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Hitachi joins 500GB laptop disk party, brings encryption and a bit of whine
It's all here: 2.5-inch, 9.5-mm thick form factor; 3.0Gbps SATA interface; 250GB per platter for a 500GB total capacity; 5,400 RPM spin; and hardware-based data encryption using a 128-bit key (we presume, they don't say). That puts Hitachi's new 500GB Travelstar hard disk drives on par with pretty much everyone else. Even the 1.4 watt read/write power draw that Hitachi says, "is lower than any other 500GB 2.5-inch hard drive on the market today" was just matched by Fujitsu who goes even further with 256-bit encryption. No use crying Hitachi, that's what happens when you show up late for a party. Expect to see the 5K500.B disk ship worldwide in December while the 1.4 watt E5K500.B ("E" for Eco) is expected by the end of March 2009.
Fujitsu announces world's first 500GB laptop disk with 256-bit AES encryption
Take 1TB and divide it by two and you've got a pair of new 2.5-inch 500GB disks just introduced by Fujitsu. Fujitsu's MJA2 series of 9.5-mm tall, SATA 3.0Gbps, 5400 RPM disks consume just 1.4 watts during read/write -- that's a 33% reduction from its previous drives while still boosting transfer rates by 27%. Model MJA2 CH even adds the world's first automatic, full-disk, 256-bit AES encryption without any performance penalty due to the hardware level of encryption. Take that Seagate and your weak-sauce 128-bit key. To be fair, any successful attack on a 128-AES key would likely apply to a 256-bit key as well. Expect these to pop for retail (with Western Digital branding too, presumably) sometime in the first quarter of 2009, a bit earlier if you can do without the encryption.
Western Digital My Passport Studio: now with FireWire 800
Western Digital announced a new member of their wannabe-buddies-with-Mac My Passport Studio line today -- it's the exact same drive as the previous Studio model, only this one comes etched with your favorite character from "Friends" on it! Not really: it's got a FireWire 800 port in addition to the old hat FireWire 400 and USB interfaces, perfect for those brand new MacBook Pro owners -- if they have any cash left, that is. The 400GB model is going to run you $229.99, 500GB will be $249.99, and they're available now.
Western Digital expectedly adds 500GB My Passport drives
Nice going, WD! Just days after rolling out your 500GB laptop drive (and by "rolling out," we mean "shipping), you've already found the courage to add a few half-terabyte units to your My Passport lines. Starting today, consumers can snap up the My Passport Elite or My Passport Essential in a 500GB flavor, both of which still weigh in at under 7-ounces and are available now. Prices? Try $199.99 for the 500GB Essential, $219.99 for the 500GB Elite.
Western Digital now shipping 500GB laptop drive: $220
If you're still having trouble tracking down Samsung's SpinPoint M6 we've got good news for you: Western Digital just started volume shipments of its own 9.5-mm high, 2.5-inch laptop drive with that still amazing 500GB capacity. The $220 WD Scorpio Blue with 8MB cache churns through a SATA 3Gbps transfer rate with 12-ms access and is said to be one of the quietest (24dBA average idle / 26dBA average seek) of any 2.5-incher spinning at 5,400rpm. A 400GB version is available for $190.
