SimpleTech has improved their catalog of external hard-drives by introducing two new products: a Pro Drive with 1.5TB, and a Duo Pro Drive with 3TB. Can this big amount of storage capacity be used for personal stuff? Maybe if the person behind the computer makes video collections, maybe not…

Anyway, both drives have 4 possible connection modes: FireWire 800, FireWire 400, the usual USB 2.0, and the fast eSATA that is able make transfers at 3Gb per second. A good add-on to the Pro and Duo Pro Drives is the offer of (free) online storage, with a maximum capacity of 2GB.

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While the size of the hard drive may not be very significant, it’s the physical dimensions that attract attention: Toshiba has announced a 1.8 inch 250GB hard drive that spins at 5400 rpm. Even more interesting is that it features SATA support, offering up to 3Gbps bandwidth for disk intensive applications.

The 8mm thick drive will surely make its way to ultra portable laptops, and will also replace a similar 240GB 1.8 inch hard drive that was announced some time ago, though it was stuck with a slower PATA interface suitable only for portable media players.

The drive hits mass production in November and will be part of the MKxx29GSG series.

If storage space is your problem, Seagate’s 1.5 Terabyte hard drive for PC will surely solve it. I am talking about the the Barracuda 7200.11 1.5TB hard drive for desktop PCs which has just become the biggest hard drive on the market surpassing all 1TB previous models.
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2big Triple is a storage solution from LaCie. This hard drive is a powerful back up tool, so no wonder that Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) has awarded LaCie the Best Storage Back-Up Solution Award. And apparently a TIPA Award is quite a big thing in Europe. TIPA is composed of 30 independent publications from 13 European countries. Those publications are completely neutral as they don’t have any relationship with manufacturers. TIPA Awards are given for photo, video and digital products.
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Iomega has recently announced the released of their new portable hard drive. The global leader in data protection and security, has a new product, the Iomega eGo Leather Portable Hard Drive, a portable storage device perfect for todays fast-paced and fashion conscious lifestyle.

The portable hard drive has a 250GB capacity and is leather-bound to give it style and fashion. Beneath the beautiful leather exterior is a state-of-the-art USB-powered portable hard drive, bringing elegance and efficiency to the critical task of backing up laptop and desktop data. The 2.5-inch drive is simple to operate  and comes as a complete storage solution with a license for EMC Retrospect HD software for automatic backups, scheduled backups, or on-demand backups.

The Iomega eGo Portable Hard Drive, USB 2.0, 250GB Brown Genuine Leather is now available worldwide for $149.95.
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Seagate announced its 1 terabyte monster desktop hard drive with built-in government-grade encryption. Calling it the strongest security available for desktop PCs, the Barracuda FDE - Full Disk Encryption - hard drive is the world’s first 3.5 inch desktop hard drive with native encryption to prevent data theft.

Thanks to AES encryption, the Barracuda FDE delivers security for powered-down systems. The interesting part is that logging back on requires you to enter a pre-boot user password. Assuming that users are smart enough to reset any default password, this gives you a better sense of security. I don’t know about you, but it does to me. With capacities up to 1 TB, the 7200 rpm drive is ideal for your home or office needs.

The Barracuda FDE is based on Seagate’s DriveTrust technology, the drives are easy to install and operate. Drive-level security means that there’s no need for additional patches, updates or upgrades. Of course, you will have to wait just a few more months. The drive will be officially launched some time in 2008. No word on the pricing yet.

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