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 Thanksgiving 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.
The So
Extreme SuperSpeed SSDs offer storage options of either 80GB or 160GB.
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.
It is available in white or black and measures 4.7 by 3 by 0.75
inches and weighs about 11 ounces. 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 price and 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 price to be determined). The drives come in
black and measure 7.2 by 4.8 by 1.5 inches.
All the new USB 3.0 drives are compatible with Windows
XP/Vista/Win7. Macs not supported by USB 3.0 at present.
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.
