Jul 14

SanDisk’s elusive 32GB microSDHC card on sale tomorrow at Verizon: $100 with a Droid X, $150 without

Posted in: Android, droid, Google, GoogleAndroid, motorola, on sale, OnSale, retail, sale, smartphone, storage, Today's Chili, verizon, Verizon Wireless, VerizonWireless

Oh, sure — SanDisk‘s 32GB microSDHC card has been “shipping” since late March, but have you actually tried to find one? It’s been a lesson in frustration for many, and while a few e-tailers have shown stock off and on, the card has generally evaded archivists who simply need an insane amount of available storage on their handset. Starting tomorrow, however, that should change. Verizon Wireless — of all companies — has somehow managed to become the “only retailer that offers customers the 32GB SanDisk microSDHC card.” We’re assuming it’s referring to brick and mortar retailers, but at any rate, the gem will be on sale tomorrow at VZW outlets for $149.99, or just $99.99 if you purchase one alongside Motorola’s Droid X. The only trouble with that? You’re stuck figuring out what to do with the 16GB microSDHC card that ships inside of the phone. Thank heavens for the Bay, right?

Continue reading SanDisk’s elusive 32GB microSDHC card on sale tomorrow at Verizon: $100 with a Droid X, $150 without

SanDisk’s elusive 32GB microSDHC card on sale tomorrow at Verizon: $100 with a Droid X, $150 without originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Jul 2010 21:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jul 13

Toshiba’s Canvio for Mac external HDD family makes OS X backup a cinch

Posted in: Apple, external hard drive, ExternalHardDrive, hard drive, HardDrive, Mac, os x, OsX, peripheral, storage, Today's Chili, Toshiba

Not taking another chance on that Time Capsule, even after it’s repaired? Can’t say we blame you, and neither will Toshiba. Following up on the debut of the Canvio hard drive line in March, Tosh has just outed a Canvio for Mac family that’s aimed at making OS X backups a lesson in simplicity. Available now in 500GB, 750GB and 1TB sizes, the new trio ships with pre-loaded Mac-customized backup software, and they’ll be doused in either Radiant Silver or Infinite White. Internally, there’s a shock sensor for keeping things safe from minor bumps and bruises, and as you’d expect, USB 2.0 provides all of the power and connectivity you need. Check ’em right now for $99.99, $119.99 and $139.99 in order of mention.

Continue reading Toshiba’s Canvio for Mac external HDD family makes OS X backup a cinch

Toshiba’s Canvio for Mac external HDD family makes OS X backup a cinch originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Jul 2010 12:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jul 07

Stow your Stuff with the CableBox Mini

Posted in: storage, Today's Chili

CableBoxMini.jpg

They say it’s a wireless world, but you wouldn’t know it by the tangle of cords in most offices. To help you ditch that mess, Bluelounge is offering the CableBox Mini. Based on the company’s CableBox (but smaller), the Mini is more than just a cute li’l box. There’s a power strip with surge protector hidden inside. Plug in all your devices and hide away the cords and those huge adapters. Each box comes with a lid, so you won’t see the tangle inside.

The CableBox Mini measures 9- by 4- by 5-inches and sells for $29.95. Besides pink, it comes in blue, green, orange, yellow, and white. Its compact size means that you can use it on the floor or desk, places too small for the original CableBox. Pick it up now from BlueLounge’s site.

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Jul 01

Comcast starts offering multiroom features, 500GB hard drives with AnyRoom DVR

Posted in: dvr, storage, Today's Chili, upgrade

Oregon and Southwest Washington are enjoying more than just the launch of Comcast’s updated A28 guide today, the company also announced it has begun offering Anyroom DVR (not to be confused with Anyroom On Demand) setups in the area. It’s a pretty standard MoCA implementation, one central HD DVR that allows customers to watch and control recorded programming from other hard drive-less set-top boxes in the same house. Comcast say Anyroom DVR is available in 20 markets including the Bay area, Western Mass, Augusta, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Little Rock and others, while forum posts on DSLReports indicate promos have been spotted in Chicago and Pennsylvania with a price tag of $19.95 for the main DVR, and the usual fees for the other boxes (maximum of 3).

