Not only are hard drives getting faster and bigger, it looks like they're getting cheaper too. Verbatim is sending word that it's readying of a new 2.5-inch SmartDisk portable HDD for later this year, which will boast 500 GB worth of memory.

Verbatim's new offering will carry all the standard features of the SmartDisk line, including a 5400rpm spindle speed, and 8MB of cache memory. Verbatim will offer the new drive with either a USB, or a combo FireWire/USB interface.

Perhaps most interesting regarding this half-terabyte drive, however, is its price tag. Verbatim plans to its USB-only kit on retail for around US$ 300. It'll still burn a hole on your wallet, but it's considerably more affordable than some of the similar high-cap HDDs currently out in the market. Expect Verbatim's new SmartDisk to arrive in the second quarter of 2008.