Are you ready for a desktop USB 3.0 hard drive? If the answer is yes then Iomega have a 2TB model just for you.
Here is how Iomega describe the eGo USB 3.0 hard drive:
Experience blazing USB 3.0 transfer speed to match the fast pace of your digital life! The Iomega® eGo Desktop Hard Drive, SuperSpeed USB 3.0 is super fast – up to 10 times faster than USB 2.0. Now transfer large video files faster than ever before! You will need a PC with a USB 3.0 port for the best performance (drive is backward compatible for USB 2.0 use). Iomega® Protection Suite includes Trend Micro™ Internet Security, EMC® Retrospect® Express Backup software, Iomega QuikProtect, and MozyHome™ Online Backup service to protect your data and your computer. (Software available via easy download). This is a great travel companion that lets you take your files, photos and music anywhere. The eGo is protected by a 3-year limited warranty! (registration required for extended warranty).
- Fast — Up to 10 times the speed of USB 2.0;transfer speeds up to 5 Gbits/s
- Easy-to-use — Just plug-and-play.
- Stylish — Charcoal gray colour complements your laptop or desktop computer
- Secure — Iomega Protection Suite included to protect your data and your computer. All software available via download and at no additional cost!
What is USB 3.0?
The website EverythingUSB.com describes USB 3.0:
USB 3.0 is the next major revision of the ubiquitous Universal Serial Bus, created in 1996 by a consortium of companies led by Intel to dramatically simplify the connection between host computer and peripheral devices. Fast forwarding to 2009, USB 2.0 has been firmly entrenched as the de-facto interface standard in the PC world for years (with about 6 billion devices sold), and yet still the need for more speed by ever faster computing hardware and ever greater bandwidth demands again drive us to where a couple of hundred megabits per second is just not fast enough.
In 2007, Intel demonstrated SuperSpeed USB at the Intel Developer Forum. Version 1.0 of the USB 3.0 (confusing, isn’t it?) specification was completed on November 17, 2008. As such, the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) has taken over managing the specifications and publishes the relevant technical documents necessary to allow the world of developers and hardware manufacturers to begin to develop products around the USB 3.0 protocol.
In a nutshell, USB 3.0 promises the following:
- Higher transfer rates (up to 4.8 Gbps)
- Increased maximum bus power and increased device current draw to better accommodate power-hungry devices
- New power management features
- Full-duplex data transfers and support for new transfer types
- New connectors and cables for higher speed data transfer…although they are backwards compatible with USB 2.0 devices and computers
SPECIFICATIONS
This drive only comes as a 1TB or a 2TB drive and requires you to have a USB 3.0 port on your computer. For this review we are looking at the 2TB model.
Only very recent desktops and laptops will have USB 3.0 ports on them, so if you are not lucky enough to have them yet you will need either a desktop PCI Express Adaptor or the laptop Express Port adaptor.
eGo is a NoGo