Backup remains a guilty chore many people avoid, and yet plenty of us are already carrying around a potential backup device. Most people don’t think of it that way, but your iPod is a huge chunk of storage just waiting to be repurposed as a portable hard-drive. Clickfree sent over their latest easy-backup system, the Transformer for iPod, for SlashGear to take a look at.
We’ve covered numerous backup systems here on SlashGear, ranging from simple USB hard-drives through network-attached media boxes and full-on RAID arrays, but bar individual drive failure we’ve never really considered the impact of physical damage. That’s exactly the sort of thing that ioSafe have in mind with their Solo drive, up to 1.5TB of fireproof, waterproof storage. SlashGear have been testing it out.
Backup is often the dirty little secret of amateur and professional computer users alike, something we know we should be doing but so often don’t find time for. Investing in a capable storage system is a good first step for bypassing apathy and minimizing backup headaches, however, and that’s just what WiebeTech promise with their RTX400-QR RAID array. Various levels of data redundancy and multiple connection options suggest the bulky RTX400-QR means business; SlashGear tested it out.
As more and more Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) offer the choice of recording in high-definition, and more consumers decide to prioritize picture quality, the standard storage in most models simply can’t keep up. Into that fray steps the DVR Expander, a straightforward way of adding recording capacity; today it’s the turn of the Seagate Showcase DVR Storage Expander, a full 1TB of storage.
As the name implies, the Iomega Home Media Network Hard Drive is essentially a NAS device with media hub abilities, intended to back up and playback multimedia files across your home network. Where it stands slightly out from the crowd is in its support of UPnP for DLNA-certified devices and iTunes, allowing the NAS to store and stream music, video and pictures to a variety of PC, laptop, home consumer electronics and Apple products.
With more people amassing vast collections of digital media, the demand for a straightforward way to pipe that out through an HDTV is only increasing. Emtec’s Movie Cube S800 not only offers video streaming, but expandable local storage, internet radio and dual TV tuners for recording fresh content or pausing live TV. SlashGear hooked it up to see if our home entertainment prayers had been answered.
Backup remains a guilty chore, and one which most of us don’t complete as often as we know we ought to. Cheap USB drives certainly offer the storage, but it’s still down to the user to make the most of them; that’s where Clickfree comes in. Their automatic backup is, according to the claims, easier than making toast. SlashGear picked up the Clickfree HD325 hard-drive and Clickfree Transformer Cable to see if that was true.
Bring-your-own-drive backup is nothing new, but it’s rare to find a full PC lurking inside. That’s where VIA’s ARTiGO A2000 steps up; having dropped in a 1.5GHz C7-D processor and twin SATA-II 3GB/s support, VIA are offering the NAS form-factor with enough grunt to run Vista, should you be so inclined. SlashGear set out to discover whether the A2000 is an ambitious success, or simply bites off more than it can chew.
HP’s first-generation MediaSmart EX475 was the poster-child for Windows Home Server. Now, HP are back with their second-gen version, the MediaSmart EX487; the hardware looks the same, but what’s under the hood has seen some serious improvements. Is this the best backup option for Windows and Mac users? SlashGear set to finding out.
In this modern era of digital entertainment, it’s no wonder that we often burn through our hard drive space in a jiffy. That’s why external storage is such a nice option to have. But often, external hard drives are bulky or downright ugly. But not the Iomega eGo Leather Portable Hard Drive. This thing is downright fancy.
Backup isn’t generally seen as glamorous, and the Iomega StorCenter ix2 is unlikely to change that perception. A sober gray box, the ix2 is as compact as dual 3.5-inch SATA-II hard-drives will let it be. However inside there lurks an iTunes-compatible media server, printer sharing facility and optional CCTV recording and Bluetooth file transfers, all for a competitive entry price. Can the StorCenter ix2′s hidden charms change our mind about the unbearable dullness of archiving?
Anyone with a Digital Video Recorder is probably not a stranger to running out of storage space and being forced to delete old programs. What you may not be aware of is that there are a few products out there claiming to make expanding that storage straightforward: essentially a plug-n-play external hard drive to add capacity to your DVR. The Apricorn DVR Xpander and Western Digital My DVR Expander are two such examples, and here we have a new kid in town, the Iomega DVR Expander.
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