G-Tech's new 2TB 7200 rpm-based external storage devices.
(Credit: G-Tech)It's not hard these days to find external storage devices that offer 2TB or even 4TB of storage. However, most of them use low-power and relatively low-performance internal hard drives, such as the My Book series from Western Digital or the FreeAgent series from Seagate. If you are looking for top speed and top capacity form external storage solutions for your Mac, G-Tech has some news for you.
The company announced Monday that it now incorporates Hitachi's 2TB, 7,200rpm, 32MB cache buffer SATA hard drives across its entire 3.5-inch product line, offering different storage solutions from single-volume external hard drive to RAID systems, with capacities ranging from 2TB to 32TB.
The company's newly refreshed products include the G-DRIVE, G-SAFE, G-RAID, G-SPEED eS, G-SPEED eS Pro, G-SPEED eS PRO XL, and the G-SPEED FC XL. With these new products, G-Tech claims that it's now the first in the world that offers a complete line of 2TB, 7,200 RPM drive-based external storage solutions, specifically designed for the Mac computer and audio- and video-editing markets.
G-Tech's new storage solutions comes with virtually all existing connections, from USB 2.0, FireWire and eSATA for desktop external drives to miniSAS and Fibre Channel for high-end RAID storage systems. The fact that now it uses the top 2TB capacity hard drives means that customers can significantly increase the amount of storage while retaining the same physical footprint.
The new G-Tech external storage devices are available now with premium prices ranging from $379 for the simple desktop 2TB G-Drive, $3,599 for the high-end 8TB G-Speed eS Pro to tens of thousands of dollars for other high-end storage systems.
More and more vendors have been joining the bandwagon of pocket-size portable external hard drives and it's interesting to see how each of them manages to make their product unique in its own right. The G-Drive mini Triple from G-Technology is one example of this.
The drive sports a very rugged, metallic look with its aluminum casing that also works as the cooling solution. Despite having metal all over, the drive is still very light, weighing only around 9 ounces. Designwise, the G-Drive is compact, however, if the Signature Mini appeals to the ladies, the G-Drive definitely screams masculine.
The G-Drive supports all USB 2.0, FireWire 400, FireWire 800 data connections.
(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET Networks)The version I have in my hands on today is the first drive I've run into that not only operates at a fast 7,200rpm (as opposed to 5,400rpm of other drives), but also backs that up with a high 200GB capacity. Whether this translates into higher throughput remains to be seen and CNET Labs will figure this out soon. The G-Drive mini Triple also comes in other sizes ranging from 160GB to 250GB. However, the high-speed version is only available in 200GB. (While the 5,400rpm 2.5-inch hard drives hit the 500GB mark a while ago, the top space for 7,200rpm version still remains at 200GB for now).
The "Triple" in its name refers to the fact that the drive features all available connection types for compact external hard drives: USB 2.0, FireWire 400, and FireWire 800. I reviewed the OWC Mercury recently that offers the same flexibility in data connection, but the Mercury is noticeably larger than the G-drive. Like the Mercury, the G-Drive also offers bus-powered capability with any of those connections and still comes with an external power port for older computers, of which the USB/FireWire ports may not have enough juice to power the drive. Most of the time, you will not need that adapter and it's only available as an accessory that you can order from G-Technology's website.
The G-Drive mini Triple works with both Mac and PC, though it's preformatted for Mac. It is available now for $279 for the 7,200rpm version or $259 for the 5,400rpm version. You can also get smaller sizes for cheaper prices accordingly.
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