Pioneer finds 20-layer 500GB Blu-ray Disc "feasible"
Now here's a rate of progress we could get used to. Nary a month after Pioneer trumpeted a 400GB Blu-ray Disc, out pops another press release from the firm boasting about a 500 gigger with a score of layers. Based on research at its Tokyo headquarters, specifications have been drafted for an incredibly capacious 500GB BD. Granted, this very company already had plans for a 500GB optical disc nearly four years ago, but there's no time like the present to make this stuff a reality, right?[Via TrustedReviews, thanks xdragon]
Fujitsu keeps HandyDrive portable HDD line alive with 500GB edition
Father Time isn't slowing things down anytime soon, so it's good to see that Fujitsu is doing its best to keep up. Merely two months after taking the HandyDrive to 400GB, the firm has introduced an all new, totally marvelous 500GB iteration. Featuring the "world's highest capacity 2.5-inch external hard disk drive (likely the MHZ2 BT)," this bus-powered unit hasn't changed a bit in design, but it will hold a half-terabyte of information (in case you missed it the first go 'round). Grab it later this month in Europe, the Middle East and Africa for €229 ($364).[Via Pocket-lint]
Samsung SpinPoint M6 500GB laptop drive finally on sale... in France
We've been wondering where Samsung's 9.5mm 500GB SpinPoint M6 laptop drive has been hiding, and it turns out that it's just been vacationing in France. No word on when these might make it Stateside, but if you're desperate (or French), your lappy can unbuckle that belt another notch or two for just €197 ($306).[Thanks, onceuponamac]
LaCie snags Hitachi's 500GB 5K500, stuffs it into Rugged Hard Disk
LaCie's bright orange Rugged Hard Disk hasn't changed much externally since it surfaced over two years ago, but what used to buy you 160GB will now land you a full half-terabyte with dough left over for several In-N-Out runs. The latest Rugged drive packs Hitachi's 500GB Travelstar 5K500 and still maintains the scratch-resistant aluminum shell and shock-resistant rubber bumper. As for ports, you'll find a USB 2.0-only edition or a more versatile iteration that includes USB 2.0, FireWire 400 and FireWire 800 sockets. Either flavor comes bundled with the company's Setup Assistant and backup software, and if you're tired of waiting for 1TB in your pocket, you can make do with this one for just $299.99 / $399.99 depending on your choice of interface(s).
OWC reveals 500GB Mercury On-The-Go portable HDD
OWC's Mercury On-The-Go family of pocket-lovin' hard drives has been around for quite some time, but the group is getting an all new leader courtesy of the recently announced 500GB edition. Packing a half-terabyte of space on a 5,400RPM, 8MB of cache drive, the unit even includes FireWire 800, FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 to ensure compatibility with pretty much whatever rig you're dealing with. You'll also find a copy of Prosoft DataBackup III for OS X and NovaStor NovaBackup for Windows bundled in, but you won't be getting any closer to this bus-powered unit than the photo above without laying down $359.99 to call one your own.
Hey Samsung it's April: 500GB laptop drive please?
Reader John V. just reminded us that Samsung's 500GB SpinPoint M6 is now overdue. Sure, companies miss deadlines all the time -- but this time, it's different. For one thing, Samsung is notorious for issuing world's first, biggest, pinkest, (you name it) press releases. And when it's as important as a 2.5-inch, 500GB disk spinning at 5400rpm that fits in an industry standard 9.5-mm laptop enclosure, well, someone's gotta be held accountable for our disappointment... 320GB just doesn't cut it anymore. We're not pinching pennies for nothing Sammy. Update please?[Thanks, John V.]
Buffalo announces 500GB MiniStation TurboUSB external HDD
Although Buffalo managed to squeeze one whole terabyte of storage into its new LinkStation Mini, the firm is looking to give the bytes within its latest external drive a bit more breathing room. The 500GB MiniStation TurboUSB is a touch more capacious than the previous 320GB king, and as with other TurboUSB devices, it supposedly offers up "30-percent faster transfer rates than most USB hard drives." Additionally, the firm throws in its own Shock Resistant technology along with its SecureLockWare in order to prevent "unauthorized access in the event the drive is lost or stolen." Heck, you'll even find Memeo's AutoBackup right in the box, and as for the box itself, look for it to land later this month for a cool $329.
