Review of the Skin Drive from Iomega

Back in September, Iomega released a special edition of the 500GB eGo portable hard drive with 3 unique designs by Skin.

What is Skin you may well ask?

Skin Industries was founded in 1998 by adult film legend and entrepreneur Al Borda. It got in at the ground level during the early days of freestyle motocross and began with a small line of dirt bike graphics and motocross gear. The label quickly developed a unique, hardcore following in the So Cal dirt bike scene and is now a huge brand in its own right with a long list of official Skin store locations and celebrity endorsements. The Skin Industries empire now includes Skin Clothing, Skin Entertainment, Skin Records, Skin Europe and a string of specialized Skin Industries stores.

Here is how Skin describe the drive:

Express your unique style with the new Skin™ Hard Drives by Iomega®. With three unique designs and up to 500GB of capacity. You can store your media and showcase your individual style. Skin Hard Drives include quality features you have come to expect from Iomega like Drop Guard protection and Protection Suite software included at no additional cost!

And here is how Iomega describe it:

Express your unique style with the new Skin™ branded Portable Hard Drives by Iomega®. With a unique design and up to 500GB of storage for your videos, photos, and music, you can store your media and showcase your individual style. Skin™ Portable Hard Drives include quality features you have come to expect from Iomega like Iomega Drop Guard protection and Protection Suite software included at no additional cost! The Iomega Drop Guard™ feature helps protect the drive when dropped up to 51” so you can be confident your portable hard drive is rugged! Iomega® Protection Suite is a comprehensive collection of valuable software that includes Trend Micro™ Internet Security (12 mo. Free subscription), Roxio Retrospect® Express Backup software, Iomega QuikProtect, and MozyHome™ Online Backup service available via easy download. The Skin™ Portable Hard Drive is protected by a 3-year limited warranty when you register your product with Iomega!

• Stylish—Red Hot Skin™ logo design on Red top with graffiti printing & black base
• Compact—Super compact drive easily fits in a pocket, laptop bag, or backpack; weighs only 0.40lbs
• Durable—Perfect for travel environments, the Drop Guard™ feature protects the drive when dropped up to 51″ (40% above the industry average!)
• Secure—Iomega Protection Suite software includes Trend Micro™ Internet Security (1 year subscription), Iomega QuikProtect, Roxio Retrospect® and MozyHome™ Online Backup service.
• 3 Year Warranty—with product registration

The drives only come in a USB 2.0 500GB format, but there are three different designs. In the order shown below: Knockout, Red Hot and Radical.

For this review, I have the Red Hot one.

Specifications

• Preformatted and hot plug-and-play
• No AC adapter needed
• Compatible with PC and Mac
• USB 2.0/1.1 compatible
• Transfer rate: 480 Mbits/s
• Three year limited warranty (with product registration)
• 4.9″ x 3.3″ x 0.7″ (L x W x H)
• .36 lbs

What’s In The Box?

The box itself has a unique look to it – trying already to be stylish.

Along with the actual drive, there is a USB cable and some paperwork.