externaldrive
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Philips and Lite-On push out external Blu-ray drive
Yeah, just another Blu-ray drive for your perusal: this one, called the DX-4O1S, reads at 4x, and will be the first by Philips and Lite-On Digital Solutions, that joint venture formed about a year ago. Exciting stuff, this; due out next quarter.
OWC's Mercury Elite-AL Pro "Quad Interface" 1TB external drive
We're pretty impressed by OWC's "gotta plug 'em all" collection of ports on this new external drive, the OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro, which features a "Quad Interface" and 1TB of 7200RPM storage in a Mac-friendly enclosure. The drive can handle FireWire 800, FireWire 400, USB 2.0 and eSATA, and OWC is claiming speeds up to 80MB per second on FireWire and 150MB/s on eSATA, thanks to the Oxford 924 chipset. The $600 pricetag is a wee bit steep, but OWC is nice enough to include FireWire, USB and eSATA cables in the box, along with various backup softwares for Mac and Windows. We're getting a little tired of the Mac Pro-style cheese grater look, but you can find 1TB drives with a whole lot more ugly, that's for sure, so we won't complain too much. The drive should be available now, in capacities on down to 250GB if you're not quite ready to make the 1TB plunge.
SimpleTech SimpleDrive: up to 1TB, Pininfarina design
We don't often wind-tunnel test our external drive enclosures, but SimpleTech's re-released Pininfarina-designed SimpleDrive still kind of makes us want to break down to try. Now in capacities up to 1TB, the 7200rpm USB 2.0 drives come bundled with backup software, a 2GB Fabrik account (which might have had something to do with Fabrik acquiring SimpleTech's peripheral business), that inline light-up capacity meter, and your choice of colors based on capacity: red (160GB), white (250GB), sapphire (320GB), onyx (500GB) and gray (750GB and 1TB). Prices start at a hundred bones for the 160GB unit; combo FireWire 400 and USB versions will ship in May.%Gallery-2489%
Toshiba's PA35 external drive does HD DVD on the cheap
We thought this little dude looked familiar -- strikingly similar to one of Toshiba's prototypes from CEDIA last year. Now the real deal, Tosh's slim 'n trim PA35 external HD DVD drive will latch onto your PC via USB 2.0 for plug-and-play HD capability. The PA35 delivers 7.1 channels of hi-res audio to accompany hi-def eye candy, but only a ho-hum 1x HD DVD read speed -- since you can't do any burning, maybe they assume that you won't be reading any data discs either (plus hey, what do you expect for under four benjamins?). You can still count on it for trusty multi-drive duties with write speeds of 4x to DVD+R, DVD+RW, DVD-R, and DVD-RW, 16x to CD-R, 10x to CD-RW, 2.4x to DVD+R DL, 2x to DVD-R DL, and 3x to DVD-RAM. So if you're raring for some HD DVD action on the fairly cheap, this one's all yours for about $370. [Via PC Perspective]
Gibson goes wild, unveils new consumer electronics lineup
While a company not typically associated with consumer electronics can make the leap at any point, it's usually a relatively modest entrance, but Gibson has apparently had a bit too much fun at NAMM, and has thrown its logo on just about every device it could think of in the process. You won't find much of anything new in Gibson's lineup of consumer electronics, but if you're a Gibson purist and live life one riff at a time, these goods are for you. The company announced its own line of USB 2.0 Gibson Signature Series Les Paul flash drives, which currently come in a 1GB flavor and mimics a 1959 Les Paul Standard, and the firm plans to roll out more collectible drives shaped like other classic instruments in the future. Additionally, a 500GB external HDD was released, boasting USB 2.0 and a glowing Gibson logo on the side, and it seems that the firm is looking to snag a bit of that high-end interconnect market by offering up "premium gold" versions of optical audio, USB, and HDMI cables. Also on tap was a 7.1 AV receiver with a built-in guitar input, XM capability, and HDMI 1.3 video switching, various forms of recordable media, a dual-layer DVD recorder, surge protectors, and a few home theater speakers to boot. Although pricing is still up in the air at this point, it looks like you'll have the opportunity to get your external storage, surround sound gear, and a few spare E-strings all at the same place here soon.[Via Macworld]
Toshiba throws down trio of external, portable HDDs
Don't look now, but Toshiba's gone and hopped into the portable HDD storage market, and has a trio of drives set to debut at next week's CES. The latest products to come flying out of the firm's Storage Device Division is the USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive, which sports a sleek, black aluminum housing, blue indicator LED, and an all-powerful USB port. Coming in at 5.6- x 3.5- x 0.93-inches, this portable unit is entirely powered by USB, automatically powers up / down with your PC, and comes in 100GB, 120GB, and 160GB flavors. While that oh-so-spacious 200GB perpendicular drive didn't quite make the cut, Tosh did manage to includes its buttonless backup system, dubbed NTI Shadow, which runs in the background and captures updates to files without ever troubling you. Although prices for the more capacious versions aren't yet available, the 100GB unit will run you $139.99, and expect the trifecta to hit shelves later this Spring.[Via PhotographyBlog]
No HD-DVD drives for Asia
Pour a little popcorn out for the unfortunate Hong Kong film buffs who actually live in Hong Kong. Microsoft Taiwan says the Xbox 360 HD-DVD External drive will not be sold in Asia due to an insufficient supply of HD-DVDs in that market. Readers in the region please comment.
