Daily gear deal – 320GB external hard drive USB/Firewire for $65

by Scott Carmichael on

My daily deal for today is for this Verbatim 320GB portable external hard drive. The drive features USB and Firewire interfaces.

The 320GB storage space should be enough to hold multiple backups of most of your important files. In addition to this, it can also make a safe place to store any photos and videos you make on your trip.

The best part about these portable drives is that they can be powered using the USB port of your laptop or desktop computer, which means you don’t have to drag an additional power supply along with you.

Another great thing a large external drive can do, is add more storage space for music or video files – especially since many small laptop computers only come with limited space.

You’ll find this Verbatim 320GB portable hard drive on sale at Amazon for $64.99, which includes free shipping.

Click here to order, or to learn more about this product.

$69 portable hard drive enclosure adds keypad password protection

by Scott Carmichael on

Keeping strangers away from your data has suddenly become a hot topic, but whether the US Government is after your information, or just your everyday thief, it always makes sense to protect your files.

Hong Kong based Brando, has introduced a portable hard drive enclosure with a password keypad. Without knowing the access code, strangers won’t even be able to access the hardware. If you want to take paranoid to a new level, you can use double protection by encrypting the data stored on the drive.

This enclosure does not include a hard disk, so you’ll have to invest some more in a 2.5″ hard drive, which will cost you upwards of $65, plus you’ll have to install it yourself.

In the coming months, I’m sure we will see more of these products pop up. The combination of the US government admitting that they can (and will) seize suspicious equipment and the general fear of the Chinese government during the Olympics is driving paranoia to a new level. Of course, some of that paranoia is justified.

When it comes to securing your data, the only 100% safe method is to leave important files at home, don’t carry anything you wouldn’t want to share with a stranger, and never ever login to any kind of site unless you are 100% sure the connection you are using is secure. Of course, the first sign for any customs official that you might be hiding something, is a hard drive enclosure with a password keypad, so you really can’t ever win.