Drive -- Engadget

Imation Pro WX Wireless USB hard drive reviewed

by Richard Lai posted Nov 11th 2009 at 11:51AM

Imation was set to announce its first-ever Wireless USB hard drive a year ago, but it lost a dear friend shortly before it materialized and we'd heard nothing since then. Today Imation has returned -- holding hands with its new partner, Staccato -- to release the Pro WX 1.5 terabyte Wireless USB hard drive for both Windows and Mac. At $449.99, though, we thought to ourselves: does the Pro WX offer something extraordinary for the premium price? Or are you better off with a NAS device like Apple's infamous Time Capsule? We ran some quick tests to find out -- do read on for some juicy results.

Gallery: Imation Pro WX Wireless USB hard drive reviewed

Continue reading Imation Pro WX Wireless USB hard drive reviewed

Toshiba's 320GB hard disk is world's largest 1.8-incher

by Thomas Ricker posted Nov 5th 2009 at 1:35AM

That's the world's largest capacity 1.8-inch hard disk drive right there. A claim met by a list of specs going a little something like this: 3.0Gbps SATA interface, 320GB capacity, 5,400 RPM, 16MB buffer, and 19dB of emitted noise during seeks -- a 4dB cut from Toshiba's previous generation of 5,400 RPM 1.8-inchers. Of course, these 1.8-inch mechanical HDDs are the form factor most commonly found in those netbook-shoving CULV thin-and-light ultraportables now coming onto the market. Look for it in December when the MK3233GSG hits mass production.

Wheego Whip gets pictured, driven around at mind-blowingly slow speeds

by Darren Murph posted Oct 8th 2009 at 7:59AM

Given just how difficult it has been for even Chevrolet to get its all-electric gears going, we kind of wondered if we'd ever hear more about the Wheego Whip after it quietly faded earlier this year. Lo and behold, the low-speed city car has made an appearance at AltCar 2009, and after receiving about 100 orders, it seems the car is all but ready to begin pleasing those who shelled out just under 20 large for the privilege of a pink slip. Our good pals over at Autoblog Green were able to zip around in the car recently and serve up some impressions of the drive, and while it didn't seem to live up to the "Cadillac of neighborhood electric vehicles" claim, it definitely got the job done... at 25 miles per hour. Hit the read link for a gallery of shots and a fresh take on what a whisper quiet, low-speed driving experience is like.

Custom-made Luke Skywalker USB drive is impressive. Most impressive.

by Ross Miller posted Jul 26th 2009 at 6:51PM

In response to an Engadget Japan post entitled "Cruel Star Wars USB drives," one incredibly talented reader went ahead and one-upped the entire collection with a custom made Empire Strikes Back Luke Skywalker drive. All you need to know is that the USB input is accessed by severing his hand. Search your feelings, you know this to be awesome.

Gallery: Custom-made Luke Skywalker USB drive is impressive. Most impressive.

[Via Engadget Japan]

RunCore Pro IV SSDs launched, tested, seem pricey

by Nilay Patel posted May 4th 2009 at 12:03PM

RunCore's always offered fast SSDs, but we're not so sure its new 2.5-inch ProCore IV drives offer the right mix of price, performance, and storage for the target market -- sure, they're fast, with up to 240MBps reads and 185MBps writes, but they're also expensive, starting at $179 for 32GB and quickly ramping up to $599 for 128GB and a whopping $999 for 256GB. That's a lot of scratch for the average laptop customer, and while the speed gains may be obvious, we're not so sure the storage tradeoff seems worth it. That said, RunCore's made it pretty easy to swap one of these puppies in: each drive includes a USB enclosure and cloning software that'll have you up and running at high speed in a jiff. Yeah, we're on the fence -- check out a video demo after the break and tell us if you think it's worth it.

Read - RunCore Pro IV press release
Read - jkkmobile tests

Continue reading RunCore Pro IV SSDs launched, tested, seem pricey

Seagate Replica does automatic, incremental backup for the everyman

by Paul Miller posted Apr 27th 2009 at 12:58PM

Seagate's new Replica drive aims to be for PC users what Time Machine is for Macs (in fact, there's no Mac software included), and seems to do a pretty good job of it. You merely plug the drive into your computer, accept a license agreement, and you're off to the races with hassle-free incremental backups of your system. The drive is available in Single PC and Multi-PC models, with the former sporting 250GB of capacity, and the latter doing 500GB and adding in a vertical dock -- but to actually backup multiple PCs you'll have to move the drive around sneakernet style. ComputerShopper found the drive pretty slow, and while you can drag and drop files off of the drive, it doesn't actually allow you to toss specific files on and use the drive as way to move your projects around town. Still, it's simple, and the $200 starting price isn't criminal.

Read - ComputerShopper review
Read - Official Replica site

New Wii drives breaking modchips, hearts, legs

by Joshua Topolsky posted Dec 10th 2008 at 2:07AM

Are you a Wii fanatic? Do you enjoy getting "in" "there" and really messing about? Well here's a word to the wise: if you want to keep on keepin' on with your funky mods and hacks, don't get a new Wii. Apparently, fresh shipments of Nintendo's cash cow are stocked with an optical drive configuration that somehow breaks current modchips -- thus rendering your freedom from gaming oppression null and void. It seems that the drives sport a new fusion of older components (including the controller chip) which contribute to the disruption in your regularly scheduled program of l33t hackery. Luckily for you, you're too hardcore to spring for a new system -- so you're safe from this glaring affront to your personal freedom... right?

