Fujitsu HandyDrive Puts 500GB In Your Pocket July 18, 2008

Read more Laptops , Mobile Devices , Portable Media , Storage

Portable external hard drives are very handy indeed and with half a terabyte now available, they're like having a big fat PC in your pocket.

Fujitsu has just announced a 500GB version of its portable 2.5in HandyDrive and then ruined it by trying to claim it's the "world's highest capacity 2.5-inch external hard disk drive (HDD)". Well, it's not alone and certainly not the first. Buffalo announced the 500GB MiniStation TurboUSB way back in February this year. I'm not even convinced that the HandyDrive is the smallest since the Buffalo offering seems to be a tad more pocket-friendly too.

Apart from the marketing lies, er, 'innaccuracies', the HandyDrive is still a useful add-on. Weighing in at just 220g, it measures (D) 142 x (W) 82 x (H) 22 mm and costs around £182. There's also a 400GB version [and smaller capacity versions down to 160GB] - that costs a more reasonable £142.

Pushing its suitability for laptop users, Fujitsu said that the drive reduces its power consumption in stand-by mode by 35% over normal idle mode. The drives will start shipping at the end of the month.-Martin Lynch

[Fujitsu Europe]

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