We couldn’t get an official confirmation on the amount of storage available 500GB is an all too welcome improvement over the 160GB / 250GB drives still sitting in most standard DVRs Comcast issues or the FiOS one we tested a while back, outpaces the 250GB / 320GB options in AT&T’s U-verse setups and would put it on par with DirecTV’s HR24 (can be upgraded) and the new Cox Plus Package. Sure, it’s a little late to record every World Cup match in HD (or 3D) but we’re sure you’ll find something to fill the space.

Update: Check after the break for specs on the main DVR and networked set-top boxes. (Thanks, Robert!)

Continue reading Comcast starts offering multiroom features, 500GB hard drives with AnyRoom DVR

Comcast starts offering multiroom features, 500GB hard drives with AnyRoom DVR originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Jul 2010 18:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 29

‘World’s First’ 3TB Desktop Drive Offers USB 3.0, FireWire

Posted in: storage, Today's Chili, usb 3.0

Seagate’s new FreeAgent GoFlex external hard drive is notable for two things other than the excessive use of CamelCase in its name. The first is that it will hold up to 3TB of data, with Seagate claiming a World’s First for this feat of packing bits into an external drive.

The second is that, while the disk comes ready to hook up via USB 2.0, it can easily be changed to fit a combined FireWire 800/USB 2.0 connector ($50) or a USB 3.0 ($40) connector. For those still lacking the faster bus on their machines (that is to say, almost all of us) there is an $80 kit which includes the USB 3.0 connector, a PCI-X card and a cable. These connectors just swap in for the one already fitted.

Better, the price is actually rather reasonable. $250 will buy you the 3TB drive, which compares pretty well to the basic $130 1TB model. Available now, for all of you who like to keep their eggs in one giant basket.

FreeAgent GoFlex Desk External Drive [Seagate]




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Jun 28

RevoDrive PCIe SSD reviewed, deemed awesome, cheap, and awesome because it’s cheap

Posted in: solid state drive, SolidStateDrive, SSD, storage, Today's Chili
Just the thought of an almost affordable PCIe SSD inspires some serious gadget lust, so we’re glad to see reviews of the OCZ RevoDrive starting to pop up ’round the net. The gang at PC Perpective got their hands on a model, and they’re clearly smitten, calling it “an absolute breath of fresh air.” Although it ain’t the fastest when compared to FusionIO‘s offering, “it is less demanding on system resources and remains an outstanding performer for its price point” (in the $400-$600 range, depending on configuration). And it employs a simple RAID controller, so you can use it for your boot drive. The reviewer at AnandTech was a little less enthusiastic, pointing out that “application launch times and most conventional desktop uses won’t be affected” by the drive. But that’s not to say it isn’t a well-thought out piece of kit: “As far as the architecture of the drive goes,” it continues, “there doesn’t appear to be any downside to OCZ’s PCI-X to PCIe solution.” But that ain’t the half of it! Check out the source links to get the nitty-gritty details.

RevoDrive PCIe SSD reviewed, deemed awesome, cheap, and awesome because it’s cheap originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 28 Jun 2010 14:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 24

SD cards branded with an upper-case ‘I’ are faster, yo

Posted in: flash, sd, storage, Today's Chili

Since they’re theoretically capable of 300 megabyte per second transfer rates, we knew SDXC cards wouldn’t stay slow forever. How will we separate wheat from chaff when faster models do appear, though? You’re looking at it. This week, the SD Association unveiled the UHS-I specification for SDXC and SDHC cards capable of transferring data at up to 104 megabytes per second — reportedly fast enough to record HD videos in real time. Why the association chose the phrasing “up to” is a little iffy, as we thought the point of such specifications was quality control, but considering how many Class 4 and Class 6 SD cards we’ve tossed that didn’t match up to spec, we suppose we’ll make do with a ballpark estimate… until the inevitable UHS-II makes the rounds. PR after the break.

