Crave

The new midnight blue eGo portable hard drive from Iomega.

(Credit: Iomega)

If you're impressed by the previous generation of Iomega's eGo external hard drive, you'll probably like this one better.

Iomega announced Monday the worldwide availability of its new generation of eGo portable hard drives that feature a new look, up to 500GB of storage, and multiple colors including ruby red, sparkling silver, midnight blue, and black.

All of the models have USB 2.0 and are bus-powered, meaning you only need to carry a single cable that works as both the data and power cord. The included cable is a Y-shape USB cable that lets you use two USB ports at a time for machines that can't power the drive from a single USB port.

These hard drives come in an anodized aluminum case that's a little more than half an inch thick and weighs less than 7 ounces. They sport Iomega's Drop Guard feature that protects data on the drives from drops of up to 51 inches, according to Iomega.

The Iomega eGo BlackBelt has even more impressive drop protection and comes with a black eGo Power grip belt and Drop Guard Xtreme that protects against drops from up to 7 feet.

All of these drives also come with backup software for Windows and Macs and have three-year warranties. Apart from the Iomega BlackBelt that's available in June, the rest of the new eGo portable hard drives are available immediately.

Prices vary depending on the capacity. The drives start at $85 for a 250GB version, and the 500GB BlackBelt model is $149.

Iomega continues to impress us with its sexy, sleek external hard drives. We just recently reviewed the eGo Helium, a drive catered to Apple fanboys. There's also the eGo Camo that's useful for secretly accessing your data in the forest, and the eGo Brown Leather that makes a perfect present for your friendly neighborhood alcoholic. This time, they're introducing two new drives to their eGo line. Check 'em out!

This is the eGo Encrypt. It actually bears a striking resemblance to the eGo Helium, with its silver case and clean lines, but this one is a little thicker and is NTFS formatted out of the box. This one also bumps the security up a notch using government grade 128-bit encryption to protect the data inside. In addition, if the drive is disconnected from a computer while in use, the drive will automatically lock itself and require a predesignated password to access it again.

It also comes with a clear version of the Drop Guard Xtreme band that we first saw on the eGo Camo. You can take it on and off, but we recommend you keep it on just in case you happen to drive it from seven feet up- it'll keep the drive protected. Plus, what're you going to do with a loose rubber band? It's 320GB for $150--a little more than the eGo Helium, but still an excellent deal at $0.47 per gigabyte.

This one looks even more familiar than the Encrypt. The eGO BlackBelt portable hard drive is the same drive as the eGo Camo, but...it's black. So if you have enough disruptive pattern material in your house and just need a simple, secure drive, the BlackBelt is your go-to guy. Again, it includes the Drop Guard Xtreme, so feel free to use it to protect yourself against would-be assailants. This one is 250GB for $120, which factors out to a cool $0.48 per gigabyte.

We'll be getting both drives into our labs before the holiday break, so look out for a full length review coming soon!

Everyone's had the experience of toiling away on a project, only to have the hard work go unrecognized. For those times when co-workers or family members fail to acknowledge your genius, there's the Applause Machine from Laikingland.

Designed by U.K. artist Martin Smith, the Applause Machine is a kinetic sculpture that measures about 18 inches high. When you press a button on the wood base, the motor kicks into gear and the machine "enthusiastically claps its hands for you"--well, as much as a machine can express enthusiasm. As this video shows, the clapping seems to be easily drowned out by the sound of the motor.

Made of powder-coated steel, brass, plastic, and walnut, the Applause Machine runs on two AAA batteries (included). You can choose from among five colors--red, green, orange, black, and white; the collective will manufacture 250 machines in each color.

Of course, U.S. buyers will have to be either independently wealthy or especially desperate for an ego boost. Thanks to the still-unfavorable exchange rate, the Applause Machine prices out to $301.83.

(Via Dezeen)

(Credit: CNET)

The eGo Helium drive from Iomega really loves your MacBook Air and would like to respectfully ask for its hand in marriage.

You see, the two were virtually cut from the same cloth and share an uncanny amount of similarities. From their subtle gray chassis (off topic: what's the plural of chassis? Yep, chassis) and their finely shaped edges to their proprietary file formatting system (HFS+), they're so in touch with each other that $143 seems like chump change to pay for the wedding.

The only thing missing in your MacBook's life is just a little extra space, and the eGo Helium drive is ready to provide her with 320 gigabytes of pure storage love. If ever there were a reason for these two not to be joined in the chains of marriage, speak now or forever hold your peace.

Ahem, we've got one or two--check out our full review of the Iomega eGo Helium for more details.

