Verbatim -- Engadget

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Verbatim InSight USB drives display name, free space even when disconnected

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Aug 17th 2009 at 9:58AM

Verbatim, a name we mostly come across when looking for blank DVDs, has announced its new line of InSight portable USB hard drives. The storage devices are diminutive (weighing less than 6 ounces, measuring 6-inches in length), are being billed as "sleek" and "durable" with their fetching "piano black" finish (and who are we to disagree?), and are available in capacities of 320GB or 500GB. But the attention grabber here is the Always On display, which is -- you guessed it -- always on, displaying the drive name and available free space, even when disconnected from the computer. Available now for $119.99 for the 320GB or $149.99 for the 500GB. Full PR after the break.

Continue reading Verbatim InSight USB drives display name, free space even when disconnected

Verbatim Tuff-Clip flash drives for the adventure nerd

by Nilay Patel posted Aug 10th 2009 at 7:58PM

We can't honestly say we've ever had a flash drive go bad because it wasn't tough enough, but apparently there's a market of globe-trotting ex-military jungle assassins out there big enough for Verbatim to join in with the Tuff-Clip USB stick. (Actually, it's TUFF-CLIP, because all-caps names are water-resistant to 100 feet.) Of course, you'll have to pay for those rugged good looks: the 4GB version is $30, while the 8GB is $50. Not exactly a steal when you consider this Hello Kitty stick we've been using cost us nothing more than our pride.

Verbatim's SureFire FireWire 800 external HDD does all it can to cater to new MacBook Pro owners

by Ross Miller posted Jul 16th 2009 at 4:51AM

There's no question in our minds that Verbatim had brand new Macbook Pro owners in mind when it developed this addition to the SureFire external hard drive lineup. Let's run through the features: it comes HFS+ formatted for OS X, it's got touted support for Time Machine, and it features a FireWire 800 port, which is once again useful for Apple consumers, along with USB 2.0. It's even got a fingerprint resistant matte finish, which might just make you a bit envious given your own lack of matte options at present. Just a little bit larger and heavier than your iPhone, it comes with a leather case, all the necessary cables, and 250GB / 320GB / 500GB capacities, all 5400RPM, with prices ranging from $110 to $180.

[Via Yahoo! Tech]

Verbatim trots out OS X-friendly 8GB Store 'n' Go retractable USB drive

by Darren Murph posted Jan 6th 2009 at 3:28PM

Verbatim doesn't really make a lot of racket during the year, but come Macworld / CES, it pulls out all of the stops. Alongside a new family of delectable ExpressCard SSDs, the company is also introducing an 8GB Store 'n' Go Retractable USB Drive (Windows version shown) that caters to the OS X crowd. Verbatim's pushing two main selling points here: for starters, the capless, retractable design means that your USB socket will always be covered, and secondly, the password controlled access to the drive's private zone plays nice within an OS X environment. The half-ounce device is expected to land on store shelves in just a few weeks, though it'll cost you a stiff $59.99 if you're looking to pay MSRP.

Verbatim cranks out ExpressCard SSD for PC and Mac users

by Darren Murph posted Jan 6th 2009 at 11:00AM

While certainly not the first ExpressCard SSD we've seen (heck, it's not even the first one from this week), we're practically drooling at the thought of these becoming more pervasive. Here at Macworld, Verbatim has announced its new 34mm ExpressCard SSD for PC and Mac users, which promises to be some five times faster than USB-based ExpressCards thanks to its true PCI-Express interface. The drives will ship at the end of next month in 16/32/64GB sizes, and we're told to expect read speeds of up to 125MB/sec and write speeds of up to 30MB/sec. Curious about pricing? Try $99.99, $149.99 and $299.99 from least capacious to most.

Verbatim debuts quad interface 500GB / 1TB external HDDs

by Darren Murph posted Jan 4th 2009 at 12:45PM

While they aren't the first quad interface external drives on the market, Verbatim's adding to the bunch with a new 500GB and 1TB model. Slated to debut at this year's Macworld Expo, the pro audio / video-grade drives are Mac and PC compatible and tout USB 2.0, FireWire 400, FireWire 800 and eSATA II sockets. Each unit weighs 3.3-pounds and features 3.5-inch HDDs with 7,200RPM spindle speeds and 32MB of cache. Grab one right this very moment for $179.99 / $249.99, respectively.

[Via InformationWeek]

Verbatim's new SmartDisk HDD is so small we could just eat it up

by Joshua Fruhlinger posted Apr 29th 2008 at 10:06AM

Because history has proven that hard drives must get smaller and more capacious, Verbatim went and released the 500GB 2.5-inch SmartDisk HDD. Despite claims from others, Verbatim says this marks the first available 9.5mm Z-height 2.5-inch hard disk. The drive is made up of three 166GB platters striped with Perpendicular Magnetic Recording at 5400RPM. With enclosure, it weighs in at less than 6 ounces and measures 3.38-inches by 5.38-inches by 0.63-inches in both USB and USB / FireWire combo versions. Expect it this summer for under $300.

Verbatim introduces new lineup of Blu-ray media

by Darren Murph posted Jan 8th 2008 at 10:54AM

We've already seen Verbatim crank out a few new pieces of HD DVD media, so it's only fair that red's rival gets a little updating, too. Among the newcomers are 4x BD-R, single-sided double-layer 2x BD-R / BD-RE, Mini BD-R / BD-RE and 1 - 2x BD-R LTH discs. Not a lot to say beyond that -- you know, considering the dearth of pricing information -- but you can expect 'em all to ship sometime during the first half of 2008.

