We all know that eventually the SSD will replace the standard HDD in storage applications. The benefits of the SSD are many, not the least of which is the fact that the SSD is much faster than typical hard drives.

Crucial has announced a new line of SSDs called the M225 series that offers up blazing fast performance. The M225 series offers read speeds of 250MB/sec and write speeds of 200MB/sec. Inside the standard 2.5-inch drive housing Crucial uses MLC NAND flash.

Years ago, you could find some Windows PCs that had FireWire ports and if you really want a FireWire port today you can probably still find some PCI cards that will add them. For the most part the FireWire port is something that you find on Mac computers today.

Verbatim has announced a new external hard drive line called the SureFire series that sports both FireWire 800 and USB 2.0 connectivity. The drive is compatible with Mac and Windows PCs. When used with a USB port no external power adapter is needed.

The Erase-o-Matic degausser will not slice and it will not dice. What it does is erase magnetic data media such as diskettes, cassettes, VHS, zip drives etc, using rare earth magnets enclosed in a special case. There’s a larger version for larger media and hard drives.

It must be the “As seen on TV” type name that has the base version priced at $395.00. For tapes just pass them through once then rotate 180 degrees and pass them through again. A hard drive should be passed once, then rotated 180 degrees and passed again, then pass it again from the other end, rotate 180 degrees and pass again.

Check out I-O Data’s latest 3TB external USB 2.0 HDD that looks like a NAS with a dedicated passive cooling system (fanless). It’s not the sexiest thing we’ve ever seen, but it’s pretty attractive.

The HDC2-U series sports two HDDs on the inside along with all of it’s hopes and dreams about a long working relationship with you. The HDC2-U will be available in Japan in the middle of July for about 50,900 Yen or $527.

Toshiba has a new range of portable hard drives that feature new system backup functionality and password-protected encryption for greater security. The drives will ship with pre-laoded software that’s compatible with both Mac and Windows. The included NTI BackupNow EZ software lets users backup the whole system and even restore the entire system if Windows fails to boot.

These Toshiba drives will come with password-protected security with up to 256-bit encryption. A Drive Space Alert feature will alert you when it is time to perform some digital cleaning. You can choose from white, blue, green and red.

It can be a pain trying to keep a flash drive on you at all times. If you have a normal style flash drive, you have to carry it on your key ring or in your pocket. I hate having lots of stuff on my key ring and I always forget anything other than my wallet or my cell phone if it is in my pocket.

A company called TopTechProducts has a slick little flash drive that is shaped like a credit card and designed to fit into your wallet. The drive measures 3.4-inches x 2.1-inches x 0.11-inches. It is compatible with Windows, Linux and Mac computers.

Asus created the very successful netbook category in 2007 when it first loosed its Eee netbook onto the market. It took a while for the small screened machines to catch on, but once they did nearly every PC maker now offers netbooks.

Super Talent has announced a new line of SSDs aimed at users looking to upgrade their Asus Eee 900, 901, 901A, 901 GO, and S101 netbooks with faster storage. The new SSDs are available in both MLC and SLC versions.

One of the most common ways to transport data and save files today is the ubiquitous flash drive. The little drives are available with tons of storage space and many of them offer encryption to protect sensitive files.

A new product form Gemalto called the YuuWaa has been unveiled that combines the function of a flash drive with software and secured online storage services. The device is available in two models with a YuuWaa Go featuring 4GB of flash storage and 8GB of online storage. The YuuWaa Plus has 8GB of flash storage and 16GB of online space.

PhotoFast has come up with yet another drive that blows the competition away. It’s called the G-Monster-Promise PCIe SSD and this one offers up an impressive 1,000MB/s. Sure, it isn’t the fastest available in the entire world, but it demands your respect.

You can actually get your hands on the G-Monster-Promise right now, though it’s only available in Japan. Sizes range from 128GB worth of storage all the way up to 1TB. Obviously pricing is high with the 128GB model going for about $1,600, the 512GB model going for $2,000 and the 1TB model going for $4,500.

Samsung announced the STORY Station external hard drive, which includes a few interesting features. The storage device uses a 3.5-inch HDD for backing up your information. It will be available in only Korea first. Some features include a USB 2.0 interface and Auto Backup, SafetyKey and SecretZone functions will give you an optimum level of security for your data.

There’s also a power-saving mode so you aren’t an energy hog. The hard drive is encased in a brushed aluminum exterior. The STORY Station from Samsung will be released in Europe sometime in May in 500GB, 1TB and 1.5TB flavors. The device will appear in other areas as well, though we don’t have release dates yet or even pricing.

Flash drives are useful little gadgets that allow computer users to easily transfer data between multiple machines and act like the floppy discs of the past. The problem is that moving sensitive files on a flash drive can make for trouble is the drive is unsecured.

Ennova Direct has announced that it has been granted a new patent on a flash drive that features a retractable USB connector. The flash drive has a flip up lid that covers the small OLED screen featured on the drive.

KTF, the Korean mobile operator has just announced their first working 256MB and 512MB USIM prototypes that are designed to be used in your smartphone or 3G. They will provide the user with greater storage flexibility in devices, and we can always use additional memory.

Especially in today’s new phones that have a whole bunch of added functionality. KTF isn’t stopping with these though. They are also working on a 1GB USIM version that will be available sometime in the second half of the year for an unknown price.

Some of Brando’s gadgets are pointless, while others are useful. This would be one of the useful gadgets. A SATA HDD Dock with One Touch Backup. This device allows you to plug in any 2.5″ or 3.5″ SATA hard drives to your PC via USB or eSATA.

With the one touch backup function you can easily copy files and data from your PC to an external HDD. The device supports Windows 2000, XP, Vista as well as Mac OS. It will only cost you $49.

Anyone who creates media in the home or office from home movies or professional video needs storage that keeps the video safe and secure. The problem with some external storage solutions is that the devices are too slow to stream the video and writing large files to the devices can take a long time.

QNAP has announced what it claims to be the world’s first iSCSI NAS devices with single and dual bays. The interface offers improved performance compared to many external solutions on the market. The TS-119 is a single bay NAS device while the TS-219 is a dual bay device. Both use a 1.2GHz CPU, 512MB DDR2 RAM and up to 8 iSCSI devices can be daisy chained.

There are a myriad of uses for external hard drives from transporting data to and from the office or home to backing up important data on your computer. One thing that most of the external hard drives have in common is that they are not rugged enough to be taken on the go without risking damage.

Freecom has a new drive called the ToughDrive Sport that it claims to be the toughest external hard drive yet. The drive can withstand drops of up to two meters in height and is protected against adverse weather like rain. The drive is meant to be carried on the go and has a loop in one corner.