Verbatim's 2.5-inch SmartDisk portable USB and FireWire drives

Just because everything's getting all fancy pants this year at CES -- that is to say, wireless, wireless and wireless -- doesn't mean there isn't a place for the tried and true. Verbatim is sticking to the basics with its new line of SmartDisk portable hard drives. The drives are available now, and come in 120GB, 160GB, 250GB and 320GB capacities, all spinning at 5400 RPM. All drives are available with either a USB plug or a Combo USB / FireWire interface. Speeds reach 480MBps over USB and 400MBs over FireWire, without needing AC power for either connector type. Prices start at $99.

[Matthew Hilario @ Jan 3rd 2008 11:38AM]

looks like a george forman grill.

[Zak @ Jan 3rd 2008 11:44AM]

I am definitely going to buy one of these. I was just looking into getting a small form factor firewire HD, perfect timing.

[alex @ Jan 3rd 2008 11:57AM]

Wow, talk about a blast from the past. I haven't heard of anything from Verbatim in eons. I didn't even know they were still in business. Thought they went out with all the floppies they use to make.

[Ethyriel @ Jan 3rd 2008 8:02PM]

You haven't shopped for optical media recently, have you? They're no Taiyo Yuden, but they're one of the more trustworthy of the mainstream brands. They're also fairly common in the flash disk market, and are present in just about every accessory market from printer supplies to magnetic storage to a fugly mouse.

[Dan @ Jan 3rd 2008 12:10PM]

I was also thinking about replacing my old VST portable firewire drive. It's still working after 7 (almost 8) years of use, but i know sooner or later it will die on me.

[tannit @ Jan 6th 2008 9:22PM]

The throughput numbers seem misleading - I have consistently gotten better transfer rates with Firewire when transferring photos from CF cards to my computer.

[rlh82 @ Jan 3rd 2008 1:07PM]

It would appear there's an 80g model as well

[Franklin Marder @ Jan 3rd 2008 1:17PM]

I have been using and recommending the original SmartDisk FireLites for years. The mots reliable, portable drive I have ever used.

[john @ Jan 3rd 2008 6:00PM]

Hm. Do they do USB-OTG?

[Wwhat @ Jan 3rd 2008 9:24PM]

I don't have good experiences with various verbatim media, so I personally would not entrust my data to their product.