OWC unveils its fastest, highest-capacity mobile drive

Computerworld - Other World Computing (OWC) today released its highest capacity, fastest, bus-powered portable external drive, the Mercury On-The-Go Pro, which offers up to 500GB capacity and up to 100MB/sec data transfer speeds.

The Mercury On-The-Go Pro drives come in either 5,400- or 7,200-rpm models and feature FireWire 800, FireWire 400, and/or USB 2.0 ports. The drives, which can be used with PCs or Apple's Macs, come with 16MB of cache memory.

The Mercury On-The-Go Pro drive.

The 500GB, 7200-rpm line comes in three models: a "Triple Interface" version with FireWire 800/400 and USB 2.0; a "Combo Interface" model with FireWire 400 and USB 2.0; and a USB 2.0-only model. The triple and combo interface models used the Oxford 934 chipset, while the USB 2.0 model uses a JMicron 20339 chipset. All come with the necessary connecting cables, a carrying case and a backup-and-utilities software bundle that includes Carbon Copy Cloner, ProSoft Engineering Data Backup 3, NovaStor NovaBACKUP and Intech SpeedTools Utilities.

The Mercury On-The-Go Pro weighs 2.5 lbs. with its carrying case; the drive itself measures 3.5 inches by 5.5 inches by 1 inch and is housed in a see-through acrylic enclosure.

The On-The-Go Pro 500GB, 7200-rpm models are available now and -- like the 5,400-rpm models -- are compatible with Mac OS 8.6 to 9.2.2, Mac OS X and Windows 98SE or later operating systems.

A view of the interface ports

The OWC Mercury On-The-Go Pro drives come in a variety of configurations and prices:

• The Mercury On-The-Go Pro "Triple Interface" model with FireWire 800/400 and USB 2.0 is $239.99.
• The "Combo Interface" model with FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 is $219.99.
• And the Mercury On-The-Go Pro USB 2.0 model is $189.99.

The 5400-rpm Mercury On-The-Go Pro models with FireWire 800, FireWire 400, and/or USB 2.0 interfaces come in capacities of 80GB to 500GB and start at $72.99.

Read more about storage in Computerworld's Storage Knowledge Center.