Toshiba unleashes Portable Drives upto 200GB

Toshiba Corp.’s Storage Device Division(SDD) on Monday introduced a 200GB Portable External Hard Drive, which the company says is the first portable storage device based on the compact 2.5-Inch Hard Drive Platform.

After pioneering televisions, laptops and DVD players, Toshiba is now entering the USB pocket drive market with its Portable External Hard Drive to compete with rival hard drive makers including Seagate Technology, the worldwide leader in hard disc drives and Western Digital Corp., which already offers similar devices with top capacities of 160 GB.

With up to 200GB capacity, Toshiba USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive can store up to 57,000 digital photos, 52,000 MP3 music files, 88 DVD videos or 23 high-definition videos, which according to SDD claims is the highest capacity of any backup solution in the compact 2.5-inch hard drive market.

Compatible with both Windows PCs and Macs, Toshiba's 200GB Portable External Hard Drive is available for $229.99. The drives are also available in 100GB ($129.99), 120GB ($149.99), and 160GB ($179.99) capacities.

The device measures 23.65mm by 88.0mm by 142.08mm and comes bundled with the award-winning NTI Shadow backup software, which include version control and continuous backup as long as the drive is connected.

Assembled in ventilated and sleek black aluminum housing coupled with a blue power-on indicator light, the drive offers the kind of storage space found on many laptop computers. In addition, the drive is able to handle a 29-inch drop (non-operating) as well as a 4-inch operating drop/bump.

"Each year, consumers are generating thousands of digital content files that represent cherished memories, beloved entertainment content and important family and business information, yet the notion of preserving this information with a backup solution is just beginning to take hold," said Maciek Brzeski, vice president of marketing, Toshiba SDD.

The click-free, switch-free and button-free backup solution enables users to connect the drive hassle-free, set the backup parameters and enjoy peace of mind in knowing critical and cherished digital information is protected, Toshiba, the world's fifth-largest hard drive manufacturer, mentioned on its Website.

"We have addressed a critical need for preserving digital memories for years to come with a high-capacity, easy-to-use solution that takes the mystery and worry out of data backup," Brzeski added.

With a four-foot USB cable included, the drive can be plugged into just about any desktop or notebook with a USB port and is ideal to use at home or in the office.

Japanese consumer electronics leader Toshiba can boast of the capacity crown for now, but analysts believe it won't be long before other portable storage gadgets touch or surpass the 200 GB mark.

Market researcher IDC predicts more than 6 million units will be shipped industry wide in 2008, up some 58 percent from the 3.8 million units shipped in 2006.