Crave

Inside this shiny black monolith: a whopping 1.5 terabytes of storage.

(Credit: Dell)

Storage junkie that I am, I loved seeing terabyte hard drives dip below $100 this year, and then drop as low as $75.

Today we've reached another milestone: Dell has a Western Digital Elements 1.5-terabyte USB hard drive for $99.99 shipped. Yowza.

That's an awful lot of storage for less than $100. In fact, it's probably more than most people need, though I'd rather have too much space than too little.

The Elements sports a USB 2.0 interface. Curiously, Western Digital doesn't list the speed of the drive itself, which leads me to think it runs at 5,400 rpm, not 7,200. Consequently, it's probably not a performance dynamo, though I reckon it's fine for everyday tasks.

You can pair the drive with a Mac or Windows system; I believe it comes preformatted for the latter. (Thus, Mac users would need to reformat it, which is no biggie.)

The only real catch here is that Dell shows a ship time of "6+ weeks." Sheesh! Well, as long as you're not in a hurry, this is without a doubt the most bang you can get for your storage buck.

Bonus deal: Today only, you can get a refurbished Epson Stylus NX110 multifunction printer for just $19.99 shipped (with coupon code SAV40). Unreal, right? Amazingly, it includes a one-year warranty. Sadly, I've seen some fairly scathing user reviews of this model, so even at $20 it might not be worth it.

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.

Toshiba adds snazzy new colors to HDD line

(Credit: Toshiba)

Toshiba's newest additions to their line of external portable hard drives come in 500GB($150) and 320GB($120) capacities with an array of new color choices including green and blue, but the most notable feature is all the enhanced backup software you get in the package.

The hard drive comes with backup solutions for both Mac and Windows OS. Windows users get the benefit of NTI's BackupNow EZ software for one-touch data backups and even grants the user the ability to create a boot disc or even boot directly off the drive itself. In addition, the software also offers personalized recommendations on the best way to protect and store sensitive data.

Mac users, on the other hand, get NTI's Shadow 4 file-based backup software and can schedule incremental backups in a "set it and forget it" environment. This new line of external HDDs also work with Apple's Time Machine right out of the box, giving these users a healthy amount of extra storage.

For those worried about data security on-the-go, Toshiba covers its bases with an extra password-protected, 256-bit encryption.

Both drives are available now on the Toshiba Web site.

Seagate BlackArmor WS 110

(Credit: Seagate)

Ever since we took a look at the Black Armor External Hard Drive last year, we've been anxious to see what else Seagate has in store for the line. Today, they announced three new additions to the BlackArmor line of externals: a NAS server, an external desktop drive, and a new portable HDD.

• The BlackArmor NAS 220 Storage Server is designed for small businesses and home networks that need one place to park their data. The package includes licenses for up to five different computers to protect up to 20 systems, and you can purchase more on Seagate's Web site as well. It'll be available late July in 2TB for $450 and 4TB for $700.
• The BlackArmor WS 110 is simply an external hard drive with both eSATA and USB 2.0 ports for versatile connectivity. Inside the drive, you'll also find the SafetyDrill software preinstalled for full-system backups and file recovery. The "piano black" enclosure can be laid flat on a desk or stand vertically to save space in a busy workspace. These drives are shipping now at $160 for 1TB and $310 for 2TB.
• Finally, the BlackArmor PS 110 portable hard drive looks a lot like the Seagate FreeAgent Go that earned an Editors' Choice for its thin design and affordability. The PS 110 remains 12.5mm thin and comes in 500GB for $160.

Look for full reviews of all products coming soon, but in the meantime check out the slideshow below for detailed shots of all three drives.

Seagate releases three new BlackArmor HDD

The Triple Interface Iomega eGo has FireWire 400, FireWire 800, and USB 2.0 ports.

(Credit: Iomega)

Last month we reported on Iomega's new line of eGo external hard drives. Today, the company sweetens the deal with an even more versatile device: a portable hard drive with FireWire 400, FireWire 800, and USB 2.0 ports for the ultimate in cross-compatibility.

Iomega dropped by CNET's offices last week to hand over a test drive, and although we haven't put it through our labs benchmark tests yet, the eGo track record is good enough to assume that this device will earn good marks. The drives are delivered in HFS+ for out-of-the-box Mac compatibility, but you can format them for Windows as well.

The Mac-friendly design.

