Iomega USB 3.0 SSD Drives Offer Performance At A Price

Iomega has launched a range of new USB 3.0 portable SSD drives, promising high performance and rugged resilience, though you'll need reasonably deep pockets to afford them.  Three models in the (rather boringly named) Iomega External SSD Flash Drive USB 3.0 series will be available: 64GB for $229, 128GB for $399, and 256GB for $749.

That's obviously considerably more expensive than a regular external drive, but then again regular portable drives can't generally withstand 10-foot drops.  The Iomegas also offer twice the performance of a 7,200rpm HDD drive using a USB 3.0 interface, or ten-times the performance of a USB 2.0 drive.

Iomega also throws in a copy of v.Clone, Roxio Retrospect Express, MozyHome and their own QuikProtect, along with a twelve month subscription to Trend Micro.  Whether they're enough to counter the high prices when the drives drop in November remains to be seen.

Press Release:

Iomega and EMC Bring External SSD Flash Drives To the Consumer and SMB Markets

Iomega's Compact External USB 3.0 SSD Drives Provide Ultra Fast, Ultra Rugged Performance and Encryption For Creative Professionals, Mobile Users, Early Adopters and Others

SAN DIEGO, October 15, 2010 – Iomega Corporation, an EMC company (NYSE: EMC) and a leading innovator in digital storage and protection solutions for consumers and small and medium businesses, today announced new host-powered Iomega® External USB 3.0 SSD Flash Drives, rugged solid state drives utilizing the blazing fast speed of the USB 3.0 interface and the security of built-in encryption – the perfect portable storage device for high-end users, creative professionals and others who demand the best in performance, security and portability.

Leveraging EMC's world class solid state expertise and implementation in enterprise network storage solutions, Iomega's new pocket-sized 1.8-inch external USB 3.0 SSD Flash drives will be available in early November in 64GB*, 128GB and 256GB capacities.

Encased in a sleek metal enclosure that not only looks great but delivers added protection from drops up to 10 feet, Iomega's new SSD Flash Drives feature 256-bit hardware encryption for security, bundled anti-virus and backup software, a three-year warranty and the superior performance of solid state drives that users expect in state-of-the-art storage from Iomega.

"When time is money and you need the latest technology in portable storage, Iomega's new high performance external solid state Flash drives are the ideal solution," said Jonathan Huberman, president of Iomega Corporation. "Iomega's new external USB 3.0 SSD Flash drives are compact, rugged portable storage devices that deliver data transfer speeds considerably faster than any standard rotating disk drives, as well as the confidence that comes with a solid industrial design, hardware encryption and the complete Iomega Protection Suite to protect users' important files, all of which makes Iomega's new SSD Flash Drives the storage of choice for high-end users who demand the ultimate in performance and portability."

Anatomy of the New Iomega USB 3.0 External SSD Flash Drive

The Iomega USB 3.0 External SSD Flash Drive is a solid state drive that has no moving parts, resulting in a more durable drive with fast application loading and top transfer speeds for high definition video, digital images, graphics and music. Professional videographers, photographers and other creative professionals will find the Iomega USB 3.0 SSD Drive a perfect match for their deadlines and digital storage needs.

Utilizing the SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface, the Iomega External SSD Flash Drive boasts up to 10 times the speed of USB 2.0 drives. Iomega's new external SSD Drive also performs twice as fast as a 7200 RPM SATA hard drives utilizing the same USB 3.0 interface.

Cool-to-the-touch, the new Iomega SSD Flash drives require no external power supply and are completely backward compatible with personal computers and other devices that only have USB 2.0 ports. Iomega also offers USB 3.0 adapter cards (sold separately) to insert into USB 2.0 laptop and desktop computers so users of the new Iomega SSD Flash Drive can experience native USB 3.0 transfer speeds of up to 5 gigabits per second.

A Creative Professional's Take on the Iomega USB 3.0 External SSD Flash Drive

Kevin T Gilbert, an award-winning photojournalist, teacher and entrepreneur based in Annapolis, Maryland, is CEO and founder of Blue Pixel, a leading digital creative group that consults for major companies in retail, computers, software and camera manufacturing. A pioneer digital photographer who as photographed four sitting U.S. Presidents, as well as two fictional U.S. Presidents during a stint shooting on The West Wing television series, Gilbert can't say enough about Iomega's new external SSD Drive and the virtues of utilizing solid state flash as a professional photojournalist.

"I travel to 20 countries a year and the new Iomega SSD drive keeps me solidly backed up and within the airline weight limits! I love that," said Gilbert, elected six times as president of the White House News Photographers Association. "Size, speed and portability matter to me as I travel the world. At a time when the international airlines continue to limit size and weight on gear, the Iomega external SSD drive is a lifesaver! This drive gets a big thumbs up from me and should from anyone who spends a lot of time shooting on the go."

Value Add Software Package That Saves Money and Protects Your Files

Included free of charge with Iomega's new External SSD Flash Drives is the Iomega Protection Suite, a one-stop portfolio of backup and anti-virus software giving users added protection for their photos, videos, music and other files.

The Iomega Protection Suite includes:

• v.Clone™ software, an Iomega exclusive, captures a complete virtual image of your PC — including the operating system, all applications, your settings, and all your files to your Iomega hard drive. Access the cloned copy and use it seamlessly on another computer, just as if you're working from your own PC. When you reconnect, automatically sync your data to your primary PC, so that files are always up to date**.

• A complementary 1-year subscription to Trend Micro™ Internet Security for the PC, or Trend Micro™ Smart Surfing software for Mac.

• Iomega QuikProtect: backup software for simple scheduled file-level backup of data to hard drives and network-attached storage devices (for Windows and Mac desktops and notebooks).

• Roxio® Retrospect® Express software: backup all of your data plus applications and settings (for Windows and Mac desktops and notebooks).

• MozyHome™ Online Backup service: Convenient online backup service with 2GB of online capacity for free (unlimited online storage for $4.95/month). MozyHome Online service allows Windows and Mac users to restore their most important data from any computer with internet access, at any location in the world.

All of the software elements in the Iomega Protection Suite are accessible via easy download to owners of the Iomega External SSD Flash Drive.

Pricing, Availability and Warranty

The new Iomega® External SSD Flash Drive USB 3.0 will be available worldwide in early November in three capacities: 64GB for $229.00, 128GB for $399.00, and 256GB for $749.00. (All pricing is U.S. suggested retail.) Iomega's new External SSD Flash Drives will be available in the channel from distributors, systems integrators and others, as well as etailers and at www.iomega.com.

For more information on all of Iomega's products, including direct-attached portable and desktop HDDs, multimedia and network storage solutions, please go to www.iomega.com.

All Iomega products include a 3-year limited warranty (with registration).