it’s hopes and dreams about a long working relationship with you. The HDC2-U will be available in Japan in the middle of July for about 50,900 Yen or $527.

I am still not ready to start looking at upgrading any of my notebook or desktop computer to SSDs. At this point, the SSD is still too expensive for the slight benefit a consumer will get from the SSD upgrade. I will hold out until prices drop significantly for SSDs and capacities are more in line with what you can get on a traditional HDD.

Those who want to upgrade to an SSD for their notebook or desktop now can get new SSDs and upgrade kits from Imation. The company has announced that it is shipping its S-class and M-class SSDs along with all-in-one upgrade kits.

Samsung announced the STORY Station external hard drive, which includes a few interesting features. The storage device uses a 3.5-inch HDD for backing up your information. It will be available in only Korea first. Some features include a USB 2.0 interface and Auto Backup, SafetyKey and SecretZone functions will give you an optimum level of security for your data.

There’s also a power-saving mode so you aren’t an energy hog. The hard drive is encased in a brushed aluminum exterior. The STORY Station from Samsung will be released in Europe sometime in May in 500GB, 1TB and 1.5TB flavors. The device will appear in other areas as well, though we don’t have release dates yet or even pricing.

Some of Brando’s gadgets are pointless, while others are useful. This would be one of the useful gadgets. A SATA HDD Dock with One Touch Backup. This device allows you to plug in any 2.5″ or 3.5″ SATA hard drives to your PC via USB or eSATA.

With the one touch backup function you can easily copy files and data from your PC to an external HDD. The device supports Windows 2000, XP, Vista as well as Mac OS. It will only cost you $49.

Brando is known for its whacky USB gadgets, so it isn’t much of a surprise to see them offering this combination SATA HDD dock / stereo speaker / USB hub. While it won’t tell you the temperature at your desk, it’s sure to come in handy.

Some features include compatibility with 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch SATA hard disks, two USB 2.0 ports, USB audio, three watt stereo speakers, and volume control. If you are a fan of Brando’s gadget combo creativity, it will only cost you $59.

There are a myriad of uses for external hard drives from transporting data to and from the office or home to backing up important data on your computer. One thing that most of the external hard drives have in common is that they are not rugged enough to be taken on the go without risking damage.

Freecom has a new drive called the ToughDrive Sport that it claims to be the toughest external hard drive yet. The drive can withstand drops of up to two meters in height and is protected against adverse weather like rain. The drive is meant to be carried on the go and has a loop in one corner.

Buffalo has released a new external 2.5 HDD It’s available in Ruby Red, Crystal Black, and Pearl White. The Buffalo HD-PEU2-RD 2.5 Inch external hard disk drive comes with a capacity ranging from 250GB to 500GB.

It was specially designed for women with its sleek design and colors, though presumably a man can use it too without being laughed at and branded a sissy. The Buffalo HD-PEU2-RD external HDD is compatible with both PC and Mac. It’s just like all the others, but in a nicer body.

For many iPod owners the only reason to upgrade to a new device is when you start running out of storage space. Rather than delete video or other content form the device, many simply upgrade. The problem is that you may not be able to upgrade to an iPod with more storage if you are already using one of the highest capacity devices.

A company called Rapid Repair is offering an upgrade for the 5G iPod video from the 120GB HDD to a 240GB Toshiba hard drive. The Toshiba drive offers enough space for 300 hours of video or 60,000 songs. That is a lot of content.