Irvine, Calif.
– Toshiba America
today launched its first external hard drive based on a 3.5-inch platter for the desktop PC market.
The two-unit line consists of models with 640GB and 1TB
capacities, which carry respective suggested retails of $129 and $159, said
Michael Cassidy, Toshiba’s marketing director for accessories and HDD. The
initial offering will run through Toshiba’s traditional retail base and include
Best Buy, Amazon, Newegg.com and the regional players.
Cassidy said Toshiba decided to enter the already crowded
external hard-drive field at the request of its customers, which wanted a
desktop external hard-drive solution from the company. Toshiba has been in the
portable hard-drive market for more than a year with drives based on its
2.5-inch platters.
Toshiba’s plan for grabbing share includes adding extra features
in its units without increasing the price point.
These include an eSATA connection and full suite of backup
software preloaded on the drive, said Jacky Lee, product manager for the
drives.
The drive’s industrial mimics that of the company’s Satellite
notebook lines. The drives come in a glossy black finish and stand on their
side in a supplied cradle.
