News - Silicon Power launches waterproof Armor A70 external hard drive

[HEXUS]

Military-grade hard drive withstands water, shock and dust to ensure your data stands the test of time.

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[RedFlames]

so the drive is weatherproof... but the cable is tacked onto the side and it's connectors exposed to the elements...

[borandi]

HDDs have to be able to change pressure with the surrounding air and due to platter movement. How did they get around that? Completely evacuated/vacuum HDD?

[watercooled]

@RedFlames: It doesn't matter if a USB connector gets wet - just dry it before plugging it into anything and the connectors are gold-plated so won't oxidise.

@borandi: HDDs need air pressure to work because the head floats on a cushion of air produced by the spinning platter so it will be pressurised and sealed.

[pricey4907]

Its nice to see something that fills a hole in the market. I think that high capacity USB sticks are more convenient and cheaper though.

[crossy]

Its nice to see something that fills a hole in the market. I think that high capacity USB sticks are more convenient and cheaper though.

Wow - I'd like to know where you can buy a 250GB flash drive for less than £150!!

The £150 was because that's how much I saw a "Sentry" fire/water-proof drive for last time I looked (http://www.sentrysafes.co.uk/sotn/dp...roducts_id=509). Well, that's if you don't count the <£50 that BigPockets were doing one for at the beginning of the year.

One point I'm wondering about is exactly where you'd use these kinds of drives? After all, if they're supposed to be for final-resort type data recovery, wouldn't you be better off with a normal drive given to a relative or in another office (i.e. off site backup)?