Revving up the hard drive: Solid-state discs (SSDs) are the sports cars of external hard drives. But running an SSD on USB 2.0 is akin to buying a Ferrari with only three gears. Buffalo is putting the foot down by revamping its lineup of external SSDs to run on the much faster and newer USB 3.0 connections. The difference is a speed limit of around 480Mps compared to 5Gbps. The new drives, the SHD-PEHU3 series, hit the market May 10 and come in a selection of three storage sizes — 64-, 128- and 256-gigabyte models. The devices fit in the palm like a mobile phone and draped in a glossy black finish they even look the part. Beyond speed, the devices also put a premium on portability, weighing a slight 66 grams and measuring 97 mm in width by 57 mm in height and a slim 12 mm in depth.

The drives come with a Buffalo software suite that includes the ability to create backups and to encrypt data. PC users solely benefit from the included programs with all three main varieties of Windows — XP, Vista and 7 — all working with the packaged software. Mac users can hook their computers up to the Buffalo products and use them as external drives but have to do without any of the bonus software. Apart from the flagship USB 3.0, the drives will also happily offer compatibility with the relatively pedestrian USB 2.0 and even indulge the museum exhibit 1.1 and its 12Mbps sluggishness. The last feature is crucial in allowing the units to still be useful while a user waits to upgrade their computer to USB 3.0.

Just like Italian dream machines, USB 3.0 devices place extraordinary demands on your wallet. The SHD-PEHU3 start at ¥26,400 for the 64-gigabyte model. Considering you can get a terabyte or more of conventional disk storage for the same money, the premium is blatant. Moving up to the 128-gigabyte model pushes the price to ¥47,700, and there is no discount for upping the capacity to 256 gigabytes, with the top model SHD-PEH256U3 topping out at ¥100,900. If you are one of those who just has to blow past the speed limit, then the Buffalo trio will appeal to you. If you don't already have or need USB 3.0 then it is better to wait for the new technology to drop in price. buffalo.jp/products/new/2010/001129.html