Buffalo's DriveStation External HDD: Four-Interface Beast

Buffalo Technologies has just announced another external hard-disk drive in its DriveStation external storage lineup, called the DriveStation Combo4 TurboUSB. The new storage device can be regarded as an external hard-disk on steroids, given the fact that it connects via four different types of interfaces to maximize compatibility with the hist system.

The drive sports eSATA, FireWire 800, FireWire 400 and USB 2.0, and the company claims that it is the most versatile hard-disk drive offering on the market. The high-performance drive is touted to flawlessly work with both Mac and PC systems.

"We have developed this product to meet the needs of today's consumer who demands a versatile storage device with a choice of high speed interfaces. The product has been designed to fit in with today's stylish PC and Mac models," claims Gerardine Lynch, Product Marketing Manager at Buffalo Technology.

While operating in the Mac environment, the two FireWire 800 ports can be used to daisy-chain multiple drives in order to maximize the storage capacity on a single FireWire bus.

When used in a regular PC environment, the eSATA interface delivers the best data transfer rates, which allows the user to move large data files in shorter amounts of time. If the user decides to go with the USB 2.0 interface, the built-in TurboUSB technology kicks in to enhance the performance over the regular USB 2.0 connections.

The new external drive from Buffalo is more than a simple storage device equipped with state-of-the-art technology, as it comes in a fancy HDD enclosure that can match both MAC and PC environments.

Buffalo bundled a plethora of software utilities with the DriveStation Combo4 TurboUSB device, such as backup applications and software encryption technology to keep the stored data safe. Buffalo's Secure Lock Ware utility offers file encryption using military-grade 256bit AES encryption. Mac users can now enjoy full compatibility with the Time Machine.

According to the company, the external drive will be available in capacities of 320GB (HD-HS320Q), 500GB (HD-HS500Q), and 1TB (HD-HS1.0TQ) with bundled FireWire 800, FireWire 400 and USB2.0 cables.