Items tagged with OWC
There's nothing quite like an SSD to really hammer home the "high performance" feeling in a new notebook. Apple's been cramming SSDs into MacBook Air machines for some time now, but Other World Computing believes in pushing the envelope. The company's Mercury Aura Pro Express 6G 480GB SSD offers up to 3x faster performance and 8x more storage capacity for the MacBook Air, and for those who are already running low on local storage, this is a huge boon. The 480GB beast will work in the latest 11.1" and 13.3" MacBook Air models, incorporating 6Gb/sec data rate capabilities and Tier 1/Grade A Toggle Synchronous NAND to deliver data rates up to 3x faster than factory 3G (3Gb/s) options and up to 8x...
Read more...
A 60GB solid state drive won't impress too many notebook users these days, but if you're looking for a speedy boot drive in your desktop (while relying on a sizable HDD for everything else), you don't need to sink a ton of money into a sizable SSD. 60GB will work just fine for that, thank you very much. OWC has a new option to consider, the Mercury Electra 6G. Priced at just $129.99, it's a SandForce-driven 6Gb/s 60GB SSD that uses Tier-1 (Grade A) NAND to deliver 556MB/s read and 523MB/s write sustained data rates for over 7X faster performance than a standard factory hard drive found in Mac and PC computers. If that's too small for you, this same drive is offered in sizes as large as 480GB,...
Read more...
If you don't own a fast solid state drive built to take advantage of the SATA 6Gb/s interface, it's not from lack of options. There are plenty of high-speed options out there, and the latest to jump on the SATA 6Gb/s SSD bandwagon is Other World Computing (OWC), which just announced its SandForce-driven Mercury Electra 6G SSD line. With the Fourth of July coming up, OWC makes it a point to note that these blue-colored drives are "designed and built in the USA utilizing the highest quality components available, including Tier 1/Grade A NAND." What it all translates into are read and write speeds of up to 556MB/s and 523MB/s, respectively. "We're very excited to continue the evolution of our solid...
Read more...
We know solid state drives are fast. We know they don't use any moving parts. And did we mention that they're fast? But the one unknown this early in the SSD game is how reliable they truly are. Conventional wisdom says that without any moving parts, and with garbage collecting schemes that limit the number of writes and rewrites, a well built SSD should potentially last as long as that of the average hard drive. Only time will prove that theory right or wrong, and in the meantime, OWC is offering customers warm fuzzies in the form of a 5-year warranty for its Mercury Extreme Pro 6G SSD line. According to OWC, this is the first time a company has ever backed a SandForce-based 6Gb/s SATA Revision...
Read more...
One of the bigger issues with solid state drives is size. Not form factor size, but capacity size. Other World Computing has been producing large SSDs and SSD upgrade kits for notebooks for some time, and now, they're really going above and beyond the call of duty. The company has just released the Mercury Aura Pro Express 480GB, a monster of a drive that the company claims is the largest high-performance SSD available for the 2010 MacBook Air. Apple's tiny machine requires some special TLC when it comes to upgrading, and there's no drive nicer than this. The Aura Pro Express family provides transfer rates as high as 275Mb/sec, and also provides your wallet with a serious dent. OWC's charging...
Read more...
Do you know how much better the world would be if every single hard drive were replaced with an equally large SSD? It's a far-fetched fantasy, and we're decades out from that being even close to true, but baby steps are getting us closer to that ideal computing society. Other World Computing has just revealed a new HDD upgrade kit that is joined by an SSD upgrade kit, with the latter having the potential to greatly increase the speed of your 2011 MacBook Pro. Apple's newest MBP models are great from a specification standpoint, but two major things are missing: a Blu-ray drive and a factory SSD. Sure, you can pay Apple for an upgrade, but this option both saves on costs and it also gives you a...
Read more...
If you're in need of a place to store a lot of digital files, and we mean a lot of digital files, OWC has a new RAID storage drive that's ready to handle extreme needs. The OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro Qx2 is a massive, intimidating 12TB enterprise RAID storage drive, designed with a highly-reliable two million MTBF for critical 24/7 applications. The drive ships with four 3TB drives, all of which are located in hot-swappable drive bays. There's also four interfaces to choose from: FireWire 800, FireWire 400, USB 2.0 and eSATA. If you like choices, you're in luck. There's also selectable Hardware RAID settings of 0, 1, 5, 10; and 300MB/s data transfer rates for high speed, Plug & Play storage...
Read more...
Other World Computing is hoping to make it a bit easier for you to upgrade the hard drive in your MacBook, MacBook Pro, Mac mini storage, or PC laptop and be "green" in the process thanks to its new OWC DIY Hard Drive Kit. Essentially, this kit bundles everything you'll need to upgrade the existing hard drive and reuse the old drive as an external drive. The kit is available with various hard drive options, including a 1TB model or a SSD drive for maximum performance. The kit also comes with cables, a toolkit, and web-based instructional videos. Select kits also come with a software bundle. OWC ANNOUNCES LOW-COST DO-IT-YOURSELF “DIY” 1 TB HARD DRIVE KITS FOR LAPTOPS Quick & Easy...
