Hitachi revamps roomy SimpleDrive with new look

Hitachi’s SimpleDrive HDD has gone from curvy and cute to serious and sharp, but it’s also become a lot more spacious in the process.

The latest model, which is an enclosed version of Hitachi’s 3.5-inch internal hard drives, holds up to 2 TB and spins at 7,200 rpm. At that capacity, you could back up 665,000 photos, 500,000 MP3s or 4,000 hours of standard video by Hitachi’s estimates. The enclosure, which stands tall atop a wide black base, is constructed of anodized aluminum, keeping the drive cool inside.

Another feature of the SimpleDrive is software that lets you schedule backups on specific days or dates and choose file types to back up regardless of where they’re located on your computer. Hitachi also offers 2 GB of free online backups, or you can have unlimited space for $5 per month, stored in a “secure offsite location.”

I’m guessing we’ll see some features from the existing SimpleDrives in these new devices, such as Turbo USB 2.0, which reportedly transfers files up to 25 percent faster than usual, and the ability to safely power on and off with your computer.

The SimpleDrive, which is compatible with Macs and PCs, costs $250 for the 2 TB model, $130 for 1 TB and $100 for 500 GB. They’re on sale now at OfficeMax in the United States.

In any case, chalk the SimpleDrive up as another hard drive that’s not ugly as sin. It pleases me to see more of these examples coming up lately, and I hope it’s a continuing trend.