Continue reading SD cards branded with an upper-case ‘I’ are faster, yo

SD cards branded with an upper-case ‘I’ are faster, yo originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Jun 2010 03:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 23

SanDisk’s 1GB WORM SD card stores evidence longer than your prison sentence (video)

Posted in: flash, Japan, sd, storage, Today's Chili, video

You can think of SanDisk’s latest WORM SD card like a mini time capsule… for criminals. As the name implies, these write-once-read-many cards are tamperproof slivers of flash storage that can only be written to once by an SD WORM-compatible device like, say, those security cameras, witness voice recorders, and photo cameras used by the police. SanDisk claims that the data will still be readable after 100 years, long after you and your crimes have been forgotten. Why the fuss after not hearing about SanDisk’s SD WORM ambitions since 2008? Well, Sandisk just announced that Japan’s police force will use the SanDisk SD WORM card “as the storage media of choice for tamper-proof forensic image archiving.” We suspect that the Yakuza will be getting right on that “tamper-proof” claim just as soon as they finish viewing the video embedded after the break.

Continue reading SanDisk’s 1GB WORM SD card stores evidence longer than your prison sentence (video)

SanDisk’s 1GB WORM SD card stores evidence longer than your prison sentence (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Jun 2010 04:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 22

Need More Room On Your DVR? Try the My Book AV DVR Expander

Posted in: dvr, storage, Today's Chili
Western Digital My Book AV DVR Expander.jpg
If you’re running out of space on your DVR, Western Digital has a solution for you with the new My Book AV DVR Expander. The device offers an additional 1TB of storage for all of your favorite programs, equivalent to as many as 120 hours of HD television programming. 
The My Book AV DVR Expander is compatible with TiVo Series 3 and TiVo HD DVRs as well as Dish Network and DirecTV DVRs. Western Digital is also testing it to ensure compatibility with the set-top boxes used by other major cable and satellite television providers. 
Western Digital already provides many of the hard drives in those existing set-top boxes, and like those drives, the My Book AV Expander has been engineered for heavy duty 24/7 use. They also feature WD GreenPower technology to reduce heat emission and can be positioned horizontally or vertically to maximize airflow.
A direct transfer option compatible with select camcorders is included, which allows users to download home movies from their camcorder to the My Book AV DVR Expander without a computer. It also works with other select devices, such as Sony Blu-Ray players, as well as video game consoles like the Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony PlayStation 3, 
USB 2.0 and eSATA interfaces are included. The My Book AV DVR Expander is available now for $149.99 at the Western Digital online store.
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Jun 17

Ask Engadget: best non-SSD laptop hard drive?

Posted in: AskEngadget, hard drive, HardDrive, hybrid, solid state drive, SolidStateDrive, SSD, storage, Today's Chili

We know you’ve got questions, and if you’re brave enough to ask the world for answers, here’s the outlet to do so. This week’s Ask Engadget question is coming to us from Jason, who needs a laptop drive upgrade that doesn’t involve the words “solid state.” Or “really expensive.” If you’re looking to send in an inquiry of your own, drop us a line at ask [at] engadget [dawt] com.

“I am in the market for a 2.5-inch notebook drive for my new Core i7 MacBook Pro. The biggest concern for me is performance, with storage after that, and impact on battery life last. Every SSD I have seen is over my budget. I am wondering which hard drive will be the best non-solid state drive to fit in a MBP. Some people mentioned Seagate’s Momentus XT, which is a hybrid drive — are they any good? Thanks!”

One thing Jason left out was his capacity requirements and actual budget, but we’ll go ahead and assume he wants something larger than 40GB and cheaper than the average SSD. Any blazing HDDs out there for the taking? Go on, it’s not like giving up your secret will make everyone reading this go buy up the remaining inventory. No promises on that, though.

Ask Engadget: best non-SSD laptop hard drive? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 Jun 2010 23:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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