Read more...
Shortly after publishing a recent 5-way SSD round-up, a number of the manufacturers that employ Sandforce controllers in their products released updated drives that offered more usable capacity to end users. The first wave of SF-1200 based drives to hit the scene had about 22% of their flash memory over-provisioned for cache purposes, wear-leveling, and other proprietary Sandforce functions. 100GB drives like the OCZ Vertex 2 and Corsair Force F100, for example, actually featured 128GB of flash memory on-board. The second wave of drives to arrive, however, have about 6.25% of their flash memory over-provisioned, and as such, they offer more usable capacity to end users. We received 120GB variants...
Read more...
It is hard to believe that almost two years has passed since we first rounded-up some of the first solid state drive offerings for the PC. Since that time, the landscape has changed dramatically. Capacities have increased somewhat, but performance has been improved significantly. Many early solid sate drives suffered from terrible stuttering issues and offered performance that was actually lower than much more affordable, traditional hard drives. Today though, SSDs are far more stable and reliable and their performance is orders-of-magnitude better than even the fastest of hard drives. Despite the rapid pace of advancement in the SSD space, innovation doesn't seem to be slowing. With that in...
Read more...
It is hard to believe that almost two years has passed since we first rounded-up some of the first solid state drive offerings for the PC. Since that time, the landscape has changed dramatically. Capacities have increased somewhat, but performance has been improved significantly. Many early solid sate drives suffered from terrible stuttering issues and offered performance that was actually lower than much more affordable, traditional hard drives. Today though, SSDs are far more stable and reliable and their performance is orders-of-magnitude better than even the fastest of hard drives. Despite the rapid pace of advancement in the SSD space, innovation doesn't seem to be slowing. With that...
Read more...
Just yesterday Mushkin pushed the 2.5" SSD sector up a notch with a 240GB option, which is far larger than many standard hard drives that are shipping with notebooks today. Now, OWC is taking it to another level: 480GB. Yes, 480GB on a single 2.5" solid state drive. The bar has been raised in terms of capacity, that's for sure. The company's new Mercury Extreme Pro SSD range is now available, with units ranging from 60GB to 480GB in size. According to the company, these feature "sustained data rates of 285MBps," with an ultra-efficient block management and wear leveling technology that "prevents write speed degradation commonly experienced by other brands' SSD." One of the fastest Internal SATA...
Read more...
OWC announced a new line of portable hard drives that features aluminum cases, bus powered drives, and quad interfaces. Because the new Mercury Elite-AL Pro mini case design is a small version of the case that is used in the company's Mercury Elite-Al Pro line, it should be familiar to OWC customers. Measuring 3.8 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches, the Mercury Elite-AL Pro mini case is small enough to easily fit in a laptop bag or backpack. In terms of connectivity, the Mercury Elite-AL Pro mini drives come with an eSATA port, a USB 2.0 port, and a pair of FireWire 800 ports. For users who wish to connect via FireWire 400, OWC includes a FireWire 400 to FireWire 800 cable. FireWire 800, USB 2.0, and eSATA cables...
Read more...
OWC is now offering DDR3 1066MHz memory upgrades up to 8GB for the new MacBook Pro 13-, 15-, and 17-inch models announced at WWDC. OWC’s memory upgrades offer MacBook Pro owners a savings of up to 42% as well as upgrade options that are not available from the factory. The upgrade kits come with OWC’s Lifetime Advance Replacement Warranty and Money Back Guarantee. When upgrading with OWC memory, it’s possible to retain the factory installed base memory modules. You can keep these modules for use in another Mac or send them to OWC for a trade-in rebate of up to $38 for a 2 x 2GB set.Pricing for OWC Memory Upgrades for Apple MacBook Pro laptop models:OWC 2GB DDR3 1066MHz Memory Module - $37.99Add...
Read more...
Other World Computing's Mercury line has been around for what feels like years now, and as far back as we can remember, the crew has looked like this. Taking a note from LaCie on "if ain't broke, don't fix it," the company is instead choosing to simply upgrade the capacity and features while keeping the look the same. The latest on-the-go storage solution is said to be able to hold up to 250 DVDs, half a billion photos or more MP3 than you'll ever have time to listen to in this life.Officially called the OWC Mercury On-The-Go Pro, this portable hard drive contains a 500GB 7200RPM HDD and arrives in three separate models including a 'Triple Interface' one with FireWire 800/400 and USB 2.0...
Read more...
