What has kept a lot of people from purchasing external hard drives for their laptops and such is that the o­nly way to get a large capacity is to get some giant unit that costs $500.
IO Data attempts to address this, and is offering what they call a "video tape sized" external hard drive, available in capacities up to 300GB. This model is estimated to cost around $350 USD.

IO Data Device Corporation will release the external HD "HDA-iU" series, containing Maxtor drives, before the end of May. The price is Open Price.

Four different models at different capacities will be made available, and the 120GB "HDA-iU120M" is estimated to cost 15,800 yen, the 160GB "HDA-iU160M" is estimated at 18,800 yen, the 250GB "HDA-iU250M" around 28,800 yen, and finally the 300GB "HDA-iU300M" around 38,800 yen.

Supported operating systems are Windows 98, Me, 2000, XP, Mac OS 9.0x ~ 9.2x, and Mac OS X 10.1 ~ 10.3.3.

The main body size is 33 x 187 x 117mm (W x D x H), and the weight is 1.1kg, and the drive is made to be an external HD for the desktop. IO Data calls the drive "video tape sized" being that its aluminium heat-resistant case is roughly the same size as a VHS tape.

With a 2MB cache, the drive inside the unit has a speed of 5400RPM. Although the interface is USB 2.0, it also supports IEEE 1394 with i.Connect. Also, it features the "USB Power Movement Function" which will turn off the drive's power according to the power of the PC it is attached to.



Inspired by:
http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2004/0527/iodata.htm

News Release:
http://www.iodata.jp/news/2004/05/hda-ium.htm

Product Information:
http://www.iodata.jp/prod/storage/hdd/2004/hda-ium/index.htm