“Previously only attainable in desktop or bulky multi-drive internal designs, we can now achieve a 4TB capacity in a compact drive thanks to the latest Samsung HDD technology,” said Dave Klenske, director of product line management, Samsung HDD. “By going to a single-drive solution, we can power the drive through just a USB connection while fitting it into a case that is only a 1/10 of an inch thicker than our 2TB drive.” These hard drives come in two variants, the M3 Portable External Drive and the P3 Portable External Drive. As far as hardware specifications are concerned, they both are thin except for their appearance. The M3 Portable has a blocky, etched design, while the P3 Portable has a thinner, smoother casing. On taking a closer look at the specs, it is however revealed that the M3 Portable has a USB 3.0 transfer rate of up to 4.8Gb/s, while the P3 Portable has a USB 3.0 transfer rate of 5.0Gb/s without needing any external power supply. As previously indicated, both presumably have the same components, despite the USB 3.0 transfer rate and general appearance. The new drives that have capacities ranging between 500GB and 4TB should be useful to customers with laptops who require more storage than what the internal hard drive can provide. If the customers want to take advantage of the blazing SuperSpeed transfer rates, they will need to have a desktop or laptop with USB 3.0 ports. Or else, the drives are compatible with USB 2.0 and older. Samsung is planning to release these external hard drives through authorized distributors later this month. While the four terabyte P3 Portable drive prioritizes thinness and portability, the equally spacious M3 Portable concentrates more on durability to keep your data safe while traveling. However, the company is yet to disclose the pricing for these drives. Newegg, as a matter of fact, is selling the P3 Portable external drives for $44.99 (500GB), $59.99 (1TB) and $89.99 (2TB).
