Seagate hopes for big splash with small drives
The company had announced plans for the drives earlier this year.
The 3-inch Seagate USB 2.0 Pocket Hard Drive has a retractable USB cable, which is intended to make it easy to slip the device in and out of a pocket. The drive also features rubber feet designed to keep it still when it's being used with a desktop, Seagate said.
The product features a 3,600-rpm drive with 2MB cache. Additionally, it comes with software for data security, content management and password protection. The product is available now at a suggested retail price of US$199.
Seagate's other new device, the USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive, stores 100GB, weighs about 1 pound and features the company's fluid dynamic bearing motor, which is designed to keep noise levels low.
The device features a 2.5-inch hard drive with a 5,400-rpm spin speed. The drive includes 8MB cache, and it comes with data protection and security software. The suggested retail price for that drive is US$279, Seagate said.
The company is promoting both devices as useful for people who want to transport music, photos and video.
The pocket drive can hold up to 80 hours of MP3 files, 2,000 five-megapixel photos or 4.5 hours of digital video.
The capacity of the external drive is 1,600 hours of MP3 files, 40,000 five-megapixel photos, 100 hours of digital video or 140 games, the device maker said.