MacBook Pro hard disk storage really seem to be down on its luck this generation. First was the 3Gbps SATA transfers (now fixed), which honestly didn't affected but a marginal percentage of users upgrading to SSD themselves. Now comes word from a number of irate users on the Apple support forums that claim their HDDs, specifically those spec'd at 7200RPM, are suffering from performance issues and some audible clicking / beeping sounds. The folks at Other World Computing chimed in to say that it might have something to do with the Seagate Momentus 7200.4 G-Force drives, which takes anti-shock precautions that are possibly causing both noise and extra strain. If you're not hearing anything now, we wouldn't suggest you start getting hyper paranoid over the issue -- it's the internet, where things often get blown way out of proportion, in case you haven't noticed. If you're still worried / curious, hit up the read link for the full collection of anecdotes.

[Via Engadget Spanish and MacNN]

It may not be the first 1.8-inch hard disk we've seen pushing a 250GB capacity, but damn if Samsung doesn't know how to market its tech. See, these drives are small as Samsung skillfully demonstrates by photographing its new Spinpoint N3U disk in front of a credit card. And by including a native PATA to USB controller on the circuit board, Samsung has helped manufacturers eliminate a bit bulk from future portable USB disk offerings. The 3,600rpm drive itself features 125GB per platter, 8MB of cache, and should be capable of withstanding drops from about 20-inches. At least it will when these begin shipping in mid-July for about $200.

If you liked the HDC-TM350, then we can pretty much guarantee you'll be a fan of the HS350, unveiled by Panasonic today. Essentially identical to its elder brother -- but for the hard disk bump on its right side -- the new AVCHD camcorder ups internal storage from 64GB to 240GB and retains all other salient features: 10.6 megapixel 3MOS sensor, 12x optical zoom and SDHC expansion up to 32GB per card. The increase in storage allows for over 30 hours of continuous full HD recording, meaning that your battery will give out long before you need to fiddle with your storage options. No word on the when, where and how much questions, but if we had to guess we'd say soon, everywhere and plenty.

The Ministation Metro, coming in a variety of tastefully named colors, such as Black Crystal, represents a continuation of Buffalo's recent efforts to beautify its portable hard drive offerings. The drive's design is highlighted by a handily integrated USB cable that sits flush with the Metro's externals when not in use. It's also noteworthy that this latest entry in Buffalo's Ministation series looks remarkably similar (i.e. identical) to the recently announced HD-PXU2 in Japan. We can only surmise that the company believes the term Metro carries more positive connotations with Western consumers than the otherwise catchy jumble of letters and digits. Capacity choices range all the way up to 500GB, and the new drives are expected to reach American and British shores in August, with a US price somewhere in the vicinity of $200 for the most capacious models.

[Via Pocket-lint]

[Via Engadget Spanish]

Seagate's giving its FreeAgent Go drives a fresh new 640GB capacity ceiling, and while it's not the first external to cross that 500GB threshold, it's certainly on the thinner end of the totem pole, physically. Nothing revolutionary here otherwise, it's still the standard USB-connected with up to 480Mbps transfer with multiple color options. Also distinctly the norm? Not a bit of info on pricing or availability, but if Seagate's posting promotional materials on its main site, we suspect it's not too far off.

[Via Slashgear]

Ready to have your storage world rocked again? It seems like we're all just getting up to speed on SSDs and their, erm, unique behavior, but the upstart DataSlide pledges to make all that as obsolete as last year's platters. The company is developing what it calls "Massive 2D Parallel Storage Technology," which effectively takes the spinning disk of a standard HDD and turns it into a two-sided rectangular plate. That plate then slides in between two surfaces containing arrays of read/write heads, one head per sector. With no arms to zip around DataSlide is projecting up to 160,000 operations per second and 500MB/s transfer rates, numbers that blow even the fastest SSDs out of the water, and power consumption of less than four watts. That the heads and the storage are actually making physical contact all the time is disconcerting, but a diamond coating pledges "years of worry free service." Yes, diamonds, the things able to scratch just about anything else on the planet -- sounds like a great lubricant to us. While it'll be years before these things slide to retail, with Oracle on board hopefully this tech has enough backing to actually get there.

