Freecom rolls out Mobile Drive XXS, new "world's smallest" 2.5-incher

While it seems inevitable that external 2.5-inch hard drives can only get so small, right now manufacturers look to be intent on doing their best to shave off every last excess millimeter to lay claim to the elusive title of world's smallest. That designation now appears to have fallen on Freecom's new Mobile Drive XXS which, according to the company, is not only 27% smaller than its nearest competitor but, at just 155 grams, the lightest drive of its kind around as well. You'll still get the usual choices of 160GB, 250GB, or 320GB sizes though, along with the requisite bus-powered connectivity, and a handy form-fitting rubber sleeve to ensure the thing stays where you want it. Look for this one to hit the UK any day now for £45, £60, or £80 (or $90 to $160), depending on the capacity.

[Oscillate Wildly @ Jul 29th 2008 5:39PM]

world's smallest 2.5 incher isn't generally something to be proud of...

[phanbouy @ Jul 29th 2008 5:41PM]

that's what she told you

[Lowest Ranked @ Jul 29th 2008 5:55PM]

I'm quite content with my 1 incher thank you.

[psxp @ Jul 29th 2008 5:49PM]

I have a generic 2.5" case which looks to be that small. heh..

http://cty.ca/ProductDetails.asp?pid=1392

[phanbouy @ Jul 29th 2008 6:05PM]

wow; looks good and nice price. plus you can put your own drive in there which'll no doubt smoke the prepackaged one

[Atenlaugh @ Jul 29th 2008 5:58PM]

Small is the new big.

[img eL @ Jul 29th 2008 6:10PM]

As with mostly all, Knock about 20GB off every hard drive spec for real world GB amounts.

[yode @ Jul 29th 2008 6:18PM]

Is it just me, or does the hard drive looked photoshopped onto the hand?

[Brad @ Jul 29th 2008 6:22PM]

It's just you and me.

[phanbouy @ Jul 29th 2008 6:26PM]

yode, that fro's totally getting you action

[Technex @ Jul 29th 2008 6:31PM]

Ya rly.

[Brad @ Jul 29th 2008 6:21PM]

I'm going to grab my flash drive, put a "HARD DRIVE" label on it, and call it the world's smallest.

(I know about the difference between flash and hard drives. I'm not stupid.)

[nate @ Jul 29th 2008 6:25PM]

honestly, making your external hard drive a little smaller or making it "stylish" is not going to get people carrying one with them in their purse. is there some purpose here that I'm missing or what?

[Jason @ Jul 29th 2008 10:34PM]

Maybe not, nate, but it'd fit nicely in a front pocket if you needed to admin work on a variety of systems and didn't want to carry a whole bunch of sticks around. Kinda niche-ey.

[Brad @ Jul 29th 2008 6:22PM]

I'm going to grab my flash drive, put a "HARD DRIVE" label on it, and call it the world's smallest.

(I know about the difference between flash and hard drives. I'm not stupid.)

[Bunson @ Jul 29th 2008 6:29PM]

Apparently you are stupid.

[Jason @ Jul 29th 2008 10:35PM]

Brad, you totally had me fooled until Bunson spoke up.

[Brad @ Jul 29th 2008 10:39PM]

Don't be mean.

[mymaclife @ Jul 29th 2008 6:24PM]

Someone has put some serious thought into this, a serious amount of porn in one hand, leaving the other hand free! Result!!!

[Taylor @ Jul 29th 2008 6:29PM]

Call me crazy, but I can't use a drive unless it's got FW. It's got to have a FW port or it's useless to me. Both USB & FW is nice, but it has to have FW.

[phanbouy @ Jul 29th 2008 6:30PM]

not sure i caught that. you're saying you don't use firewire? ;p

[Wolfticket @ Jul 29th 2008 11:01PM]

Me? I prefer IEEE 1394 to FW. Although E-SATA is nice, and SATA-IO will be nicer. USB is bearable.
I lie.
I just like acronyms.

[neofolklore @ Jul 30th 2008 7:54AM]

for firmware updates no doubt.

[Earthian @ Jul 29th 2008 8:28PM]

eBay has had hd enclosures of the same size for some months now for $10
.
just search for ... hd enclosure 2.5"
.
I bought one that is just the size of an internal 2.5" HDD "covered" by 1mm of metal (except the connector side which is plus 1cm)
.
I like the size much more than my external 320GB Toshiba

[Wolfticket @ Jul 29th 2008 10:47PM]

My 2.5inch drive wrapped in a piece of paper and connected to a SATA-to-USB cable begs to differ.

[gopi @ Jul 30th 2008 1:21AM]

What about the world's smallest 3.5 incher?

I would like to see a 3.5" drive in the smallest case they can manage, with an internal power supply.

Yes, I know, a 2.5" drive is the best for portability. But I want speed and capacity. I'd like something in-between 2.5" and the standard 3.5" external drives with *zero* attention to portability...

[bebop @ Jul 30th 2008 2:04AM]

One amusing downside of these ultrathin cases with no empty space inside: just a slightest pressure on the top side will force the top of the HDD case into the spindle. If it happens to be spinning at the time, there is a "scraaatch" sound, and the read head digs a nice groove into the platter and you get lost data, a nice chunk of bad sectors, and a gimpy drive thereafter.

I've been using the slighly fatter ones ever since that happened. ;)

[rita hainsworth @ Jul 30th 2008 5:06AM]

ummm....rubber.

[OnlyOnWeekends @ Aug 4th 2008 1:41AM]

Is that the entire library of congress in your pocket,or are you just happy to see me?