On Wednesday California-based Monster Digital introduced the Overdrive 3.0 series, a line of external solid state drives sporting a laser etched stainless steel enclosure. They're small and lightweight, similar in size to an Apple iPhone 4, and arrive in capacities ranging between 128 GB and 1 TB.
"Simply put, Overdrive 3.0 is the fastest and easiest way to add storage to your computer," the company said. "The Overdrive 3.0 series is the future of digital storage, and with speeds about 4x as fast as a traditional external hard drive, backups are easy, and the quickness is astounding."
This new series features a built-in 165-mm USB 3.0 cable that wraps around the side of the enclosure so that user's aren't fumbling around looking for a compatible cable. Sequential read speeds are up to 250 MB/s and sequential write speeds are up to 150 MB/s, backed by USB 3.0's theoretical max speed of 5 Gbps.
Other features include a blue LED data transfer indicator, a soft carrying pouch, a 3-year warranty (although currently the product page says 5 years), and an impact resistance of 500g. The external drive measures 60 x 126 x 8-mm, and doesn't require an external power source, relying on the connected desktop or laptop's USB 3.0 port instead.
"Since there are no moving parts, the drives are incredibly quiet, and durable, so if one is inadvertently dropped, aside from a potential cosmetic blemish, there are virtually no worries when it comes to your precious data stored inside," the company said. "Configured to work with either PC or Mac, the drives are ready to go to work straight out of the box."
Monster Digital is now offering the Overdrive 3.0 series in four capacities: 128 GB for $179.99, 256 GB for $299.99, 512 GB for $599.99, and 1 TB for a meaty $1199.99. The drives are available now at Adorama, Crutchfield.com, DataVision, Fry's Electronics, Guitar Center, J&R, Micro Center, TigerDirect.com and other retailers.