Samsung intros Spinpoint M6 500GB standard height laptop drive, Hitachi be damned
Hitachi had to hack it to produce a 500GB 2.5-inch laptop drive, adding another platter (and a few millimeters thickness) that make their new 5K500 impossible to install in most standard laptops and enclosures -- but not Samsung. The Spinpoint M6 500GB drive brings a half terabyte at the standard 9.5mm height, and should land some time in March, meaning your current laptop -- and not just those new Asus machines -- should be able to accommodate one or two of these massive mothers.[Via Pocket-Lint]
Asus M70S and M50S notebooks boast 1TB of storage
As you may have read in our coverage of Hitachi's new 5K500 2.5-inch 500GB drive, Asus will be the first manufacturer to pack a pair of these capacious components into a set of upcoming widescreen models, giving the 17-inch M70S and 15-inch M50S the distinguished honor of being the world's first one terabyte laptops. Besides those oddly-sized drives (which can configured in either RAID 0 or RAID 1), these machines will also offer up to WUXGA or WSXGA+ resolutions (for the M70 and M50, respectively), 2.4GHz T7700 Core 2 Duo processors, AMD ATI Radeon HD 3650 graphics, and a fingerprint reader, along with an optional hybrid TV tuner and remote. As usual, the good stuff (pictures, pricing) will be coming in a few days at the Show of Shows.
Iomega announces Power Pro Desktop Hard Drive with 2TB of storage
If your current drives are just stuffed the the gills with 10 megapixel photos you never resized and episodes of Still Standing that you forgot to erase, Iomega's got a new RAID array that'll bulk up your storage by two terabytes and let you continue living your carefree, digital pack rat lifestyle. With four independent, lockable 500GB drives, though, you could just as easily shift the Power Pro Desktop Hard Drive into RAID 1 and make sure that your 1TB of never-used files are doubly secure; RAID status plus free space, fan speed, and temperature are all displayed on the built-in LED. Connectivity options are also plentiful here, with the PPDHD offering both the 400 and 800 flavors of Firewire and, of course, USB 2.0 as well. Mac and Windows compatible, this one will set you back $1,700 when it hits on April 10th.[Via Macworld]
I/OMagic takes its external GigaBank drive to 500GB
I/O Magic seems to be all over the map with its GigaBank offerings, as the company jumped from six, to eight, to 100, and has now introduced a "high capacity" (read: no longer pocket-sized) version housing half a terabyte of external storage. While not swerving from the beaten path paved by all the 500GB alternatives that came before it, the GigaBank rocks a "steel gray, oval aluminum enclosure" and a presumably lonely USB 2.0 port. Thankfully, the company tosses in a cable and swears the drive plays nice with both Windows XP and OS X-based computers, but you shouldn't expect a whole lot of extras for just $279.99, anyway.[Via Lets Go Digital]
WD adds FireWire 800 to MyBook Pro external drives
So if you were interested in one of those decorative MyBook hard drives from Western Digital, but the spouse/kids felt that its FireWire 400 port just wasn't fast enough for their data transferring needs, now the whole family may be able to agree on these drives-in-disguise thanks to a key spec bump in the Professional series. Both the 500GB and 200GB Pro models now come with a FireWire 800 connection -- giving you maximum transfer speeds of 800Mbps -- along with the previous FireWire and USB 2.0 jacks, which offer pokier 400Mbps and 480Mbps, respectively. Shipping now, these models will set you back $350 or $220, depending on capacity.[Via Reg Hardware]
Maxtor's Shared Storage Plus NAS device reviewed
Reg Hardware seems to agree with our own astute pundit Ross Rubin that Maxtor's Shared Storage Plus Network Attached Storage device is a winner as a solid backup solution while doing double-duty as a capacious media server. Testing the 500GB version of the SSP, El Reg found the device easy to setup and share among several users, with software that provides a simple way to set up incremental backups, network printing, or media streaming to compatible uPnP devices. There do seem to be a few downsides here, most notably the irritating fan whine and skimpy one year warranty, and less importantly, the fact that it tags the icons of folders selected for backup with a little tick mark. If tick marks and fan noise don't bother you, though, the $465-as-tested SSP sounds like a pretty good way to backup data for small offices and homes with multiple computers, while giving you a little extra functionality to boot