Earlier this year, we took a close look at Iomega's eGo line of portable hard drives. We tested both the brown leather eGo and the camo eGo, with superb results: we liked both Iomega's Drop Guard design that protects the drives from drops up to a meter above the floor, and the quick transfer speeds.

Now, Iomega is taking the drives' aesthetic value one step further by introducing the 320GB eGo Helium. The drive is just .63 inches, and its sleek exterior casing is anodized silver to match perfectly with Apple's MacBook Air. Inside the chassis, you'll find a slim 2.5-inch portable drive--the whole device weighs a svelte 7 ounces.

The eGo Helium attaches to your computer via USB 2.0 and is powered by the USB bus so there's no need for external power. It also features the Drop Guard design for extra protection from the elements of day-to-day travel, and is preformatted for use with Apple's HFS+ file system. The drive is also compatible with Windows 2000 Professional, XP, and Vista.

We're excited to take a closer look at the device and test the read and write speeds. The other eGo drives we tested before performed very well, reading data at 19.47 megabytes per second and writing at 19.5 MBps. Not bad for an external hard drive, but we'll see if the eGo Helium lives up to its ruggedized siblings.

Look for a review coming very soon.

(Credit: T3 Gadget Website)

In the past, we've seen laptops named after high-end sports car manufacturers, such as Ferrari and Lamborghini, but what about the luxury car enthusiast? Well, the wait is now over: Ego has announced the Bentley laptop. In keeping with the tradition of the hallowed British brand, the laptop features a hand-stitched leather lid cover and a curved metal case painted the same colors as the car. When closed, the laptop can be carried by its handle, which is also reminiscent of the door handle of the automobile.

Otherwise, you're getting a pretty standard laptop, featuring Windows Vista 64-bit and a 160GB hard drive. It costs a whopping $20,000--but considering the cost of your average Bentley, we guess that's something of a bargain. The Bentley laptop should be available later this summer (in the U.K., at least). So you still have time to take out a second mortgage on your home and be the talk of the town.

It's been awhile since we've seen a ruggedized external hard drive come to the market. The last one we reviewed was the LaCie Rugged All-Terrain Hard Drive; it scored well in the speed tests and even withstood a 30-inch drop off a desk in nonoperating mode.

Iomega's eGo camo portable hard drive takes it a step higher and bumps the maximum drop height to 60 inches (5 feet), or so they report. Along with the standard read and write tests, we also took the liberty of performing a drop test to prove its toughness. The day we tested this drive, it just happened to be "bring your kids to work day," so we put those little buggers to work. Check out the video above and rest assured that if you buy this drive, you're not going to worry about its durability. This little guy took several drops and connected to the computer with no wounds to the exterior and zero loss of data.

All of Iomega's eGo line has a drop resistance of 51 inches, but the camo version has an ace of its sleeve: the "Power Grip Band" is a thick piece of rubber that swaddles the drive and allows you to drop it an extra 9 inches without worry. For those of you are constantly on the go and are looking for an external hard drive to throw in your bag, we certainly recommend the Iomega eGo Camo portable hard drive--it'll keep your sensitive data in one piece.

Check out the review for more information including transfer speed testing and a detailed hardware description.

My name is Justin Yu, and I'm a digital pack rat. That's right, my hard drive is ultra cluttered with bad photos, ancient MP3s, and obsolete software, but I can never bring myself to trash them--who knows when I'll need that essay I wrote in middle school on Benjamin Franklin? I know that as soon as I empty the trash can, someone's going to ask for that blurry picture of their knee I took back in '98.

Iomega looks like they have my affliction covered--the company just released a 1TB version of the popular eGo desktop hard drive in three colors: black, blue, and red. These hot swappable USB 2.0 drives are going for $269.95 and are available today. The design is based on the popular eGo portable drives and look a lot like a flask, with rounded edges and a matte finish. With 1TB of space, I can happily keep my files safe and secure for decades to come...uh-oh...

(Credit: Iomega)

If LaCie is trying to lock up the fashionista market by hiring European designers to tart up their storage devices, Iomega seems to be sending an entirely different message with its "eGo" line of portable drives.

To wit: A few months back it released a version that bore a striking resemblance to a hip flask, and now it's come out with a model dressed in full camouflage fatigues. The 250GB "Camo eGo" is also outfitted with a black "Iomega Power Grip," adding "a style of adventure and intrigue to the eGo color kaleidoscope." (Note to Iomega: Overthink much?)

Apparently positioning itself as the bad boy of the storage world, the eGo also continues the camo theme that has increasingly infected gadgets in general, from Skullcandy headphones and Motorola walkie-talkies to Hummer phones and the latest Mobiado handset. The closest we'll get, however, is some MP3 sunglasses.