Drive

I've yet to see a 500GB external hard drive for less than $80, even on Black Friday. But Buy.com has the Micronet Fantom Titanium II 500GB USB drive for $69.99 shipped (after a $20 mail-in rebate). That's a lotta storage for not a lotta cash. (Somewhere my old grammar teacher is feeling faint.)

This 7,200-rpm drive promises solid performance and near-silent operation, as it's housed in a fanless enclosure. It's not much to look at, but, hey, you're paying for gigabytes, not glamour. CNET hasn't reviewed the drive, but a couple users gave it high marks.… Read more

Beginning July 1 of this year, new laws in California and Washington will require drivers to use a hands-free device when using a cell phone. California goes a step further for drivers under 18; they will be prohibited outright from using a cell phone while operating a motor vehicle. Washington does not make any age distinctions, but since January 1, the Evergreen State has prohibited composing or sending text messages while driving. After the laws go into effect, Washington and California will join the District of Columbia, New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut in enacting statewide hands-free calling legislation. In … Read more

I've accidentally left my thumdrives in the pocket and let them go through the laundry treatment multiple times. Some times they survived, other times I had to buy a new one. Either way, I had to deal with this familiar lingering bad feeling after finding the little device inside the dryer. It's like "Gosh, I couldn't believe it happened, again!" And yet, I just can't guarantee that it won't. This is why I've been very happy with Cosair's Flash Voyager series that features a water resistance and shockproof housing.

And today, … Read more

I never thought tech devices that consume relatively little energy, such as external hard drives, can actually be optimized to consume even less energy. Apparently, I was wrong. Case in point: the Guardian MAXimus external hard drive enclosure from Newer Technology.

The device is the company's first effort into "Green" storage. It features triple interfaces: FireWire 800, FireWire 400, and USB 2.0 and it supports up to 1TB of storage space in RAID 1 (mirrored) configuration. Utilizing the latest technology in energy efficiency, the Guardian MAXimus provides a 15 percent power savings and consumes up to … Read more

Running out of storage space on your notebook hard drive? Would an extra 160GB do ya? Newegg has the Maxtor OneTouch III Mini Edition on sale for $49.99 shipped. It's a compact, travel-friendly drive stocked with backup, sync, and system-rollback software.

I own one of these babies, and it's a slice of portable-storage heaven. However, I do wish it had an integrated USB cable instead of the separate one that's included. On the plus side, this is a new unit, not a refurb, and it includes a one-year warranty. CNET gave the OneTouch high marks, praising … Read more

Today, Toshiba announced a 1.8-inch hard drive that combines high capacity with high performance. The drive (model MK617GSG) gives you 160GB of storage spinning at 5400rpm. Other 160GB 1.8-inch drives have been chugging along at 4200rpm, until now. Expect to see this drive--and the single platter 80GB version of it--in mininotebooks in August. No details yet on how much of a discount these drives will offer over similarly sized solid-state drives.

Gasoline prices this week reached a new record average of $4.02 per gallon, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report.

Two-thirds of Americans have already changed how much they drive due to high prices at the pump, according to a poll commissioned by Access America Travel Insurance and Assistance.

Seventy-four percent of those polled said they would drive less, once gas hits $4 per gallon. Eighty-five percent said $5 costs per gallon would motivate driving changes.

The median price to spark a shift in driving habits was $3.20 per gallon, which was near the average several months ago. … Read more

ioSafe, a company specializing in disaster-proof storage devices, today launched the world's first internal hard drive with built-in disaster protection called ioSafe 3.5. On the outside, the new drive has the same form factor and functions just like any regular 3.5-inch desktop SATA hard drive. However, on the inside, it's definitely something I've never seen before.

The ioSafe 3.5 is actually a 2.5-inch SATA hard drive (found in laptops) covered by layers of protective materials. The materials, together with ioSafe's proprietary circuit board transform the drive into a 3.5-inch form factor … Read more

While many are marking 2008 as the year of the solid-state hard drive, Western Digital seems to be saying if it doesn't spin, it's crap. The company is reportedly developing a 20,000rpm Raptor drive--double the rotational speed of its current Raptor lineup--to combat the increasing popularity of SSDs.

While a 20,000rpm drive might compete on performance with SSDs and offer greater capacity, it would seem to be moving in the opposite direction when it comes to energy efficiency--another chief benefit of the SSD set. Also, heat and noise concerns grow as the revolutions per minute increase. … Read more