The Apollo line of hard drives from Imation are external drives that connect to host computers via their USB ports. USB 2.0 ports are supported with backward compatibility to 1.1; and the vendor lists Windows, Mac, and Linux systems as compatible with the drive. The drives themselves are powered by the USB connection, with the vendor stating that no additional power supply is required.

Physically, the drive ships in a black and chrome casing that's about 5 x 3 by one-half inches in dimension. Its weight is about a third of a pound, and a blue status light indicates connectivity (solid) and data transfers (flashing). A three year warranty is standard.

Beneath the hood, the drive is in fact a 2.5 inch hard drive and includes the vendor's Total Media Backup software (for Windows or Mac) with features including backup, scheduling, synchronization, and restore functions. The vendor states that the software is preconfigured to "...backup all types of digital files."

The Apollo drives are available now, with capacities ranging from 160 GB to 500 GB and pricing (MSRP) ranging from about $90 to about $320.

Contact Imation for further information.