The Bottom Line
- Biometric protection.
- Rugged design
- PC and Mac compatible for storage.
- Deciding which capacity you want.
- Fingerprint enrollment software not compatible with Mac.
Description
- Capacities Available - 80GB, 120GB, 160GB, 250GB and 320GB.
- Biometric authentication. Can store up to 10 fingerprint profiles.
- 128-bit AES hardware encryption.
- Rugged design incorporates 16-point omni-directional shock mounting system.
- Includes an auxiliary Y-cable, padded carrying case, application CD and Quickstart Guide.
- Application CD includes Adobe Acrobat Reader, Fingerprint software, SMART-ER Hard Drive Health Monitor, Microsoft SyncToy.
- PC Requirements: Pentium II, 32MB RAM, USB port and CD-ROM drive. Software: Windows 2000, XP and Vista.
- Mac Requirements: Apple G3 or later, 64MB RAM, USB port, CD-ROM drive. Software: Mac OS 9.2 or higher, Mac OS X10.x or later.
- Dimensions: 0.75” X 3.3” X 4.7” Weight:. 5.5oz.
Guide Review - Aegis Bio 2.5" Biometrically Secure External Hard Drive
The Aegis Bio 2.5" biometrically secure external hard drive has a rugged and compact design which is very well suited for mobile professionals. The addition of a biometric fingerprint sensor and the hardware encryption make this one portable hard drive that will make you safer and more secure while traveling.
The drive itself can pretty much fit in your hand, and will easily fit into a pocket or small compartment of your laptop bag.
The Aegis Bio includes a y-cable which can be used if your laptop doesn’t provide enough power with just one USB port for the drive, this is quite useful for some older model laptops.
You must register at least one fingerprint before beginning to use the Aegis Bio, but you don’t have to install the software in order to do so. You can simply run the fingerprint software to get up and running quickly.
The Aegis Bio can be used with both PC and Mac laptops, although the fingerprint software is not usable on a Mac operating system. This may seem an inconvenience but if you happen to work with both operating systems as I do, then it still provides protection if you set up your fingerprint through the PC system.
Another point to keep in mind that isn’t mentioned in the Quickstart guide is that you should register at least 2 of your own fingers, one from each hand and each a different finger. This way if you happen to injure the first finger you can still maintain protection by using a different finger.
To transfer files you can use the included software on the CD, Microsoft SyncToy or just drag and drop files between your laptop and the Aegis Bio.
I do recommend that all mobile professionals no matter what industry they work in should have at least one external hard drive and the Aegis Bio gets a strong recommendation from me for ease of use, cross-platform compatibility and rugged design.
