The Iomega eGo BlackBelt is a super rugged portable hard drive offered by Iomega with 500 GB of storage.  The Iomega Drop Guard Xtreme gives the hard drive unparalleled protection and can protect the device from a 7′ drop; double the industry average.  This portable device does not require an external power supply and is easily connected to virtually any Mac or PC with USB 2.0/1.1 for power and data transfer up to 480 Mbits/sec. It is formatted for easy plug-and-play connectivity and includes free EMC Retrospect and MozyHome Online backup software with 2 GB of free online storage. The Iomega eGo BlackBelt includes an Iomega Power Grip band and a USB 2.0/power cable.

Iomega kicked out a couple of new portable hard drives last month, one of which being the rugged 250GB eGo BlackBelt that we’re taking a look at today. The most stand-out feature we found in the BlackBelt was its Drop Guard Xtreme, allowing the portable drive to take a hit to the pavement from as much as 7 feet in the air and keep on ticking.

This ability to take a long drop is largely due to the black rubber “belt” that envelopes the drive (mostly the corners) protecting it from all angles of impact. The rubber belt is not adhered to the drive so it can be removed if you would like, and your left with a smooth, flat-black flask-shaped chasis that’s maybe a little to big for a pants pocket but will easily fit into the pocket of a jacket.

If you need a sturdy portable drive, either for backup or to carry large media files around – to show work in progress to a client, for example – the Iomega BlackBelt looks like a good, inexpensive, solution. And the best part is that you don’t have to worry about losing everything if the drive slips from your butter fingers.

Dependable, near-silent, and easy to install. DriveStation flawlessly stores your photo, music, and movie collections.  Affordable storage capacities mean you will never run out of room.  With added Memeo® and hardware encryption you can rest assured that all of your valuable files are backed up and safe.  Plus, you can do all of this and save energy! DriveStation’s auto-power feature turns the drive on and off with your PC.

User-friendly, eco-friendly and pocket-friendly DriveStation makes storage simple – just plug it in for instant use and on-the-spot satisfaction. Optionally, you can turn on the integrated hardware encryption feature to automatically encrypt the data on your drive. SecureLockManager Easy ensures that you only have to enter your password once. TurboUSB speeds up your USB data transfer rates, especially when using it with Windows® XP.

The new DriveStation will come with a couple of modes of encryption, where the non-encryption mode lets you view data within by any connected computer, while the full disk encryption mode will utilize the AES 256-bit encryption standard to the maximum. The Buffalo DriveStation HD-CXU2 will come in capacities of 1TB, 1.5TB and 2TB capacities.

The latest version of Iomega’s hard drive for the Mac mini, the MiniMax, packs a 500GB, 7200rpm hard drive into its mini-sized enclosure. The MiniMax is designed to sit underneath the Mac mini, and so has the same footprint. It shares the mini’s silver and white colour scheme and the two look like they were made for each other when stacked.

In addition to the capacious hard drive, the MiniMax provides additional USB 2 and FireWire ports, making it a powered hub as well as a hard drive. There are three FireWire 400 ports in total, leaving two available when connected to your Mac. And there are three downstream USB 2 ports in addition to the upstream socket. It also has its

Aside from the obviously gorgeous shape and small footprint, there are a few other plusses. You get three FireWire 400 ports and three USB 2.0 ports, which means that you can double up the drive as a hub for peripherals.

It’s also speedy, with a 7200rpm disk whirring inside it, compared to the standard 5400rpm drive that comes in the mini. In our test we duplicated a 1GB file on the drive 21 seconds faster than we could on a Core Duo Mac mini.

Also in the package is Dantz Retrospect, a data backup and recovery software package from EMC that’s quite commonly bundled on external drives from a variety of manufacturers. We’ve reviewed the software as a standalone product in the past; it’s basic but effective at automating data backup, and though not exclusive to this drive, it’s a welcome bonus.