AfterDawn: News

Freecom offers USB 3.0 external HDD

Freecom has announced its new "Hard Drive XS 3.0", he first external hard drive in the world to offer "SuperSpeed USB" technology - or not in marketing lingo, USB 3.0. The driver offers speeds around 130MB/s via USB 3.0, enabling the transfer of very large files in significantly less time than external hard drives available on the market at the moment.

Offering storage capacities of up to 2TB, the ultra-compact Hard Drive XS 3.0 can hold up to 400,000 MP3's, more than 1.3 million digital photos, 400 full DVDs or 2,000 movies (though we aren't sure what exactly they mean by "movies").



"The rapid transfer speeds of USB 3.0 are going to make sharing information easier than ever before, and with the rise of interactive web applications and new media showing no signs of slowing, it's arrived just in time," said Axel Lucassen, managing director of Freecom.

"From downloaded TV programmes to digital photos and music, data-rich files are abundant both at home and in the office. The Hard Drive XS 3.0 is the first drive in the world to enable users to back up even the biggest files at unprecedented speeds, combining the latest technology with style and practicality to bring a new breed of hard drive to an increasingly demanding market."

The Hard Drive XS 3.0 will be available in Europe from mid-November in 1TB, 1.5TB and 2TB capacities. Prices start at €119 for 1TB, no further pricing was listed.

Written by: James Delahunty @ 1 Oct 2009 0:40

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• 7 comments

• mikecUSA

  So are all of the features of USB 3.0 functional through USB 2.0 jacks or will you need a new PMCIA, mini-PMCIA or slot card card to take advantage of it's full functionality?

  1.10.2009 09:43 #1

• joe777

  Originally posted by mikecUSA: So are all of the features of USB 3.0 functional through USB 2.0 jacks or will you need a new PMCIA, mini-PMCIA or slot card card to take advantage of it's full functionality?Good point are the current mobo's goning to support this with a driver update or does it need new hardware to run?
  
  Edit: I new I should have googles for the answer before commenting. Heres what I found
  
  USB 3.0 achieves those speeds with a new plug and cable format, but it's all backward-compatible with USB 2.0 and USB 1.1. Plug in your old device, and it will still work (at the older speed). Plug a USB 3.0 device into a USB 2.0 port, and it will run at the slower speed.

  1.10.2009 09:53 #2

• 21Q

  This is really pointless until usb 3.0 becomes standard. No retail computers have 3.0 at the moment right? Unless you are building your own computer.

  1.10.2009 15:39 #3

• cart0181

  Quote:Originally posted by joe777:
  
  USB 3.0 achieves those speeds with a new plug and cable format, but it's all backward-compatible with USB 2.0 and USB 1.1. Plug in your old device, and it will still work (at the older speed). Plug a USB 3.0 device into a USB 2.0 port, and it will run at the slower speed.From what I have read on Wikipedia, that is not ENTIRELY true. USB is a vastly different standard from USB2.0, nothing like the switch from 1-2. Mainly because they are doubling the number of wires in the cable and adding more complex signal duplexing. Check it out.
  
  That's probably why the article title doesn't read "Western Digital offers USB 3.0 external HDD."

  1.10.2009 16:46 #4

• shaffaaf

  its fully backwards compatible, dont worry about that :)

  1.10.2009 17:49 #5

• mike.m

  I'm in need of a new PC and storage device. While there are no new PC's out yet with USB 3.0, it wouldn't be a bad idea to get this instead of 2.0, if one was planning on upgrading.

  1.10.2009 17:53 #6

• ZippyDSM

  Its a shame they can not make an adater that can use 2-4 USB 2.0 ports to make 1 USB 3.0 port...

  1.10.2009 20:27 #7