January 5th, 2009
Iomega launches new low-price Home Media Network Hard Drives
While HP is taking the high (price) road in the NAS market with its new MediaSmart Servers, Iomega is going the other direction with its new Home Media Network Hard Drive line. Considering how cheap hard drive prices are getting, it’s a reasonable tactic. How reasonable? Iomega is selling the 500GB model for just $159.99, while a 1TB version is $229.99.
The devices are also well-featured, with iTunes and UPnP server capabilities, DLNA device support, and a USB port to attach more storage or a printer to the unit. It comes with EMC Retrospect software for backup duties, and you also get 2GB of online storage courtesy of MozyHome Online Backup service. (Unlimited online storage is available for $4.95 per month.) While the Home Media Network Hard Drives are Mac compatible, they don’t offer Time Machine support like HP’s new NAS devices.
The biggest limitation for Iomega’s new offerings is that they can only house one drive. You can still build your own NAS device for a little less with some expansion room, but if you’re not interested in a DIY project and just want networked storage for as little as possible, the Home Media Network Hard Drives are probably worth a look when they become available sometime early this month.
Sean Portnoy spent several years as an editor at Computer Shopper magazine, most recently serving as online executive editor. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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