G-Technology Review: Hands-on With the Rugged 1TB G-Drive ev ATC With Thunderbolt

[MacRumors]

G-Technology's G-Drive ev ATC is its latest hard drive, offering Thunderbolt connectivity in an ultra protective package. Introduced at CES this year, the G-Drive ev ATC (ATC stands for All-Terrain Case) is shock/dust resistant, waterproof and pressure resistant, plus it offers 1TB of storage and Thunderbolt speeds.

Designed for users who need storage space that can be used in the field in suboptimal conditions, the bus-powered G-Drive ev ATC will keep data safe in all kinds of environments. The ev ATC (which has an ev RaW 7200 RPM hard drive inside) is also compatible with company's Evolution series, including the G-Drive ev and G-Drive ev SSD, so hard drives can be swapped in and out of the rugged enclosure.

What's in the Box?

The G-Drive ev ATC includes one inner 1TB G-Drive ev RaW, the rugged outer casing, and a USB to Micro-B cable for using the hard drive with your Mac when it's not inserted into the enclosure with the Thunderbolt cable. It also ships with a small instruction manual to walk you through removing the inner drive from the outer casing and swapping it into other G-Technology products if desired.

Design and Features

There are two major parts to the G-Drive ev ATC: the hard plastic and rubber all-terrain case and the inner 1TB hard drive. The outer shell is constructed from black plastic with blue rubber accents at the corners and on the top and bottom to provide cushioning should it accidentally fall. It feels like a solid, quality product that's going to stand up to abuse.

It's branded with the company's signature "G" logo and it has an LED at the top to let you know when it's plugged in and active. A built-in Thunderbolt cable tucks around the perimeter of the drive and is covered with a blue rubber cap to keep dust and water out. One minor downside to the hard drive here -- the rubber cap is flimsy and it feels like it could rip off with rough handling, and when subjected to a water test, a bit of water leaked in (it remained usable after the water dried).


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Article Link: G-Technology Review: Hands-on With the Rugged 1TB G-Drive ev ATC With Thunderbolt

 

[One Bad Duck]

Eurgh please, thunderbolt is so 2013. Where's the USB-C?

 

[patrickcwelsh]

So you would need a water/dust/etc-proof computer too right? Why have a waterproof hard drive if the computer can't get wet. They'd be in the same place, right? Maybe it's my ignorance, but the need seems a bit far-fetched.

Now I CAN see it being useful if a sprinkler system goes off in your dorm or something. Your computer might fry, but your backup data may survive.

 

[2457282]

So you would need a water/dust/etc-proof computer too right? Why have a waterproof hard drive if the computer can't get wet. They'd be in the same place, right? Maybe it's my ignorance, but the need seems a bit far-fetched.

Now I CAN see it being useful if a sprinkler system goes off in your dorm or something. Your computer might fry, but your backup data may survive.

Great question. I was watching the video and wondering the same thing. They show all this expensive camera gear (that cannot get wet) and the computer (also can't get wet), but at least the external drive is safe. So, it is clearly limited to folks that have waterproofed all their equipment, which I am sure exists, especially the video guy in the water taking the surf shots. But that seems like a fairly small audience.

 

[keifer.street]

A thunderbolt I/O with an old magnetic 7200 rpm hard drive makes no sense. The read/write speed of the drive would be a huge bottleneck. With a much faster SSD, you'd come much closer to reaching Thunnderbolt's full speed potential.

 

[brdeveloper]

Not daisy-chainable? No way I'd lose a TB port with something I could get the same performance through USB.

 

[OtherJesus]

I would never buy a drive with a "built in" Thinderbolt cable.

 

[akbarali.ch]

i dont understand, if the usb-c was around the corner, then why thunderbolt, lightning, usb 3.0 connector, not to count hdmi, mini display port.

i don't mind adopting any standard, its should just become universal. I really loved the period where there was only one USB connector and everything was made for/about/around it. that was golden period. Now we are all ushering into fight again. Thunderbolt, USB 3.0, USB-C, Lightning. I want to reduce the wire clutter near my power port, right now i have 3 wires, 30-pin, lightning, micro usb, sometime i connect mini-usb too (my remote uses that), that makes 4.

