SimpleTech SimpleTOUGH

The SimpleTech SimpleTOUGH is a USB 2.0 external hard drive that comes in four capacities, 250GB, 320GB, 500GB and 640GB. The external casing is made from waterproof rubber and is drop resistant to 3 meters and, as the company claims can survive the pressure of a one-ton truck. The internal TravelStar drive is also shock resistant at 400G while operating and 1000G while not operating. Another cool feature is an integrated retractable USB cable also made from flexible rubber and a top-mounted LED. Functionality wise it comes with the same features as the SimpleDRIVE Mini which was released in early 2009 along with this one, shortly after Hitachi acquired SimpleTech. Backup software included called Hitachi Local Backup can be configured in different ways to perform backup tasks in the background. For example you can designate certain file types for backup or certain folders. Hitachi also offers an online backup server with a free 2GB account with the option to upgrade to an unlimited storage account for about 5 dollars a month. This runs in conjunction with the included Hitachi Ultimate Backup software which can be set to run automatically in the background as well. The SimpleTech drives come preformatted for Windows XP and Vista systems and would require a reformat before being used with Macintosh computers.