Press

Other World Computing (OWC), a leading provider of products and services for the Macintosh marketplace, today introduced a new 160GB OWC Mercury external FireWire drive that spins at 5400 RPMs and uses an Oxford911 chipset.

The company also announced that it has lowered its prices on all OWC Mercury-brand external FireWire storage drives. Pricing for OWC Mercury drives ranges from $149.95 for a 20GB 5400 RPM drive to $519.97 for a Mercury On-The-Go 2.5-inch portable drive, with the new 160GB FireWire drive priced at $379.95.

OWC Mercury storage devices provide a fast and convenient way to add significant plug-and-play storage to personal computers and notebooks. OWC’s FireWire drives feature transfer rates as high as 400 Mbps and weigh as little as 11 ounces. The drives are compatible with Macintosh and Windows-based systems, and feature the fastest Oxford911 bridgeboard technology available.

“OWC Mercury storage drives are specifically designed to provide extra storage capacity at high-transfer rates using the latest FireWire technology,” said Larry O’Connor, founder and president of OWC. “The OWC Mercury 160GB 5400 RPM drive is one of the largest external drives available, and at under $380, is one of the least expensive as well. OWC’s FireWire drives deliver the performance required for today’s demanding audio/video applications and are also a great solution for storing and accessing large documents, software programs, music files, backup files, etc. Our FireWire drives provide large capacity, high performance, and reliable storage in a small package and at competitive prices.”

OWC Mercury FireWire drives are ideal alternatives to upgrading internal hard drives, and allow for easy computer-to-computer transfer of data. OWC’s Mercury On-The-Go drives offer a portable solution that measure as little as 3.0-inches wide by 5.5-inches deep and 1.0-inch high. OWC’s Elite Pro models measure 9.0-inches deep by 1.5-inches wide by 5.5-inches high and can be conveniently stacked out of the way to conserve desktop space. OWC Mercury Elite Pro models also do not require a fan because the power supply, which generates the majority of the heat, is actually a separate, compact external power supply brick, providing a much quieter working environment.

With the increased use of computers for digital video editing, digital music collections, high resolution photography, business presentations, disk drive backup and other activities requiring large file storage requirements, OWC Mercury FireWire drives allow for quick upgrades to high performance, large capacity storage devices in a compact, lightweight package.

The drives can quickly be connected to any computer with a FireWire port. For computers without FireWire ports, OWC also offers a variety of PCI cards for desktops and CardBus cards for notebook computers.

“We also lowered pricing on our Mercury hardware drives – in some cases nearly 20 percent – in an effort to continue to provide our customers with the best technology at the lowest prices,” O’Connor said. “We have tested our external FireWire storage solutions against the industry’s best and have not found a faster single drive solution. Our simple plug-and-play hardware makes it easy for anyone to upgrade their computers with FireWire storage technology.”

Below is the current price list for OWC’s external storage solutions:

Mercury Elite Oxford911 7200RPM External Solutions:
20GB $159.99
40GB $179.99
60GB $199.99
80GB $239.99
100GB $295.99
120GB $309.99

Mercury Oxford911 5400RPM External Solutions:
20GB $149.95
40GB $169.95
60GB $189.95
80GB $215.95
120GB $295.95
160GB (New for April 2002) $379.95

Mercury On-The-Go 2.5" Portable Oxford911 External Solutions:
20GB $189.97
30GB $215.97
40GB $279.97
48GB $395.97
60GB $519.97

Mac Addict just called OWC’s Mercury 60GB On-The-Go portable storage drive “Droolworthy” in its May issue that has just been released.

All OWC Mercury drives are available online at eshop.macsales.com.