Iomega Reveals USB 3.0 External SSD

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Iomega's rugged external SSD will ship next month.

Friday Iomega Corporation revealed a 1.8-inch external solid state disk boasting USB 3.0 connectivity. Encased in a rugged, metal enclosure, the drive will come packed with 256-bit hardware encryption, Iomega's Protection Suite (which includes anti-virus and backup software), and three storage capacities--64 GB, 128 GB, and 256 GB.

"Utilizing the SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface, the Iomega External SSD Flash Drive boasts up to 10 times the speed of USB 2.0 drives," the company claims. "Iomega's new external SSD Drive also performs twice as fast as a 7200 RPM SATA hard drives utilizing the same USB 3.0 interface."

Iomega is also aware that not every PC features native USB 3.0 support--manufacturers are just now rolling out motherboards and complete laptops and desktops that provide USB 3.0 ports. With that in mind, the company is offering an additional USB 3.0 adapter card--sold separately--that inserts into the USB 2.0 port in a desktop or laptop, enabling native transfer speeds of up to 5 Gb per second.

The new Iomega External SSD Flash Drive USB 3.0 is scheduled to ship worldwide in November, costing $229 for the 64 GB model, $399 for the 128 GB model, and a meaty $749 for the 256 GB model. The drives will be available from distributors, system integrators, e-tailers and through Iomega's online store.

Kevin Parrish
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13 Comments Comment from the forums
  • mrubermonkey
    Finally, a rugged SSD.
    Reply
  • harth13
    pricy
    Reply
  • applegetsmelaid
    Krivens.
    Reply
  • aevm
    A card that inserts into the USB 2.0 port and gives you a full-speed USB 3.0 port at the other end??? Sounds unlikely, but it would be cool if true. I would love to hear more about this part, maybe see a link.

    Anyway, there are $40 cards you insert in PCI-E x1 ports to get two USB 3.0 ports.
    Reply
  • ansemx324
    why would you honestly need solid state drive speeds for an external drive that small? SSD's are really only worth the money right now if you're using it as a boot drive and taking advantage of the performance...moving whatever data to an external drive that costs 5x more than anything else isnt' worth it, especially when esata does comparable speeds
    Reply
  • Thunderfox
    Iomega is still around? What have they been doing since Zip drives died out a decade ago?
    Reply
  • TeKEffect
    damn sounded really good until I read the $750 price tag
    Reply
  • dEAne
    wow but still the price is not impressive.
    Reply
  • Scanlia
    aevmA card that inserts into the USB 2.0 port and gives you a full-speed USB 3.0 port at the other end??? Sounds unlikely, but it would be cool if true. That's great idea! You could have a USB 3.0 adapter that plugs into 2 USB 2.0 ports, or maybe even 3... I'd buy it anyway...
    Reply
  • soundping
    Just wait it will get better.
    Reply