Just follow one connector and put everything into it.

 

[KindredMAC]

And all for the low, LOW price of....

YOUR SOUL!!!!

 

[theBB]

The review would have been more useful if it compared this G to Silicon Power's "rugged" drives.

In my experience, sand can be a bigger deal than water for semi sealed electronics. If the leakage is a small amount and it is contained in non-critical places, water eventually evaporates. Sand gets stuck and may degrade the seals over time, making the product more vulnerable to elements. (Similarly spilled juice may leavea a "thick" residue) I did not get the impression that the reviewers tested it in a sandy environment, just against water sprays.

 

[dannys1]

A thunderbolt I/O with an old magnetic 7200 rpm hard drive makes no sense. The read/write speed of the drive would be a huge bottleneck. With a much faster SSD, you'd come much closer to reaching Thunnderbolt's full speed potential.

Youd' still get no where near Thunderbolt 2 - you need 4x top of the range SSD's in a Raid 0 to saturated it at a real work read/write of 1400Mbps

 

[giffut]

This ..

... is a terrible value.

Any rugged solution would mean no spinning hard drive involved and attached via WIFI. Having moving parts and a cable dangling from your port is a huge logo.

If it would be just for storage size, a solid stuffed container is sufficient to protect the HD, where you just attach it to your computer while in use.

 

[Marx55]

Bring cheap SSD.

 

[TechZeke]

Eurgh please, thunderbolt is so 2013. Where's the USB-C?

The last time I checked, 99% of the population doesn't have a USB-C port. Thunderbolt meanwhile is standard on all Macs except for the new MB, and comes on most PC workstations.

Right now, USB-C comes on the rMB and Chromebook Pixel, two devices that any professional who isn't a blogger isn't going to buy. Or it's going to be a secondary machine to a primary computer that probably has thunderbolt.

 

[robeddie]

A thunderbolt I/O with an old magnetic 7200 rpm hard drive makes no sense. The read/write speed of the drive would be a huge bottleneck. With a much faster SSD, you'd come much closer to reaching Thunnderbolt's full speed potential.

THIS. It makes zero sense to use thunderbolt without an SSD. It confounds me that people are wasting money on these (since the thunderbolt tech adds to the cost).
On top of that, as a few have posted, having ANY spinning drive in what is sold as a "rugged" solution is just plain dumb.

 

[TechZeke]

THIS. It makes zero sense to use thunderbolt without an SSD. It confounds me that people are wasting money on these (since the thunderbolt tech adds to the cost).
On top of that, as a few have posted, having ANY spinning drive in what is sold as a "rugged" solution is just plain dumb.

Actually, thunderbolt drives are worth it on 2011 macs. 2011 saw the introduction of thunderbolt but no USB 3 ports. For my 2011 27" iMac, my Lacie thunderbolt was a total worth it. USB 2 speed is terrible.

 

[joemolomo]

Windows can be installed a lot easier through a thunderbolt drive compared to external USB drive, one reason you might buy a thunderbolt spindle over usb spindle drive.

 

[ChrisA]

So you would need a water/dust/etc-proof computer too right? Why have a waterproof hard drive if the computer can't get wet. They'd be in the same place, right? Maybe it's my ignorance, but the need seems a bit far-fetched.

Because you care a LOT less if the computer is trashed. You can replace it for $1,500 or so in a few hours or days. But what if the image files you just shot or your editing work is lost? You can't replace it. What you need is two of these drives. One for storage and one for back then as soon as you can make another back copy.

The other thing you need is a pelican case for the disk drives that are used in the field

 

[afph0t0graphy]

Don't leave it plugged on you computer for a long period of time (over night)!!! I left mine over night and when i log back to my mac the following morning I can't find the G/Drive icon on my desktop anymore. I used finder/preference the external disk box has a check on. I toggled the check button and no external hard drive showing.

I lost all my files!