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The SMART FireWire drives now come in a hotswap flavor.
FireWire HotSwap SMART System - $279  



Overview - Video capable swapable storage with built in hard drive diagnostics.

Price: $279

Platforms:
Macintosh - standard drive support
PC - Windows 98SE, ME, 2000, XP standard drive support

Availability: Usually ships within 24 hours

Requirements: OHCI compliant IEEE 1394 bus card, IDE/ATA Hard disk drive

Warranty: One year parts and labor.**

The FireWire 1394 / IDE SMART Hot - Swap Drive Systems provide high speed and Hot-Swapability at an unbelievably low price. Now you can have an affordable way to store large amounts of data at ultra fast 40 MB/s data transfer rates. Even better, you can remove any drive in seconds and share or replace it with another.

Over 200 gigabytes of ultra fast storage.

The SMART LCD Display reports all drive functions and tells you if the drive is operating properly before expensive data losses occur. This revolutionary technology also monitors drive speed and data transfer rates at the drive mechanism. The smartest drive on the market is also affordable.

The Perfect Backup Solution

* FireVue 1394 FireWire Hot-Swap BAY
* 40 MB/s Second Generation FireWire
* LCD SMART Diagnostic Display
* Key Lock Hot-Swapable Operation
* Dual Fan Ultra Cool Temperature

Quick Features

 Details

Unlimited Storage and data protection is what these SMART Hot-Swap Systems offer. Now you can use inexpensive IDE drives in our SMART FireWire Hot-Swap Trays and dedicate as much storage as you need for backup, DV, AV, database application, and all other types of storage needs. Simply buy extra bays whenever you need them to add more drives. The bays are inexpensive and offer the best solution for large storage needs.

Bridge Board Technolgy
The heart of these SMART FireWire Systems is our unique bridge board technology that allows IDE drives to be inserted or removed while the computer is running and the power is on. The system operates very much like a floppy drive with the exception that the amount of storage is thousands of time larger.

ATA-6 Support
We support true ATA-6 specifications giving us compatibility with all the new larger drive mechanisms. Using the new Oxford 911 chip we offer up to 40MB/S data transfer rates.

SMART LCD Display
Our exclusive firmware and LCD display gives you complete compatibility with both Mac and Windows platforms. The SMART LCD Display lets you know everything you ever wanted on the condition of the drive. These units come complete with everything you need including a 3' 6-pin FireWire cable and power cable. (no software needed for Macintosh, Win 98SE, ME, 2000, and XP)

Supports ATA-6 - Large Capacity Drives
Suppprts S.M.A.R.T. - Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology

 Specifications

Dimensions: 2.5”H x 8”W x 10.5”D, 7 LBS
Power Supply: 115/230 vac 50-60 hz, 55 watts universal input
Data Transfer Rate: Up to 40 MB/s
Cooling: Dual Fan Design Ultra Quiet
Compatibility:
IEEE 1394 FireWire Second Generation Bridge Technology, IDE Ultra ATA 100 Bus
OS Compatibility:
Macintosh - standard drive support
PC - Windows 98SE, ME, 2000, XP standard drive support
Cable Limitations:
4.5 meters with standard cables, 10 meters with DVvideo.com Premium cables.

Software Utilities:
Relax Technology FireWire Browser and Firmware Updater are included.
Windows drivers are already included from Microsoft.
Macintosh drivers are already included from Apple.

*Speed tests performed on G4 733 using a IBM GXP mechanism. Speeds may be slower if a slower hard drive or computer system is being used. Having additional peripherals on the same fire wire bus chain may reduce performance speeds as well.
**Warranty, Support provided by Relax Technology.

 Why should I buy a FireWire enclosure?

If you are doing video editing, you need unlimited fast storage. With DV video sucking up 3.6 MB per second, your hard drive storage space can become limited very fast. Just capturing 10 minutes of video would take up about 2.1 Gigs of storage. If you wanted to add a filter to your video, you would need another 2.1 Gigs to render the file out. That means you would need a total of 4.2 Gigs of storage to edit 10 minutes of video. As you can see, even if you are a novice video editor, there is a need for additional affordable storage that is fast enough to handle video. Luckily there is.

FireWire is not just for hooking up DV video cameras, it can also be used to hook up Hard Drives with plug and play ease. In the past, the FireWire enclosures could only maintain speeds that were barely fast enough for video. Compared to the internal hard drive inside your computer, these speeds are very slow. Additionally, because there are so many opportunities for data interruptions, frames of video could be dropped because the hard drive enclosure couldn't maintain the speed that was necessary to capture all the frames of video. Speed is important. Finally, it is available in a FireWire solution. The new DVvideo.com Hard Drive Enclosures run at a sustained 35 MB/s. At these speeds, you can capture and transfer video with ease.

 How easy is it to install?

It's easier then you think. For the five step illustrated instructions click here. In the event that your computer is so old that it doesn't already have the standard drivers to support the drive, we have an easy to use installer included with the enclosure for both Mac and PC. If you still have problems, simply call 510.471.6442 and ask the granite digital operator to transfer you to ken tusant in technical support.

 How good is the support?

Our support is excellent. Simply click on the support link. Once there, you will find software updates, answers and explanation to problems, as well as a phone number in the event that your problem is not solved. We take customer service very seriously. Unlike many other online companies, every technical support call is given the same priority as a sales call. Our manufacturing and support partner, Relax Systems, is a strong and established company that has been in the external storage business for 20 years. You can feel confident in buying these products because they are backed by a strong company.

 Why do these products blow the competition away?

To date, no true FireWire storage products exist for consumers. What has been available in the past is an IDE hard drive that has been thrown into a box with an IDE to FireWire converter called a bridge.

A product can only go as fast as the slowest part. The bottle neck has been in the bridge, slowing the transfer rate to a crawling 15MB/s per second.

15MB/s is much faster than an external USB drive, but when compared to an Internal IDE drive or UltraSCSI, it is quite slow.

These new second generation bridges have significantly changed the bottleneck. The new drives can obtain a sustained 35MB/s transfer rate! And because these boxes are one of the first drives to use the new bridges, it will be hard to find these speeds anywhere else. The drives are easy to set up, faster than the competition, and cheaper than SCSI solutions.

 What drive do you recommend for the enclosure?

Currently, we recommend the Hitachi series drives. In our experience, these drives have proven to be the most reliable and have achieved the maximum performance. With a three year warranty, high speeds, and the lowest failure rate, the Hitachi drives are very hard to beat. However, any ATA/IDE drive will work.

 What's included?

One DVvideo.com External FireWire HotSwap Enclosure Kit
One Hotswap tray
One Power Cord
Free 3 ft. 6 pin FIREVue™ Gold Diagnostics Cable ($29 dollar value)
Charismac Software for Macintosh

(Just add a drive!)
FireWire HotSwap SMART System - $279    

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