[Via ZDNet]

What a difference a year makes, right? Right around 12 months after Western Digital outed its 2TB My Book Studio Edition II, the company has come forward with a new edition that houses twice the storage. The dual-drive device includes a pair of those minty fresh 2TB HDDs arranged in a RAID 0 configuration, and WD promises that it'll play nice with both Macs and PCs. As for connectivity, you'll get eSATA, FireWire 800, FireWire 400 and USB 2.0, and the handy capacity gauge does exactly what it says. It's up for order right now for $649.99.

Unfortunately for mankind, we can't say we've kept a running tally of dimensions for portable hard drives. Thus, it's hard for us to actually prove or refute A-DATA's claims that its NH92 is indeed the slimmest portable HDD this world has ever seen. Still, with a case that's just 12 millimeters thick and 5.36 ounces, we'd wager that this one won't be weighing you down. The all-aluminum chassis contains a single 2.5-inch drive ranging from 250GB to 500GB in size, comes in the delightful array of colors you see pictured above and sports heretofore undisclosed prices.

We've never been fans of Microsoft's ability to put hard limits on netbooks with Windows XP; it's this fact alone that has kept the entire sector from moving forward in terms of specification advancement. Though, we'd probably wager that MSI is even more livid, as bit-tech has reportedly learned that the company's Wind U115 will soon be yanked from store shelves. The reason? The machine's hybrid storage system, which puts Windows XP on an SSD and allows other applications and media to be loaded on the HDD. Oddly, the netbook is still for sale on MSI's webstore, and just a few days ago we saw NEC unveil a hybrid netbook over in Japan. Please Microsoft, reconsider -- do it for love, do it for justice.

Read - MSI Wind U115 on sale
Read - bit-tech report

Oh, Brando -- how you make our hearts flutter. One day, you're pumping out new kit fit only for our Crapgadget roundup; the next, you're delivering gems such as this. The 5-bay HDD Paper Storage Box with Cover covertly hides up to five of your precious 3.5-inch hard drives, and it likely provides more security for your personal information than a fireproof lock box. 'Cause really, what data thief is going to shuffle through a cardboard container looking for valuable platters?

There are apparently an awful, awful lot of people out there with shoe boxes full of spare SATA drives. Somebody is buying all these new HDD docks, and while most surpass the previous editions by adding support for another obscure format of memory card, Brando's latest seems like an actually useful update, adding HDMI and component ports through which it can output video at either 1080i or the always popular 576p. Standard resolutions may not be its strong point, and sadly there's no mention of which video codecs it can unravel, but it does at least support the major flavors of audio files (MP3, WMA, AAC, etc.) and of course will read memory cards and thumb drives to boot. No, a bare drive may not look particularly appealing while rattling away on your entertainment center, and at $69 you're not far from the price of a Windows Media extender or the like, but don't let such practical concerns dissuade you from adding this unique focal point to your home theater.

Coming to you live from left field, it's this week's edition of Ask Engadget. Once your done reading and replying (in comments below, naturally) to the question here, feel free to send us your own to ask at engadget dawt com.

"I am looking for a portable hard drive with memory card slots so that I can save my photos onto it, straight from the memory card. It needs to function without the use of a computer. I have seen a few of these, but nothing name brand, and I was looking for some recommendations. A color screen to view photos would be nice, but not necessary. It doesn't need to be very large, 100GB should be more than enough."

You're right Seth, most of these things do indeed come from relative unknowns. That said, we're sure a few of our readers have taken the plunge, so hopefully you'll find out who likes and dislikes the one they chose. Right, folks?

It's funny, really. Years back, we figured this SATA HDD dock was a one-off device that would get swept under the rug as quickly as it reached prominence. And yet, here we are in May of 2009 looking at the latest iteration of a product that won't ever stop reinventing itself. Brando's Dual SATA HDD Multi-Function Dock with One Touch Backup (yeah, seriously) doubles up on elder models by holding two 2.5- or 3.5-inch hard drives, and it also accepts a litany of flash cards. Lastly, this adds an eSATA connector to the traditional USB 2.0 socket for a bit more flexibility, but we still can't justify the $89 price if you already own a predecessor (or three).

Not that we haven't seen this game played before, but this demonstration is definitely the best we've seen amongst the tech book puns. Put as simply as possible, one talented modder has wrapped his Western Digital My Book NAS drive in beautiful leather and stacked it fittingly on his bookshelf. Aside from that glowing ring, you probably couldn't tell which of the above was filled with paper and which was filled with, um, really important tax documents. Check the read link for loads more shots and plenty of inspiration.

[Via technabob]