Iomega rolls out speedy USB 3.0 external SSD drives

by Steven Mostyn - Oct 18 2010, 05:45

Data storage specialist Iomega has this week unveiled a new line of ultra fast and ultra rugged solid-state drives (SSDs) that work alongside the USB 3.0 port standard.

Robust thanks to its lack of moving parts, the Iomega USB 3.0 External SSD Flash Drive is described ideal for professional videographers, photographers and other creative professionals and benefits from the SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface, which boasts up to 10 times the speed of current USB 2.0 drives.

According to Iomega, its new SSD drives are completely backward compatible, link directly to the host computer system – requiring no external power supply – are drop resistant up to 10 feet, and also perform twice as fast as conventional 7200 RPM SATA hard drives utilising the same USB 3.0 interface.

Iomega is also offering up USB 3.0 adapter cards, sold separately of course, which imbue USB 2.0 computers with USB 3.0 performance when used in conjunction with a new Iomega SSD drive (for transfer speeds of up to 5 gigabits per second). 

According to Iomega president Jonathan Huberman, the new drives “deliver data transfer speeds considerably faster than any standard rotating disk drives [HDD], as well as the confidence that comes with a solid industrial design, hardware encryption and the complete Iomega Protection Suite to protect users' important files...”

The aforementioned user peace of mind includes 256-bit encryption, bundled anti-virus and backup software, while the Iomega Protection Suite contains v.Clone, a one-year subscription to Trend Micro Internet Security (for PC), Iomega QuikProtect backup software, Roxio Retrospect Express software, and the MozyHome Online Backup service.

Available in storage sizes of 64GBs, 128GBs and 256GBs, the Iomega USB 3.0 SSD drives will be available from early November priced at $229 USD, $399 USD and $749 USD respectively.

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