Several technology companies throughout history have been defined by a single product. Microsoft gained worldwide notoriety with Windows 95, Intel's Pentium processor boosted the company to new heights and many would argue that the iPod saved Apple from an untimely fate. For storage company Iomega, their claim to fame came in 1994 with the Zip drive, a disk-based storage system that filled the capacity gap between floppy disks and the rewritable optical disc that followed a few years later.
Although not as prominent a household name as it was a decade ago, Iomega still produces multiple consumer products covering a wide range of storage and networking needs. Today we'll be taking a look at the eGo 1TB USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive, one of the latest additions to Iomega's portable storage line.
The eGo arrived in a small black cardboard box with a photo of the drive on the front and not much more on the reverse. Inside we found the drive itself, a quick start guide, and a single USB 3.0 cable. The cable is roughly 2' in length with one end featuring a Micro-B style connector and the other terminating into two standard USB connectors. Iomega includes two connectors should your older computer not have the ability to power the drive from a single USB 2.0 port. That said, the drive is fully backwards compatible with USB 2.0, though transfer rates are bound to reflect this.
The enclosure is offered in four different colors: Ruby Red, BlackBelt, Charcoal and Midnight Blue. All colors are available in 500GB and 1TB capacities, except the Charcoal version, which is oddly missing the 1TB option, and the BlackBelt is the only one hosting a 1.5TB drive. We received the Midnight Blue 1TB model which looks great, though the glossy blue finish will undoubtedly be susceptible to fingerprint smudges.
The drive is wrapped in a Power Grip Band that is reminiscent of the old Cingular logo. A single Micro-B USB 3.0 connector and an LED status indicator are on the top of the drive. The band features tiny metallic flakes that look more like unsightly particles than aesthetic enhancers. The soft rubber material could also offer a slight bit of shock protection. It is easily removable which is a plus since it tends to be a magnet for lint and other debris.
USB 3.0 support on the Iomega eGo provides faster performance but also the convenience of powering the drive from a single USB 3.0 port, an important feat if you plan to carry the drive around a lot. We will cover performance in better detail on the next page.