Verbatim gears up to ship 2x HD DVD-R/RW discs

by Darren Murph posted Jan 7th 2008 at 8:19AM

Believe it or not, we were getting pretty jazzed up that 1x HD DVD-R media was getting set to ship in late 2006, and here we are in 2008 wondering why we're just now getting to 2x. Regardless, Verbatim is finally gearing up to ship 2x-speed HD DVD-R/RW discs sometime this quarter, but for whatever reason, we're left to wonder just how much the firm plans on charging for said media. But yeah, it's pretty safe to say these won't run ya cheap.

Verbatim's 2.5-inch SmartDisk portable USB and FireWire drives

by Paul Miller posted Jan 3rd 2008 at 11:30AM

Just because everything's getting all fancy pants this year at CES -- that is to say, wireless, wireless and wireless -- doesn't mean there isn't a place for the tried and true. Verbatim is sticking to the basics with its new line of SmartDisk portable hard drives. The drives are available now, and come in 120GB, 160GB, 250GB and 320GB capacities, all spinning at 5400 RPM. All drives are available with either a USB plug or a Combo USB / FireWire interface. Speeds reach 480MBps over USB and 400MBs over FireWire, without needing AC power for either connector type. Prices start at $99.

Verbatim offers up color-background LightScribe DVD�Rs

by Darren Murph posted Nov 23rd 2007 at 7:31AM

We're beginning to think that this is some type of holiday tradition for Verbatim, as nearly a year after the firm waved color-background CD-Rs in our faces, now we've got vivid DVD±Rs to tempt us, too. As expected, these new 4.7GB discs are fully compatible with all LightScribe-enabled drives, and they're currently shipping in packs of 25 for around $25. Yeah, it's costly, but it's hard to put a price on the joy you'll receive when finding yellow, blue, red, orange and green discs within your next spindle.

Verbatim to launch Mini Blu-ray discs with Hitachi's camcorder

by Erik Hanson posted Aug 2nd 2007 at 3:55PM

Now that Hitachi has announced a Blu-ray camcorder to put some of that high-def footage on, you've got to have something to record onto, right? Verbatim will ship 8cm Mini Blu-ray Recordable/Rewritable (BD-R/RE) blank media in August for Japan, with shipments to North America and points beyond in October. The media will hold 7.5GB on a single side, with recording times of one hour for 1920x1080i resolution, and up to two hours at 1440x1080i. The discs come with Verbatim's standard hard-coat finish for protection against scratching and dust, making them pretty reliable for the kinds of stresses you'll see filming your own season of Survivor: Fargo.

Qflix brings CSS to download-to-burn DVDs: a new day has dawned

by Evan Blass posted Jan 4th 2007 at 1:51PM

It's been a long time coming, but the major Hollywood studios have finally agreed to amend the CSS (content scrambling system, found on store-bought DVDs) licensing restrictions to include support for both commercial and private download-to-burn options. First mentioned last summer, this new agreement uses technology from Sonic Solutions called Qflix (initially adopted by Movielink) to slap that good ol' digital lock on discs that consumers burn either on their PCs or at in-store kiosks like the ones Wal-Mart and other big box retailers have been planning for some time now. Of course you can already burn downloaded flicks to DVD through CinemaNow's aptly-titled "Burn to DVD" service, but compatibility issues have relegated this option to merely a stopgap solution. While Qflix burns should be readable by any old player that supports CSS, the downside is that new media and -- in some cases -- new drives will be required to perform this neat little trick (some current burners can apparently be made Qflix-compatible through firmware upgrades). Besides the studios, other companies that are down with Qflix include disc manufacturer Verbatim, video-on-demand provider Akimbo, your friendly neighborhood Walgreens, and of course, Movielink. It's not clear when consumers will start seeing this these new devices and kiosks in the wild, but rest assured that you'll soon have a way to spend those 10 to 15 minutes waiting for your prescription that doesn't involve sitting next to a bunch of sick people in a germ-ridden pleather chair.

Verbatim adds background color to LightScribe discs

by Darren Murph posted Dec 14th 2006 at 5:19PM

Nothing adds a dash of holiday cheer like a little color to brighten things up, or at least that's the mantra Verbatim is banking on you believing as it "ramps up shipments" of its recently-unveiled LightScribe-compatible CD-Rs. While we figured color would come this way awhile back, we were honestly hoping for actual color etching technology to be a part of LightScribe by now, but we guess a spindle of "red, green, blue, yellow and orange discs" will have to suffice for the time being. Notably, these discs utilize the same ole LightScribe burner you've already got, but adding color silkscreens to your laser drawings certainly won't prove cheap, as these stocking stuffers will run you $19.99 for a 25-pack.

[Via Chip Chick]

Verbatim to launch mini DVD-R dual-layer media

by Darren Murph posted Aug 3rd 2006 at 11:53PM

If you've already made plans to pick up the Canon iVIS DC22 we brought you earlier today, you may be wondering where (and when) you're going to find those miniaturized dual-layer DVD-Rs. Apparently Verbatim took matters into their own hands by making absolutely sure DC22 owners will be able to fully utilize the (only) standout feature on their new camcorder. Today the company announced its plan to drop dual-layer 8cm (3-inch) DVD-Rs to presumably coincide with the release of Canon's newest iVIS later this month. The 2.66GB discs provide 54 minutes of continuous recording capacity, which isn't quite double what a plain-jane mini-DVD-R will hold. The new discs are being touted as superior to the currently-available double-sided discs, which can create a seriously frantic situation when trying to flip sides and continue filming. Verbatim also notes that these little buggers will sport its "innovative VideoGard technology" that provides a protective coating to withstand "40 times" the damage that an unshielded disc will (sounds a lot like Durabis). Though we're not huge fans of DVD-camcorders, the ability to hold nearly an hour of family reunions and bar fights on one disc is respectable -- unfortunately that respect comes with a $24.99 pricetag for three measly discs.