Hello Drobo 2, Hello Price Cut

We've waited long enough for this day. Drobo 2nd version now gets FireWire 800 in addition to USB 2.0, but for those of us who only need the slower USB 2.0, you can get the original generation Drobo for $349 - a $150 price cut after the $200 slash from May last year - until they clear their inventory. It does still sound a lot even for hassle-free data reluctancy without the actual storage. When you slide in 4 SATA 750GB HDDs in a Drobo, the system gives you an effective 2TB of replicated drive space, which you can safely rely on for your primary storage.

The new Drobo remains a 4-drive slot system; adds the 2 FireWire ports; upgrades to an enhanced processor which also improves the USB performance; and installs a new fan that makes for a quieter operation. If you need the extra speed, the much improved Drobo 2 is still $499. Feel kinda bad for the folks who shelled out for the USB-only version just a week ago. Preliminary reports are coming in that the 2nd generation is twice as fast as its older cousin; it can now read about 52MB and write at 35MB. Drobo 1 generally performs at between 20MB/s and 24MB/s.

More External Hard Drives & Other USB Storage

• Get Drobo now for $499.99 at Dell Small Business
• Get Drobo now for $318.97 at Beach Camera
• Get Drobo now for $399.99 at TigerDirect.com
• Get Drobo now for $349.95 at Amazon.com