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ioSafe gives shocking demo of Thunderbolt Rugged Portable prototype (video)
Every year ioSafe has some absurd demo to show off just how tough its rugged hard drives are. They've already played with fire and peppered a portable model with buckshot. This year the company turned to an eight-foot tall Tesla coil and pointed its bolts of current at a prototype Thunderbolt model of its Rugged Portable -- which the company hopes to ship sometime in Q2. Unlike previous versions, this one packs dual SSDs in a RAID array for redundancy. After being blasted repeatedly with a million volts of electricity the drive still worked. Things got a bit hairy when the drive wasn't recognized at first, but CEO Robb Moore broke out the screwdrivers, cracked open the case and connected the SSD directly through a separate adapter. Turns out just the mainboard was fried, but the storage was still safe. A second Rugged Portable, one of last-year's models brought in by a member of the press, was also put to the voltage test and came through unscathed. Check out the video after the break. Edgar Alvarez contributed to this report.
ioSafe Rugged Portable external hard drive takes a bullet for your data
Last October I told you about the ioSafe SoloPRO fireproof external hard drive. It's one of the best options for protecting your data from physical harm. However, since the drive weighs 18 pounds, it's not ideal for those who need portability. That's where the ioSafe Rugged Portable comes in. Weighing little more than one pound, it's considerably lighter and smaller. And although it's not fireproof like the SoloPRO, it is almost everything-else-proof. The ioSafe Rugged Portable comes in two connection flavors, USB 3.0 or a USB 2.0/Dual Firewire 800 combo with options for a 500 GB or 1 TB 5400 RPM hard drive. As you can see from the image above, the drive looks pretty slick, made from a single billet-machined aluminum enclosure. However, what sets this drive apart from almost any other is that its bullet proof. You can literally take a shotgun to it without harming the drive and, more importantly, your data. I don't own a gun, so I didn't test out the bullet resistance, but The Wall Street Journal did in this entertaining video. However, I did test out some of its other protections (including water and drop protection) and the drive worked perfectly afterwords. Besides being bullet proof, the ioSafe Rugged Portable is also crush proof up to 5000 lbs; water proof for up to 3 days in 30 feet of water; UV ray, blowing sand, blowing dust, rain, salt fog, icing rain, and freezing rain proof for up to a continuous 24 hours; drop proof up to 10 feet; and chemical proof from diesel fuel, oils, hydraulic fluids and aircraft fuels for up to an hour at 12 feet. The drive also features a built-in Kensington security slot and "any reason" data recovery, even if the data loss was your fault. Thanks to its superior data protection capabilities, it's no wonder the ioSafe Rugged Portable is used by huge companies and the US Navy. But because of the specialty nature of the drive, you will pay a premium to own one. The 1 TB model I tested is US$299.99 with 12 months warranty/data recovery service, while a 500 GB model is $199.99. Currently the ioSafe Rugged Portable isn't sold in Apple retail stores, but you can pick it up at Apple's Online Store, on Amazon, or from ioSafe directly.
Rugged gadgets put to the test in Engadget labs, wanton destruction ensues
Lets be honest, we've all had those moments where we've wanted to hit our phone with a hammer or throw our laptop against the wall. Generally though, we resist those urges, knowing full well that it would spell the end for our precious gadget. There's a special class of rugged devices though, that are designed to withstand anything you throw at it -- or throw it at, as the case may be. We took a few of these beefy products, as well as one Extreme Sleeve for your non-military grade electronics, and put them through a battery of tests that would turn your average gadget into an unrecognizable pile of silicon and plastic. Head on after the break for a dose of dramatic destruction porn and to find out how this bevy of brawny portables held up against our gratuitous onslaught.
ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive wrapped in Full Metal Jacket, probably tougher than you
With a name like ioSafe, you know it's hardcore. The company has made a name for itself by concocting products that can outlast minor disasters, and per usual, it's using CES as a springboard for something else that you probably can't destroy. This year, the Rugged Portable is on display, arriving in a pair of enclosure options and offering a bundled data recovery service to boot. The unit is quite literally wrapped in metal -- the aluminum option can withstand up to 2,500 pounds of force, while the titanium shell doubles that up and shrugs its shoulders at up to 5,000 pounds. It's also immune to submersion -- your data remains safe in up to ten feet of salt water for as long as 72 hours, and it'll still come out unscathed when dipped in oil and other toxins. Naturally, the HDD or SSD within (your call there) is covered by suspension springs, and the USB 3.0 interface ensures that you won't be waiting around in the jungle for things to transfer. Those who snap one up will get one year of data recovery service included, a one-year 'No Hassle' warranty and up to $5000 for "third party forensic recovery services" if needed. Time Machine owners will be happy to know that this drive is fully compatible with the service, and you'll be able to select HDDs from 250GB to 1TB or SSDs from 256GB to 512GB. As for prices? $149.99 for the stock 250GB HDD aluminum version, $3,899.99 for the 512GB SSD titanium build with an extended warranty, and everywhere in between. It's up for pre-order today and should ship later this month in the US, with global availability details to follow in due time.
