GadgetMadness: We find the coolest gadgets first

This has to be the slimmest & sexiest USB drive I've found yet. To give you a size comparison, in the background is the small Seagate 100GB external drive - the Soyo makes the Seagate look enourmous. I picked up the Soyo SlimEx Platinum last week and it's been nothing but bliss so far. This external drive is self-powered from the USB port, has a shock resistant magnesium alloy casing, and gives you 20GB of storage for videos, MP3 files, you name it. Rotation speed is 4200rpm and a 2MB buffer means you can watch videos directly from the drive without any stutter. Comes with a regular and retractable USB cable, Windows 98/ME drivers CD, and a sweet little leather carrying case. The Toshiba hard drive inside is rated to last 5 years, or 20,000 hours. Highly recommended - full tech specs and link after the jump.

General

* Bootable from USB, diagnose system problems without going into Windows!
* Plug & Play via standard USB 2.0 or USB 1.1 interface
* Magnesium Alloy Casing
* Light weight & easy to carry
* No drivers needed (Windows ME/2000/XP only)
* No download cable or PCMCIA card required
* Mac compatible
* Up to 20GB storage capacity
* No external power supply or battery required
* Ideal for desktops and laptops
* Shock resistant
* USB cable, and complete installation CD

USB Info
* Bootable from USB, diagnose system problems without going into Windows!

Certification
* EMI Compliance: FCC, CE.

Technical Specs
* Hard Drive Type: 1.8" HDD
* Storage Capacity: 20GB
* Rotation Speed: 4200rpm
* Buffer size: 2MB
* Buffer to Host - PIO: 16.6MB/sec
* Buffer to Host - Ultra DMA: 100MB/sec
* Maximum Internal: 125.5 - 253.1 Mbits/sec
* Track to Track Transfer Rate: 3ms
* Average Transfer Rate: 15ms
* Maximum Transfer Rate: 26ms
* Average Latency: 7.14ms
* Operating Vibration: 1.0G (5 to 50Hz)
* Operating Shock: 250G/2ms
* Non-Operating Shock: 1,000G/ 1.0ms
* USB 2.0 (Up to 480Mbps)
* MTTF (Power on hours): 300,000 hours
* Power Type: USB Powered 3.3V ±5%
* Operating System Supported: Windows XP, 2000, ME, 98, 98SE; Mac OS 8.6 or Higher
* Operating Temperature: 41° - 140°F (5 to 60°C)
* Storage Temperature: -4° - 149°F (-20 to 65°C)
* Data Retention: 5 years or 20,000 power ON hours
* Storage type: HDD

OS Compatibility
* Win2000
* Win98
* WinME
* WinXP

Dimension Description
* Dimension: 3.9"x2.4"x0.4" (L x W x H)
* Weight: 2.85oz

Soyo SlimEx Platinum External USB Hard Drive