Dane-Elec Readies USB 3.0 Drives
By John Laposky -- TWICE, 11/9/2009
IRVINE, CALIF. — Dane-Elec introduced its So SuperSpeed line of USB 3.0 external hard drives in advance of a wave of hardware products featuring the new high-speed transfer standard.
The line includes what the company is calling “the world’s first USB 3.0 solid-state drive (SSD) capable of true data transfer speeds of 250MB per second.”
Consumers will be able to purchase the devices from Dane-Elec and its U.S. retail partners starting Dec. 11, following the Black Friday launch of USB 3.0-compatible laptops and PCs from leading OEMs.
The new USB 3.0 hard drive devices (HDDs) offer storage options ranging from 500GB to 2TB, and are available in 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch formats.
USB 3.0 devices will be able to transfer bandwidth-intensive content, such as photos, music and video, to and from USB 3.0 built-in port laptops and PCs at speeds up to 10 times faster than current USB 2.0 devices.
Dane-Elec will also be offering USB 3.0-compatible adapters for desktops with PCIe slots and laptops with PCIXpress slots. This will allow consumers using current machines without built-in USB 3.0 ports to take advantage of much of the increased speed capabilities of USB 3.0, the company said.
The line is made up of three basic models.
The Premium SuperSpeed portable 2.5-inch SSD is powered by an Intel X25-M chipset which has been clocked at sequential read speeds of 250MBps and sequential write speeds of 70MBps.
The 160GB drive retails for $799 and the 80GB model is $399.
The step-down So Mobile SuperSpeed portable is a 1 SATA hard drive device with the same form factor as the So Extreme. It is available in 500GB with a $179 retail and 640GB for $199.
Also available is a desktop model, the 3.5-inch So Ready SuperSpeed drive available in capacities of 500GB ($149), 750GB ($169), 1TB ($199, 1.5TB $239, 2TB (retail to be determined).
Two USB 2.0 to 3.0 Superspeed adapters, one for desktops and one for laptops, are available for $44.99 and $49.99, respectively.
Dane-Elec Readies Drives For USB 3.0
10/23/2009Seagate Intros USB 3.0 External HD
01/06/2010VisionTek Steps Into USB Drive Market
07/20/2003Intel Introduces USB 2.0-Ready Chipsets
02/09/2010
