I received the HDX 250GB kit and was surprised by its lightweight and the multiple interfaces that came with it. The kit consists of a lockable, foam-lined carrying case with a comfortable handle, the drive itself, 2-meter long interconnecting cables and all instructions. The internal 7200 rpm IDE drive will work with any computer because it comes with USB 2.0, Firewire 400 and 800 connections for your OSX MAC, Windows XP, ME, 2000 or Win 98 PCs. It uses Oxford 911 and 912 bridge Firewire circuitry. I also liked that the 90/240-volt AC auto-sensing power supply is built-in so there is no dangling power module to kick around.

Other technical details are: all drives are 7200 rpm Western Digital Caviar (Special Edition) or Hitachi Deskstar hard drives with 8MB of cache memory; a quiet and long life built-in cooling fan; separate LED activity lights; available from 80 to 500GB sizes designed for A/V usages; and the cases have extra space for CD-Rs/DVDs or a second drive. Finally, every Avastor drive is individually speed tested once assembled.

I immediately put the drive to work backing up a Pro Tools project I have been working on. The drive worked perfectly and was as fast as my computer would go. MSRP prices are: Firewire 400 HDX400-160GB at $270; HDX400-250GB at $355; Firewire 800 Triple interface HDX800-250GB at $345; HDX800-500GB at $700 For much more contact Avastor at 770-800-9714, sales@avastor.com or visit www.avastor.com