Toshiba gets colorful with external hard drives
(Credit:
Toshiba)
Despite the no-frills name--Toshiba USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive--the company's new line of pocket-size drives boast some unique and colorful designs and features.
The drives are housed in a sleek, glossy chassis embedded with contemporary graphics and available in four color schemes: Electric Blue & Black, Carbon Grey, Hot Rod Red, and Gecko Green. They offer storage capacity up to 400GB, larger than most existing products though still less than the 500GB OWC Mercury.
The new drives ship with NTI Shadow backup software, as well as internal shock sensor and ramp-loading technology that deliver extra protection against standard wear and tear and anti-slip footpads that help the drive stay in place. Though not the most compact, the drives weigh only 6 ounces and measure 0.7 inches by 3.2 inches by 5.0 inches, making them relatively small and easy to carry on the go.
Toshiba's new external hard drives feature only one USB 2.0 connection (no FireWire or eSATA) and cost around $200 for the 400GB version. They're also available in 320GB, 250GB, and 160GB versions that cost less accordingly. All versions are Mac- and PC-compatible and come with a three-year warranty.
Dong Ngo is a CNET editor who covers networking and network storage, and writes about anything else he finds interesting. You can also listen to his podcast at insidecnetlabs.cnet.com. E-mail Dong. 