(Credit: Iomega)

Like most of the eGo drives, this triple interface model features Iomega's DropGuard technology that protects it from drops up to 51 inches, which is important if you're carrying around your crucial data.

In addition, the company protects your data with three layers of software protection: a full version of Iomega Quikprotect backup, EMC Retrospect Express, and a free lifetime subscription to MozyHome Online backup (2GB per month).

The 250GB, 320GB, and 500GB Triple Interface eGo Portable Hard Drive from Iomega are available now for $100, $110, and $150, respectively. Look for a full review on CNET.com coming soon.

The single-PC version of Replica doesn't come with a dock.

(Credit: Seagate)

It's not often you review a product that some folks will find too limiting and almost worthless, while others will find it suits their needs perfectly. But that's the conclusion we came to with Seagate's Replica external storage drive, which continuously backs up your entire Windows PC--OS and all.

Read the full review of the Seagate Replica.

The single-PC version of Replica doesn't come with a dock.

(Credit: Seagate)

Seagate's new Replica drives are designed to do one thing and do it simply: back up your entire Windows PC. They literally make a replica of your system, operating system and all.

The Replica comes in two configurations. The entry-level $130 Replica (250GB) is geared to single PC backup, while the $200 version (500GB) comes with a dock and is capable of backing up multiple PCs.

We have the multi-PC model in our labs now and we're putting it through its paces. There isn't much to test because all the Replica does is make a copy of your PC. If your hard drive goes down, you can then reinstall the copy on a new drive. Initial backup takes at least 40 minutes, depending on how much junk you have on your PC. But after that the Replica incrementally backs up your system as you add or change files.

The one drawback to the system is that you can't drag and drop select files to the drive. To reiterate, this thing does one thing--copy your Windows PC (sorry, no Macs, which feature built-in Time Machine backup software)--and that's it.

We'll have our full review up later this week. In the meantime, you can view complete specs here.

Got storage? You can get a terabyte's worth for $95 out the door.

(Credit: Verbatim)

Although not quite as big a steal as the 1.5-terabyte drive from a couple weeks ago (bring it back, Dell, bring it back!), Buy.com has a Verbatim 1TB USB hard drive for just $94.99 shipped.

As regular readers know, sub-$100 terabyte drives are rare, indeed, and I think that this is the first I've seen that didn't involve a rebate. That's right: $94.99 is your out-the-door price.

The Verbatim drive spins at a peppy 7,200rpm and sports the usual USB 2.0 interface. I think it looks pretty sharp, too, all modeled in shiny black.

The drive comes with CMS BounceBack Express Backup software, which features scheduling, backup sets, and automatic launch options. Even better, Verbatim backs the drive with a three-year warranty.

What do you think? Deal or no deal? Sorry, didn't mean to go all Howie on you.

Update: Looks like this is sold out already. Rats! Well, keep checking, as Buy.com sometimes replenishes its stock. In the meantime, Newegg has a Fantom 1TB USB/eSATA drive for $94.99 plus shipping.

Update #2: If you're a subscriber to Newegg's newsletter, apply coupon code EMCHDD10 to get the Fantom drive for $85.49!

Lowest price ever on a 1.5TB drive.

(Credit: Seagate)

Holy massive storage, Batman! I thought a 1-terabyte external drive for $99 was a killer deal, but Dell is offering a 1.5TB Seagate FreeAgent USB drive for $112.49. No rebates, free shipping, smokin' bargain.

To get that price, you'll need to enter coupon code T4346M$Q6GRJB$ at checkout. The code is good until April 4, assuming that the drive doesn't sell out before then.

The FreeAgent incorporates a 7,200rpm drive and a USB 2.0 interface. Alas, no eSata, but I've seen few PCs that have that kind of interface, anyway. Seagate backs the drive with an impressive five-year warranty.

Alas, according to the specs, the FreeAgent is compatible only with Windows XP and later models of Microsoft's operating system. You may be able to reformat the drive to work with a Mac or Linux system, but I'm not an expert in that area. (If you are, hit the comments.)

Before you pull the trigger, you might want to peruse some of the user reviews on Amazon.com. It seems that a fair number of people ended up with bum drives, either out of the box or after a few months of operation.

So I guess that there's a slight risk here, though I think that holds true with any hard drive. At least you've got a solid warranty behind you. Consequently, I think this is too good a deal to pass up, if you need the storage and have a Windows machine.