Based on 2.5-inch Designs, Units Withstand Extreme Shock, High Altitudes, Vibration, and Temps

G-Technology announced a new wrinkle in a product category that's become a critical part of digital production toolkits. For the first time, the company is making its external drives for Macs available in solid-state formats. The company said customers would find the new drives capable of withstanding "extreme shock" (up to 1500 Gs) and able to operate reliably at higher altitudes, vibration and temperatures than hard disks.
“These are not your daddy’s drives,” cracked G-Technology VP Roger Mabon in a prepared statement, admitting that the new units serve a “very niche market.

In all, G-Tech announced four new drives. The G-Drive mini SSD  is available in 120 GB  ($599) and 250 GB  ($1299) versions and sports FireWire 800,  FireWire 400 and USB  2.0 connectivity. Data transfer speed is more than 60 MB/sec writing and 75 MB/sec reading via FireWire 800. The drives weigh 8.5 ounces and suck power via USB  or FireWire, meaning no power cables need be packed.

 Moving up the ladder, the two-drive G-RAID mini SSD delivers up to 195 MB/sec via eSATA, FireWire800, FireWire 400, and USB 2.0 as a RAID 0 device. Via eSATA, the system supports playback of five simultaneous ProRes 422 HQ streams and a single stream of uncompressed HD, the company said. The FireWire-powered drives can also be configured for RAID 1 data-mirroring, targeting users of cameras like the Red One, Panasonics P2 and Sony’s SxS. The drive is available in 250 GB ($999) and 500 GB ($2199) versions. The larger drive can hold more than 5.5 hours of ProRes 422 footage.

For more information: www.g-technology.com.