storage

LaCie Rugged XL packs 1TB of storage into tough small case

1 Comment / Computers, Gizmo of the Day / By /

LaCie Rugged XLDo you need oh, a Terabyte of storage that you can walk around with easily. And you need it ruggedized? No problem. LaCie has you covered. The Rugged XL is an eSATA/ USB 2.0 drive with an aluminum casing, a rubber sleeve, internal bumper and heat dissipation.

I don’t totally care for the orange color, but for under $150, it’s really a deal.

Buy now!
Price: $129.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

RIP 3.5″ Floppy Disk – Sony says the end is nigh

1 Comment / Computers, News / By /
3.5" Floppy disks
Image courtesy of sundesigns

Having pretty much stopped using 3.5″ floppy disks years ago, I pretty much assumed they had died a quiet death. Not so. Sony sold 12 million floppies in Japan alone last year (2009)!

Sony has decided to end their long life as of March next year (2011).

I still remember going from 5.25″ to 3.5″ floppies – that was really a huge improvement in technology for at least 3 reasons – sturdier case, smaller form factor meant you could slip it into your pocket (and not bend it so easily) , greater storage.

It’s funny that even the introduction of the Zip disks (and associated technologies) did not unseat the floppy, and many software makers still wrote programs and/or installers and/or recovery utilities to fit floppies.

RIP 3.5″ floppy – you served us well.

Netgear Stora – store, backup, share and stream your music, photos, video and data

2 Comments / Computers, Gizmo of the Day / By /

As consumers generate or collect an ever-increasing amount of digital content in the form of photos, music and especially videos, home storage solutions are growing in popularity. But what’s also becoming more important is that this content is accessible from anywhere and not just in the home. Netgear is one of the companies trying to solve this problem, and one of such product that fits the bill is the Stora MS2110.

The Stora has a very consumer-dedicated website that shows off all of its sharing and streaming capabilities, such as:

  • share your photos and videos with your friends
  • access your files from the Internet
  • stream music to your phone
  • push photos to your Facebook or Flickr accounts
  • Back-up your PCs and/or Macs

The Stora can hold 2 SATA hard drives, so you can mirror the data if you’d like for more protection. It ships with one 1TB drive for lots of initial storage.

Just one word of warning. Some of these features, particularly the sharing/access-over-the-Internet is only possible with a premium $20/yr service via Netgear’s Stora service. See the differences in features here.

Buy now!

More info from the manufacturer
Price: $199.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

TrekStore USB Thumbdrive and Bottle Opener

Computers, Portable / By /

Ah yes, is there anything that you can’t USB-ify?! Well if there is, then it’s not a bottle opener! The TrekStor USB-Stick CO 8GB is a bottle opener and a USB 2.0 thumbdrive.

It’s a good-looking solid, brushed aluminum opener/stick. It’s a bit pricey, but should hold up for a long time assuming one of your buddies doesn’t swipe it from you when you get a bit too buzzed to notice.

Buy now!
Price: $43.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

LaCie d2 Network File Server

Computers, Gizmo of the Day, Networking & Internet / By /

Lacie d2 Network File Server

LaCie have long been a provider of top hard drive solutions and the d2 is no exception – this is a professional file server built for office use as it allows up to 50 users to be connected, with a maximum of 15 being able to use it at any one time. Available in 500GB, 1TB or 1.5TB  – Amazon appears to have a 2TB version also, but LaCie confusingly doesn’t display this on their website. This should see any small office run perfectly and would also be suitable for the power home user that wants more storage and flexibility in their wireless network.

The d2 supports Windows, Mac and Linux users alike and supports multimedia playback through iTunes and other DLNA multimedia devices. Naturally, TimeMachine is supported for Mac users. Two (2) expansion ports on the back allow for additional storage to be connected to the d2, as well as data imports and external backups all via USB 2.0 or eSATA. A nice touch is the inclusion of a BitTorrent-compatible torrent server.

Buy now!
More info from the manufacturer

Price: $243.99 (1.5TB model)
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

General Electric shows off optical disc storage breakthrough – 500GB disc

2 Comments / Books, Music and Movies, Computers, Miscellaneous / By /

Researchers at General Electric (G.E.) have announced a breakthrough in optical disc storage – 500GB on a single disc (the equivalent of about 100 DVDs using standard technology; Blu-ray discs can hold much more).  G.E. uses holographic storage techniques to achieve this capacity.

Despite the discovery, there is no telling if this will take off commercially at this point. It will be a matter of economics as to whether the technology can be brought to market at a price that consumers will be willing to pay.

Netgear Network Storage Device – 500GB/1TB external hard drive

Computers, Gizmo of the Day, Networking & Internet / By /

Netgear Network Storage Device

Wireless networks between computers and devices around the home, and office have become very popular recently, and this is a must-have addition to anyone’s network: the Netgear Network Storage Device. Featuring either 500GB or 1TB of hard disk space (depending on which one you go for), you have plenty of room to store high quality multimedia files and share them between everyone on the network. There’s also the option to extend the amount of storage available by adding another drive, which can also be used as a back up for the files on the original drive (RAID 1 for you power users out there).

These Netgears have built-in web interfaces to manage the files that are shared. It should also make it pretty easy for most folks to use. Furthermore, to ensure speed, you will find 256mb of RAM built in to the tower. The compatibility with other machines that you may have seems endless; media can be streamed to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and even DVD players. Even printers can be connected.

Buy Now! – 500GB Version

Buy Now! – 1TB Version

More info from the manufacturer

Price: $359.99-$569.99
(Please note prices are subject to change and the listed price is correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of posting)

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