morespace

The morespace product line from Hammer Storage (a division of Bell Microproducts Inc.) are USB connected drives now served in both "Portable" and "External" flavors. The Portable drives are based on 2.5" HDs and are targeted primarily to mobile consumers; while the External drives boast a beefier capacity (up to 1.5 TB, vs 750 GB for the Portables) and leverage 3.5 inch drives. All the drives (in both the Portable and External lines) are single drive systems with no RAID features.

Both product lines connect to the PC via USB 2.0 (backwards compatible to 1.1) connections, with the Portable line powered by the USB port itself and the External line requiring an additional power adapter. Both drive families are listed with a sustained data transfer rate of 34 Mb/sec, and ship formatted as FAT 32 drives.

The External drives are offered in seven capacities, ranging from 250 GB to 1.5 TB; dimensions for the External drives are 7.5 x 2.4 x 4.9 inches with a weight of 2.2 pounds. The Portables, on the other hand, are listed with seven capacities ranging from 160 GB to 750 GB; though the 750 GB model is not expected to be available until early 2009 (the next largest Portable--the 500 GB model--is available now). Portable dimensions are 3.3 x 4.8 x .6 inches, with a weight of five ounces.

The Portable model, in particular, supports the application of customized skins (user's can provide their own photos, color schemes, etc). A "Beach" skin is included with the drive, and custom skinning options are provided on the vendor's Web site.

Both drives are available now (with the exception of the 120 GB and 750 GB Portable; the 750 GB is due in early 2009), and ship with one year warranties. Pricing for the new Portable drives currently ranges from $59.99 (160 GB) to $139.99 (500 GB).

Contact Hammer Storage for further information.