Seagates revamps Maxtor OneTouch 4 drives

Seagate on Thursday introduced the next generation of its Maxtor OneTouch storage solutions: the new Maxtor OneTouch 4 family is available in three models and storage capacities of up to 1TB and offers new data protection and security along with software tools to help manage content and data in a new industrial design. Seagate's new drives are now bundled with improved software for performing multiple-computer data synchronization, drag-and-drop encryption and a "bare metal system" restore. In the event of a fatal crash or virus attack, Maxtor's new (Windows-only) SafetyDrill restore feature enables the nearly instantaneous restoration of an entire computer, according to the company. The external drives feature USB 2.0 connectivity, 7,200 rpm disks, and 16MB of cache.

In addition to the Maxtor Backup software suite, the Maxtor OneTouch 4 Plus and Maxtor OneTouch 4 Mini both include Maxtor SafetyDrill for Microsoft Windows XP/Vista: it allows the complete recovery of a local hard drive's contents using the included SafetyDrill Recovery CD to format, partition and restore all data including the operating system, applications, personal content, settings and desktop icons. The Plus and Mini storage solutions include two levels of security to guard against unauthorized use of a lost or stolen drive: Maxtor Encryption can create a password-protected folder using transparent 256-bit AES encryption to protect any data dropped onto folder. The company also includes Maxtor DrivePass (formerly Maxtor DriveLock), an embedded firmware feature that further restricts data access even if the internal hard drive is removed and attached to another computer.

Seagate said that all three OneTouch 4 drive lines also include new enhanced synchronization functions to help business travelers sync home and office computers. A new Maxtor OneTouch Manager centralizes feature management, including automated backup scheduling, specific file restoration, sync, security, drive and power management on computers running either Windows XP/Vista or Mac OS X operating systems.

The Maxtor OneTouch 4 Plus sports a new vault-like industrial design and both USB 2.0 and FireWire ports. It is available in 250GB ($130), 500GB ($200), and 750GB ($290) capacities now and will be available in a 1TB model ($360) in late October. The more compact and "travel friendly" designed Maxtor OneTouch 4 Mini -- with only USB 2.0 connectivity -- is available in 80GB ($100), 120GB ($120), and 160GB ($150) capacities. The basic Maxtor OneTouch 4 offers data backup file archiving and system settings restoral, but does not include SafetyDrill and the security features of the Plus and Mini lines. It is available in three capacities: $100 for 250GB, $170 for 500GB, and $270 for 750GB model. All drives ship with a 5-year warranty.