The Complete New Yorker on an external drive (and DVD)
Tech and Sunday reading, two great tastes that taste great together, right? That's why you're reading this right now, hm? Well, prepared to get cultured, kids, because when you're done with your coffee and your Times and your Engadget, you can plug in the Complete New Yorker on an external drive (or DVD, if that's your bag) -- over 4,000 issues since 1925 of everyone's favorite high brow Nast pub, stocked to the brim with stories and poems your friends probably won't get, political commentary we sure as hell don't get, and classy, satirical cartoons everyone just pretends to get; all of which you can snag for $300. Go on, do ol' Eustace Tilley proud.[Via MetaFilter]
HD-DVD: Get on the bus
The Xbox 360 External HD-DVD drive will be prominently featured in a tour promoting Microsoft's favorite format in at least 11 cities starting in September. The "HD-DVD Mobile Experience" might be your first opportunity to see the new drive in all it's glory. Here are the posted dates: September 14-17 - Denver September 22-24 - Dallas September 29-October 1- Minneapolis October 5-6-Chicago October 10-15 - New York October 20-22 - Washington DC October 26-28 - Philadelphia November 2-4 - Richmond November 15-17 - Los Angeles December 6-10 - San Francisco November 24-28 - Seattle
Iomega launches 320GB eSATA drive
Just a warning that peeps looking out for eSATA (external serial ATA) gear shouldn't have to wait too terribly much longer -- you know it's hitting critical mass when Iomega starts launching retail gear sporting the interface. Their new 320GB eSATA drive even comes bundled with an eSATA PCI card as well as Firewire 800 and USB 2.0 interfaces, should the eSATA thing not actually be your bag (or the machine you're temporarily using not have eSATA). It'll cost you $239, but at least you can get it precisely now, availability pending.[Via The Reg]
Buffalo's "all the cool kids are doing it" Blu-ray burner
They're just stuffing that Panasonic OEM drive into a USB 2.0 case like everyone else is, but Buffalo has the distinction of selling their external BR-H2U2 Blu-ray drive for $1012, along with black and white internal versions for the equally steep $916. The drives will be shipping (in Japan, at least) early this June, so early adopters looking for a little abuse between now and then can feel free to drop by our place to be kicked in the head and have your money lit on fire.[Via Akihabara News]
Rig of the Day: Typical desk
I love this shot because it looks a lot like my own desk: Mac, Coke, iPod, external hard drive, books, random junk...ahh. I'm feeling productive already. I'm also glad to see that I'm not the only one who has powered speakers sitting around and doing nothing."iBook at Work" posted by migroveruk.If you'd like to see your own rig featured here, simply upload photos into our group Flickr pool. We'll select an image every day to highlight.
LaCie Rugged: Successor to the Pocket Drive?
First and foremost: I love LaCie Drives. From the bad boys we use at work to the beige, external SCSI boxes I have connected to my ancient Macs, they just run and run. For the longest time, my favorite general use LaCie external has been the recently discontinued Pocket Drive. It was very small, came in sizes up to 80GB and featured a dual interface (FW 400 and USB). Best of all, its edges were wrapped in a very durable layer of rubber that made it possible to just toss it into a bag, backpack or what have you without worry. I loved it, then it disappeared.Last week, LaCie announced the Rugged Drive, and it looks like it could fill the hole that the Pocket Drive left in my geeky heart. This "all-terrain" drive features a bus-powered triple interface, storage capacity up to 120GB and a durable rubber edging that takes the stress out of transportation. I want one.LaCie is currently taking pre-orders (shipping is scheduled for February of 2006) at the following configurations: $169.99US for 80GB (USB 2.0), $329.99US for 120GB (USB 2.0), $199.99US for 80GB (triple interface), $399.99US for 100GB (triple interface) and $359.99US for 120GB (triple interface).[Via MacNN]
