The Mac Observer

Skip navigational links

DealsOnTheWeb Daily Deal: OneCall's Weekend Sale - 20 Great Items at Great Prices All Weekend Long

From The Show Floor - IOGEAR Announces Industry's Smallest External Hard Drive

by , 4:00 PM EDT, July 14th, 2004

To bring your stuff on the road, there are many solutions available. Of course there are external hard drives, which offer plenty of storage space, but are relatively bulky. On the other end of the spectrum are portable USB drives, which are certainly portable, but tend to have somewhat limited storage space and performance. Fortunately, our friends at IOGEAR are hoping to fill this gap with what they claim is the industry's smallest external drives.


Rear View of the New ION 1.8" Drive

The ION 1.8" will come in two versions, one that supports USB 2.0, and a Combo unit that will support both USB 2.0 (480 Mbps throughput) and FireWire (400 Mbps throughput). Both drives are also compatible with the USB 1.1 specification, for those that have older machines. What we found compelling is the innovative case design, which includes a belt clip for professionals on the move.

The drives will be available in both 20GB and 40GB capacities, and should be available in August 2004. Pricing has not yet been set.

The Mac Observer Spin:

Hopefully, the 1.8" drives that IOGEAR will be using will be available in sufficient quantities, so they don't run into the same fiasco that held up the iPod Mini.

Observer Comments

Show: Subjects Only | Full Comments
View Name:Guest
Subject: FireWire or iLink?
Close Name:Small White Car Posts: 1950 Joined: 02 Jul 2004
Subject: iLink

iLink is Firewire. It's just Sony's name for it. Although, yes, I too am always sad to see another product that refuses to draw power from firewire.



Last edited by Small White Car on Wed Jul 14, 2004 4:33 pm; edited 1 time in total
Reply | Quote
View Name:Guest
Subject: 1,8" FireWire & USB combo hard drive?
View Name:Guest
Subject: A Trolling I Will Go
Close Name:John F. Braun -   TMO Staff Posts: 227 Joined: 11 Jun 2001
Subject: Size Matters

Quote
Guest wrote:
Is it just me, or is there no mention of the actual SIZE of this drive? That's kinda a pertinent factoid, seeing as the article is titled, "IOGEAR Announces Industry's Smallest External Hard Drive."

Maybe somebody could tell us the dimensions? Pretty please? I know it's a 1.8" drive, and I could maybe guess at the size based on that, but seeing as how "I'll Get my Mac News Here From Now On,' I'd prefer it if you just told me.

I mean, come ON!


You are right, Guest. Unfortunately, IOGEAR only made a very small amount of information available via their press release. I actually had to take a picture of a unit they happened to have on hand, since no art is yet available.

I'll be sure to stop by tomorrow and get some measurements. I'm assuming that the claim, which they made, is accurate. I actually have a LaCie Pocket Drive, and both that and the Data Bank mentioned earlier are definitely larger than the IOGEAR unit.

View Name:Guest
Subject: Really the smallest?
Close Name:Dave -   TMO Staff Posts: 210 Joined: 11 Jun 2001
Subject: re: iLink

This is a HUGE issue for this type of product. Without computer-provided power, you're stuck with a power brick to operate it, which makes it a whole lot LESS useful for powerbook users, assuming these assumptions are correct.

-dave

Close Name:samacgillivray Posts: 5 Joined: 19 Jul 2004
Subject: IOGEAR 1.8" Drive

Has anyone got the full specs of this drive yet? I have tired to look at it on IOGEAR's site but there is nothing as of 17/07/04. I noted that the staff said they would try ti get more on the actural size but I see no responce to this statment. What is going on?

Close Name:John F. Braun -   TMO Staff Posts: 227 Joined: 11 Jun 2001
Subject: Re: IOGEAR 1.8" Drive

Quote
samacgillivray wrote:
Has anyone got the full specs of this drive yet? I have tired to look at it on IOGEAR's site but there is nothing as of 17/07/04. I noted that the staff said they would try ti get more on the actural size but I see no responce to this statment. What is going on?


Here's what the IOGEAR folks provided, thanks to someone in their main office pulling out a ruler and doing the work:

H 4.75" W 3.125" D 0.625"

A quick calculation based on other drives shows that the total volume of this drive is probably the smallest, with the largest dimension (5.75" on one of the LaCie units) being the most reduced.

Close Name:samacgillivray Posts: 5 Joined: 19 Jul 2004
Subject: IOGEAR 1.8"

Thanks for the info

View Name:Guest
Subject: Where are the GHD125C40 DRIVERS for OS 10.3?
View Name:Guest
Subject: hey big question
View Name:Guest
Subject:
Comment on this Article


You cannot edit your comments.   You cannot delete your comments.
Log in | Register | Having Problems? Reset TMO Cookies & Try Again
Username:   Password:   Log me on automatically each visit   

You are not logged in, and this post will appear as "Guest." Log in with your username and password from the TMO forums. If you do not have a username, you can register here.
Please note that guests are limited to including a maximum of two URLs per post.


Post A Comment
  Subject


  Your Comments



Please enter the word exactly as you see it in the image above. Registered users aren't prompted for this. Having trouble reading the image get a new one.


Recent Headlines - Updated Friday, July 4th, 2008

Fri., 7:30 AM
Happy Fourth of July!
Thu., 4:50 PM
Apple Slashes $400 from SSD Drive in MacBook Air
4:05 PM
It's Official - Firefox Sets Guinness Record for Downloads
3:30 PM
Apple Files Patent for a Multi-touch Gesture Language
2:20 PM
Editorial - Mac's Market Share and the Cascade Failure of Windows
1:35 PM
iPodObserver - Apple Slurps Up Samsung's NAND Flash for iPhone 3G
1:05 PM
WSJ: Tips for Switching from Windows to Mac
12:05 PM
iPodObserver - Google Intros Google Talk for iPhone
11:35 AM
iPO Just a Thought - iPod nano Versus iPhone: Decisons, Decisions...
10:55 AM
YouTube Ordered to Turn Over All User Records to Viacom
10:10 AM
Hot Forum Topic - Apple vs. Cell Carriers: Who's Winning the Game
9:25 AM
iPodObserver - Rumor: Best Buy, Radio Shack to Sell iPhone 3G
8:45 AM
.Mac Bookmark Sync Deadline Extended to July 6
8:10 AM
Adobe Reader 9 Hits the Streets
 

The Mac Observer Reader Specials

  • Special Report: WWDC 2008
  • Special Report: iPhone
  • __________
  • Help TMO Grow
  • Podcast: Mac Geek Gab
  • Podcast: Apple Weekly Report
  • TMO on Twitter!
  • New Media Expo 2008

Apple Stock Quote

  • AAPL: $170.12. Change Today: +1.94.
  • (Prices delayed up to 20 minutes.)
  • Discuss in our Apple Finance Board

Hot Topics

Top Deals From DealsOnTheWeb