Toshiba Pushes Portable Storage to 200 GB

Toshiba has entered the portable hard drive business with a bang, introducing new 2.5-inch USB 2.0 portable hard drives with capacities up to 200 GB.

Back in January, Toshiba announced plans to enter the personal backup market; today it made good in its promise: Toshiba has announced its first entry in the portable hard drive market, its USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive with capacities of 100, 120, 160, and 200 GB. Toshiba claims the 200 GB drive is a the world’s first to be based off a 2.5-inch drive; the result is a portable drive with plenty of speed and storage, but which is still portable enough for everyday computer users to move and store. With the portable drives, Toshiba is looking to cash in on consumer’s need to store, organize, and back up their digital music, photos, and video.

"Each year, consumers are generating thousands of digital content files that represent cherished memories, beloved entertainment content and important family and business information, yet the notion of preserving this information with a backup solution is just beginning to take hold," said Maciek Brzeski, vice president of marketing, Toshiba SDD, in a statement. "We have addressed a critical need for preserving digital memories for years to come with a high-capacity, easy-to-use solution that takes the mystery and worry out of data backup."

The drives are less than an inch tall (0.94 iches), 3.5 inches across, and 5.6 inches long; they’re compatible with Windows 2000 or newer as well as Mac OS X 10.3.9 or newer; they require a USB 2.0 port, although they’re also backward compatible with USB 1.1, although used will need to use a second USB 1.1 port with a USB to DC cable to power the drive off USB 1.1 ports. The drives also come with NTI’s Shadow software, a click-free backup solution which lets users back up their important files, media, and data just by connecting the drive.

To emphasize the importance of backing up digital data, Toshiba is promoting the "Toshiba Most Prized Digital Memories Sweepstakes," which offers contestants a chance to win a Toshiba Satellite notebook and gigabeat music player.

Toshiba’s portable hard drives are available now at suggested prices ranging from $129.99 for the 100 GB to $229.99 for the 200 GB unit.