Following the trend of external harddrives dedicated to simplify the function of backing up data, Iogear released the "Combo Ion Drive". The 3.5" device offers both FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 interfaces and includes a "Tri-Select button", which lets users configure an automatic backup process. By the push of the button, the drive can back up a single file or an entire directory, for example.

The Combo Ion Drive is available in sizes of 80 GByte, 120 GByte, 160 GByte, 200 GByte, and 250 GByte. Prices range from $200 for the 80 GByte version to $320 for the top-end 250 GByte model. (THG)