Drobo

Product summary

The good: Protects your data without your interference; can take a 3.5-inch SATA drive of any capacity and from any vendor; hot swappable; your data is available while Drobo is formatting a new drive (even if one drive fails); runs quietly; dashboard lets you track the condition of your Drobo.

The bad: Currently, only a USB version is available; Data Robotics has plans for an Ethernet version, but we'd like to see a FireWire or eSATA version, as well. Additionally: no FAT32 support, and we'd like to see Drobo bundled with a good backup application.

The bottom line: Drobo takes the pain and confusion out of data protection and lets you tailor and expand the drive according to your needs. This so-called storage robot works exactly as promised and is the most innovative storage device we've seen in a long time. We want one.

Specs: Compatibility: PC,; Mac; Connector type: 4 pin USB Type B; Hard drive type: Standard See full specs >>

Price range: $468.43 - $499.99