Decided I could do with a decent external hard drive to backup a media server. In the end, every one I read about seemed to have uncomfortably mixed reviews. The answer seemed to be to build my own - so that I was certain of the quality and had maximum flexibility. This is an Akasa "integral" eSATA enclosure. It takes SATA or IDE drives, and supports either USB2 or eSATA connectivity back to your workstation. I installed a Seagate Barracuda 1TB SATA drive, 7200rpm and 3Gb/s, but might upgrade the drive at some point. Currently it's connected via an eSATA port. Time will tell, but personally I think it looks a lot better than the plastic pre-built offerings that I looked at first. It's ultra glossy, black aluminium, with chrome trim. Plus, the little "SATA" indicator on the front of the housing, backlit with a blue LED, is just as cool as it sounds!! ;-)

New productshot from me. It's an Akasa "integral" network hard drive. Taken with a Canon EOS 30D and 2 flash units.