OWC, or Other World Computing, is notorious for pumping out upgrades when companies refuse to do so themselves -- particularly Apple. Thus, it's no shock to see it offer up faster internal SuperDrives (DVD burners) for Apple's 13" MacBook and 15" MacBook Pro.The new OWC Mercury SuperDrives offer faster burn speeds than factory – up to 8X DVD, 6X DVD-DL (Dual-Layer 8.5GB), 5X DVD-RAM, and 24X CD burn speeds with support for DVD+/-R/RW, DVD+/-R DL (Dual-Layer), DVD-RAM, and CD-R/RW media. The upgrade kits function fine with all machines purchased from 2006 and up, even with the "older style" MacBook / MacBook Pros that came before the current "unibody" design....
Read more...
OWC INTRODUCES USB 2.0 DISPLAY ADAPTER -- EASILY ADD ADDITIONAL DISPLAYS TO MACS & PCs Increases Productivity up to 50% For Spreadsheets, Multi-Tasking, Photoshop, Presentations, Research, TV/Video Viewing, & Emails Bus Powered -- Connects to any USB 2.0 Desktop or Laptop Computer Other World Computing, a leading Mac and PC technology company, announced today the new OWC USB 2.0 Display Adapter, the easiest way to add an additional display to Macs and PCs via any standard USB 2.0 port. Functioning like a bus powered “external video card,” the OWC USB 2.0 Display Adapter adds an additional monitor to desktop and laptop computers that offer only one built-in display/video-out port. ...
Read more...
OWC has been on a roll of late with system upgrades, but today it's introducing a standalone product that will definitely catch the eyes of storage junkies everywhere. The Mercury Elite-AL Pro Qx2 is a quad interface plug-and-play desktop hardware RAID solution which easily handled FireWire 800, FireWire 400, USB 2.0 and eSATA. Like most average, consumer-level RAID setups, this one too boasts four drive bays for up to 8TB of storage (using a foursome of 2TB internal hard drives). There's also four selectable hardware RAID settings (0, 1, 5, 10, as well as a Span [NRAID] setting), and OWC promises that users will see data transfer speeds up to 300MB/second. We're also told that it's well suited...
Read more...
OWC OFFERS FIRST MEMORY UPGRADES UP TO 32GB FOR NEW APPLE MAC PRO "NEHALEM” MODELS OWC Offers Savings up to $1,620 vs. Factory Installed Internal Hard Drive Upgrades Savings up to $540 vs. Factory Installed OWC Continues First-to-Market Streak with Memory Upgrades for Most Powerful Mac Ever Other World Computing (OWC), a leading Mac and PC technology company, announced today the first available third party 1066MHz DDR3 ECC memory upgrades up to 32GB for the new Mac Pro “Nehalem” models announced last week by Apple. OWC Memory Upgrades offer new Mac Pro users savings of up to $1,620 on same size upgrades, as well as upgrade options not offered by the factory. Internal hard drive upgrades...
Read more...
If you're thinking that this one sounds familiar, it's because it is. Other World Computing just announced last October that it would be selling a quad interface external Blu-ray drive, and while its 4x BD-R burn speed was fine for most, those with time that's extraordinarily precious may long for something quicker. Now, there's the 8x version of the same drive, designed to cut those Blu-ray Disc burn times down by half while burning blank DVDs at up to 16x and blank CDs at up to 32x. This drive can write to an empty Blu-ray Disc at speeds of up to 2GB per minute, but the trick will be finding 8x capable media that you can afford. Just as before, this unit includes FireWire 800, FireWire 400,...
Read more...
OWC ANNOUNCES INDUSTRY’S FIRST BLU-RAY EXTERNAL DRIVES WITH “QUAD INTERFACE” OWC Mercury Pro Features Quad Interface for FireWire800/400, USB 2.0, & eSATA – for Mac and PC 4X Speed Writes up to 50GB, Reads/Writes HD-DVD, DVD/DVD-R, CD-R/RW Discs October 22, 2008 -- Woodstock, IL -- Other World Computing (OWC®) https://www.macsales.com, a leading Mac and PC technology company, announced today its new line of OWC Mercury Pro™ Blu-ray “Quad Interface” external drive solutions. The first Blu-ray external drives on the market offering a “Quad Interface” of FireWire 800, FireWire 400, USB 2.0, and eSATA, the OWC Mercury Pro drives feature 4X Blu-ray disc write speed for burning up to...
Read more...
S3 Graphics Showcases GPGPU Functionality with S3FotoPro Image Enhancement ApplicationFremont, California, October 17, 2008 - S3 Graphics, a leading provider of graphics and HD Multimedia technologies, today announced the availability of S3FotoPro™, a GPGPU application using the latest programmable architecture powered by the Chrome 400 Series GPUs. Utilizing an array of S3 stream processors, the GPUs can accelerate parallel data workloads and perform work on thousands of concurrent threads to achieve Gigaflops (GFLOPS) of high-throughput computations. S3FotoPro™ is an example of a computationally expensive process for image quality improvements that is best achieved on a GPU instead...
Read more...
