Have a need for portable data storage but are often getting thrown around and doused in water? Normally you wouldn’t want to drag along a hard drive for the ride. But, if you are that attached to your 1′s and 0′s, A-Data has a drive that may suit your needs. The SH93 shock resistant and waterproof portable hard drive is the drive to carry along when the road becomes less smooth and a tad more wet. It’s worth noting that this isn’t the hard drive to take deep see diving as anything past 1 meter is likely to have ill effects on the drive’s innards. Also, the water repelling features are only good for about 30 minutes, after which the innards will start a deadly bathing ritual that will surely end its life prematurely. Still, it is definitely more of an outside loving, go *almost* anywhere type of drive that should please the more active individuals out there.
Sizes will come in 250GB, 320GB, 500GB, and 640GB giving you ample storage for just about any needs. Hopefully you like red or yellow as those are your only color choices for now. Pricing is still a tad shifty with nothing set in stone quite yet. Though, for such robust and strong construction, expect to pay a small premium for the benefit. Credit card ready?
Geeky-Gadgets > TFTS
For those who need the top-o-the-line when it comes to storage sizes in small packages and also have an affinity for good ‘ol FireWire have a new hotness to lust over. Instead of maxing out on sub-1TB external hard drives, push past that barrier with OWC’s new 2.5″ 1TB hard drive. The best part is that it comes packing FireWire 800/400 which is a first for a drive of this size and capacity. If you want this miniature beast with FireWire you can expect to shell out a pretty hefty $359. Otherwise, if USB is plenty for your needs, the price falls to a bit more respectable and manageable $299. Is it worth it or are you comfortable waiting a bit longer in order to save some $$?
Geeky-Gadgets > The-Gadgeteer
Maybe the Personal Safe Flash drive doesn’t hold enough data for your liking. Do you need gigs upon gigs of secure storage? Where the Personal Safe flash drive falls short, the Padlock Encrypted Hard Drive excels. What truly makes this drive a secure powerhouse is that it is secured at the hardware level meaning that if a half-way intelligent thief rip the drive out of the case, your data will still be secured by either 128 or 256 bit encryption. Adding a further monkey wrench into any prying eyes can be easily accomplished by activating an admin password that can be set to override the original code!
Of course, what good is a portable hard drive if you have to carry a dozen different cables. Thankfully this miniature Fort Knox in a case is bus powered meaning all the juice and data transferring you can handle are taken care of by a solitary cable. Said cable retracts into the case for the ultimate low profile design when toting this thing around. Rounding out the list of notable features is the addition of shock proof mounts meaning that this drive is up to experiencing real life and isn’t just meant to sit on the desk and look pretty. Windows and OS X are both supported so it doesn’t matter which side of the fence you’re on, your data is good to go. As far as pricing goes, there are a few choices. If you want to dip your toe into the whole encrypted data scene, the 128 bit, 250 GB hard drive will set you back $100. Though if you’re extra paranoid and/or have a mountain of data, the 256 bit, 500GB hard drive runs $160 and may be more to your liking.
So what will it be, the Personal Safe Flash drive or the Padlock Encrypted Drive?
[Product Page]
Source: Wired, Macworld
