Buffalo announces 500GB MiniStation TurboUSB external HDD

Although Buffalo managed to squeeze one whole terabyte of storage into its new LinkStation Mini, the firm is looking to give the bytes within its latest external drive a bit more breathing room. The 500GB MiniStation TurboUSB is a touch more capacious than the previous 320GB king, and as with other TurboUSB devices, it supposedly offers up "30-percent faster transfer rates than most USB hard drives." Additionally, the firm throws in its own Shock Resistant technology along with its SecureLockWare in order to prevent "unauthorized access in the event the drive is lost or stolen." Heck, you'll even find Memeo's AutoBackup right in the box, and as for the box itself, look for it to land later this month for a cool $329.

[Rob @ Mar 10th 2008 11:51AM]

Buffalo needs to figure out a way to bring their routers back State-side. WTF? I'm aware of their legal issues. But, I think they put out some good routers.

[RonV @ Mar 10th 2008 1:03PM]

I agree...I can't keep installing those expenseive Linksys-GL routers with Tomato or DD-WRT. Buffalo was my best source of inexpesive flashable routers.

[ScareyJ @ Mar 10th 2008 4:46PM]

@RonV. Ditto!

[Rob @ Mar 10th 2008 4:54PM]

Does anyone know if there are any comparable routers that can handle router/bridge feature? In similar price range of course. I'm using 3 Buffalo routers right now. One in the basement set to the router position and two more in bridge position that I have connected to one pc on the first floor, and an Xbox on the 2nd. But, I'd love to get another one to use in the bridge position as well and use on another Xbox on the first floor. My units are pretty much in opposite extremes of the house, so running wires is not an option. And, I don't feel like paying MS $100 for some p.o.s. wireless adapter. I rather get a Buffalo.

[ScareyJ @ Mar 10th 2008 5:44PM]

@Rob, I'm using a Buffalo Ethernet Converter on one Xbox360, then on the other 360s I used two older Linksys routers that I flashed with dd-wrt to turn them into bridges (connecting to my Buffalo router). The Buffalo was much easier to setup with the AOSS but with a little work I turned two routers (I was going to throw out) into working bridges; and the performance is just fine.

[Simply_J @ Mar 11th 2008 1:09PM]

I wonder how much heat this thing generates. I've seen many a mini-hard drive give up the ghost after only a year or two of service.

[Alex @ Mar 10th 2008 2:43PM]

I think that if this is correct (uses 2.5" notebook HDDs), that it probably has one of the latest 500GB notebook HDDs that are the new trend.

[Jeremy Hambly @ Mar 10th 2008 1:49PM]

Actually they run pretty cool, These things are super convenient for me when I do PC repair, I have several ISO copies of windows that I carry around not to mention it comes in very handy when I have to do a last minute data backup. I don't have the 500GM model but it looks pretty sweet. I also run a website to help people with PC Repair if anyone is interested, its free. http://www.beyourownit.com

[Ayle @ Mar 10th 2008 3:07PM]

Nice read.

[redspear @ Mar 10th 2008 4:52PM]

yup these are very handy for doing back up or bringing loads of programs when you are doing computer work. I remeebr back in the day when I used to have to carry my wonder book which was a ton of CD-Rs for back up and a bunch of programs that could come in handy.

The nicest thing about htese is no need for a power outlet and the fact they are small abut ablr to hold 80-500 gigs.

[rtdunham @ Mar 10th 2008 1:49PM]

What's up with this: the item says the usb turbo provides "30% faster transfer rates". But to learn more about that turbo feature i went to the "TurboUSB devices" link, where i was told the amenity reportedly "increases performance speed up to 60-percent faster than other USB hard drives on the market today,"

I love Engadget, don't get me wrong. But if you're gonna link to something to expand the usefulness of a news item, either make it a consistent link or explain the difference.

(btw, can anyone point me to a spot on engadget where i can change my password?)

[Shane @ Mar 10th 2008 2:04PM]

To change your password, just click on your name on any comment that you have left.

[Poom @ Mar 11th 2008 6:01AM]

The read link is also about where the information in the article was from, which does not have to provide something new to the article.

[rtdunham @ Mar 11th 2008 1:35PM]

fair enough. But if the link's to the source of the article's info, the discrepancy (30% faster? 60% faster?) still bothers me, and still should have been addressed imho.

[joshua @ Mar 27th 2008 2:11AM]

Ok, like where are these already?

[cucciolagigio @ Apr 9th 2008 4:26AM]

Hi,

I'm totally new to this page.

Always short of memory I was surprised to see there can be a USB-only external drive of up to 500Gb.

I currently have a 120Gb Fujitsu laptop.

Is it wise for me to buy such a device or do I risk burning my motherboard (someone told me this, and for a long time I was told I wouldn't be able to have anything bigger than 250Gb unless I accepted to have something connected to a plug)?

Thanks in advance for your advice on the matter,

cg