[Thanks, Mike]

MacBook Air SuperDrive super hack makes it work with any computer

by Paul Miller posted Jun 24th 2008 at 8:50AM

As tnkgrl mentions at the outset of this hack, the MacBook Air SuperDrive is a nice little slice of hotness, retailing for a mere $99, and doing the whole external drive thing with Apple's sense of style. Unfortunately, it only works with the MacBook Air due to a proprietary IDE to USB bridge, as tnkgrl discovered. For a mere $9 she was able to find a replacement part, and after pushing some internals around she had her self a Mac mini and HP Mini-Note-friendly USB disc drive. We've all been laboring under the assumption that Apple needed more than the standard USB power draw, so it comes as a bit of a surprise that she was able to pull this off with a regular part, and we demand Apple start selling $108 SuperDrives-for-all immediately. Er, please?

Xbox 360 HD DVD drive now officially $49.99

by Joshua Topolsky posted Feb 25th 2008 at 3:32PM

Look, don't act like you didn't know this was coming. Microsoft has started selling its Xbox 360 HD DVD drive for the ultra-bargain price of $49.99. So now's your chance to get one super-duper cheap. Or you could just throw that $50 into the garbage... same thing.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

The Sony Drive XEL-1 OLED TV: 1,000,000:1 contrast starting December 1st

by Thomas Ricker posted Oct 1st 2007 at 1:23AM

It's here friends, Sony's Drive teaser is none other than their 3-mm thin, 1,000,000:1 OLED TV, just announced official with a December 1st Japanese retail date. The 11-inch SonyDrive XEL-1 set features a 960 x 540 pixel resolution, terrestrial digital tuner, 2x 1W speaker, and HDMI, USB, and Ethernet jacks in a package measuring 287 x 140 x 253-mm and 2-kg (3.3-pounds). How much? Well, ¥200,000 or about $1,740 -- That's about $160 per inch of OLED. Rich indeed, but so it goes for first generation technology.

Gallery: The SonyDrive XEL-1 OLED TV: 1,000,000:1 contrast starting December 1st

[Via Impress]

Sony teases us with Drive

by Darren Murph posted Sep 28th 2007 at 4:10PM

Sony sure loves to tease, and while the Rolly campaign finally resulted in an actual product, we're still scratchin' our noggins on this one. There's not a lot to go on when looking at the teaser page for the simply-titled Drive, and aside from that delightfully green bow and a seductive "Coming soon" phrase, all we can make out is something akin to a scaled-down treadmill with a turgid windscreen. Okay, so maybe it's just an all-in-one PC of some sort (we can almost imagine a floating LCD behind that ribbon), but we'll leave the real guessing to you.

[Thanks, Cheek]

UK drivers caught texting could get 2 years behind bars

by Conrad Quilty-Harper posted Sep 8th 2007 at 3:22PM

UK Drivers caught texting or operating a range of gadgets behind the wheel -- including MP3 players and GPS systems -- could face a new maximum of two years in prison. Currently the crime is punishable by £2,500 fines or community orders, although the most common offense is using a mobile phone whilst driving, which results in a £60 fine and three points on a license. Shifting to a higher category of dangerous driving from the previous category of careless driving might not solve the problem of people ignoring the current restrictions: if the current problem is poor enforcement, then it's hard to see extra deterrence making a difference. But hey, the cops over there seem to think that hovering drones and unbridled surveillance does the trick in other areas of criminality, so who are we to argue?

[Via PocketPCThoughts]

Fujitsu intros new line of non-stop hard drives

by Donald Melanson posted Jul 24th 2007 at 11:26AM

While Western Digital and others are busy making power-saving hard drives with various start and stop measures these days, Fujitsu seems to going in a different direction entirely, today announcing a new line of drives designed for 24-hour continuous operation. Intended primarly for use in ATMs, POS systems, medical equipment, and other industrial applications the new MHY2 BS series of 2.5-inch drives boasts capacities up to 200GB, along with a 5,400 rpm disk speed and a SATA interface. While those won't be available until the end of August, Fujitsu has two other non-stop drive series available now, including the 7,200 rpm MHW2 BK Series, and the MHW2 AC Series, which is able to withstand extremely high and low temperatures.

[Via Akihabara News]

Rover SPARC uses IBM backup tech to keep your fav files safe

by Paul Miller posted May 7th 2007 at 7:25PM

There's no shortage of backup solutions out there -- just like there's no shortage of people who never get around to it anyways. The Rover SPARC does things a little differently, however. Instead of providing a massive storage solution for all your files, the Rover SPARC uses IBM's "Continuous Data Protection" to keep track of your most precious files, and back them up on the fly as changes are made. The wallet-sized drive comes in 2GB and 4GB flavors for $100 and $130, respectively, and while both sizes aren't going to back up your OS, program, or media folders anytime soon, emails, contacts and other must-haves should fit just fine. If you're incredibly unlucky, the "plug & play software" saves copies of certain files (including photos) online, but there's a $35 annual fee to keep that going after the first year.

How-to: Use your TiVo Series3 eSATA port to add an external drive

by Ryan Block posted May 4th 2007 at 10:33PM

Ever wish you could use that friggin eSATA port TiVo taunts you with on the back of your Series3? If so your moment has finally arrived -- and not a moment too soon for many a DVR-loving TV fans whose drives are filled to the brim with HD programming. Best of all: you don't even have to crack open your box or nothin'. Ready to get it going on? Let's upgrade that TiVo.