Seagate goes ultra slim with latest portable GoFlex storage offering

Seagate has updated its GoFlex range of portable external hard drives with what it claims to be the world's slimmest model, which could appeal to small business users on the move looking to extend the storage capacity of netbooks or tablets.

The aptly named GoFlex Slim is, at 9mm, some 38 per cent slimmer than the other members of the GoFlex family. It comes with a 7,200rpm 2.5in drive and the 320GB version is set to go on sale for £79.99.

The sleek black device supports USB 2.0 but Seagate shouted louder about USB 3.0 compatibility which allows for 10 times faster transfer speeds than its predecessor.

The GoFlex Slim will also handily allow for use between Mac and Windows computers with no performance hits or formatting issues, according to Seagate. This could be particularly useful for employees with different mobile and home computing environments.

Also of interest to business users will be the drive's backup software, which the firm said provides automatic and continuous backup as well as encryption for the digital content stored on the device.

Tablets, netbooks and mini-notebooks are limited in onboard storage capacity, and the highly portable GoFlex Slim could be a useful addition on any business trip with fast synchronising between computer and drives, according to Seagate.

At the drive's launch event in London on Monday, Seagate also unveiled what is thought to be its oldest working hard drive in the UK. Showing just how far the external hard drive market has come, this ST-412 model, dating back to 1983, cost around £263 for just 10MB of storage and weighed in at a heavy 2.1kg.