Photo: Buffalo

Looking to take full advantage of SuperSpeed 3.0 (USB 3.0), the new bus standard implemented by the USB Implementers Forum at CES 2010, Buffalo recently launched the MiniStation Lite USB 3.0 HD-PEU3. It’s the first external portable hard drive supporting the new lightning fast bus standard.

The pros and cons

Photo: Buffalo

Although the hard drive is backward compatible with USB 2.0, meaning it will work with all USB 2.0 compatible laptops and computers, it still may not be able to be connected to other devices running on earlier bus standards. The 2.5-inch MiniStation Lite USB 3.0 can deliver super speedy transfers of data with the hard drive being capable of transferring data at rates of up to 5GB per second.

The external portable hard drive also comes packaged with Buffalo Tools, performance-enhancing software designed to keep the HD-PEU3 running fast, and ECO manager, which is energy-saving software controlling how much power the device uses.

The device is similar in design to its predecessor, the MiniStation Lite USB 2.0, but the USB 3.0 edition is finished in a high gloss finish and will be available in a range of colours like gold, black, red, white, blue and pink.

How the competition matches up

The recent unveiling of the USB 3.0 bus standard has left the field open to storage solution providers to take the lead in spearheading the development of USB 3.0 storage devices. The already reputable Seagate BlackArmor PS110 USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive and the new Transcend StoreJet 25D3 USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive also being some of the first 3.0 storage devices. It may be too soon to really put any USB 3.0 external portable hard drives through their paces, with a number of SuperSpeed 3.0 devices still forthcoming.

With an April 2010 release date being officially announced, the BK-EU MiniStation Lite USB 3.0 500GB will retail at £109.99, and the larger BK-EU – MiniStation Lite USB 3.0 640GB will retail at £139.99. The hard drive will be available across the EMEA region.