Offered in capacities up to 2 TB, HP's new SimpleSave External Hard Drive spares users from installing backup software. The four gadgets in the line-up each come with software that runs right off the drive, stated Mark Ostendorf, HP's business development manager for PC accessories, in a meeting with Betanews at Pepcom's Digital Experience press event in New York City.

When you plug the drive into a PC's USB port, SimpleSave starts to back up your data automatically. Following the first back-up, the gizmo automatically checks for file changes each time the PC is idle for five minutes, also performing incremental backups.

"We recognize 320 different file types," Betanews was told. A 2 TB desktop drive is priced at $329.99, and a 1 TB desktop drive at $149.99. Two smaller portable drives -- a 500 GB model, priced at $149.00 and a 320 GB device, at $119.99 -- are part of the new family, too.

HP's new SimpleSave External Hard Drive is not to be confused with HP's SimpleSave Photo, a software package rolled out last year for scanning a PC for images and backing up the photos to DVD.

Other PC accessories shown by HP last night included the recently announced 8" Smart Wi-Fi Display -- a digital picture frame targeted at young adults -- plus a set of mice that are color-coordinated to match HP laptops with graphical covers.

"Up to now, digital picture frames have been something that you give to Mom and Dad to help them deal with digital pictures," said Ostendorf. But the Smart Display is for the people who've been giving Mom and Dad those other picture frames."

The picture frame's myriad features include, for example, Internet Radio access, a Yahoo Weather widget, and the ability to share photos through e-mail, phone, and social networks.

The products are part of a concerted push by Hewlett-Packard into more accessories for consumer PCs, said Ostendorf.