The ThinkPad USB Portable Secure Hard Drive to give customers a secure way to protect sensitive data in a lightweight and easy-to-use design. The award winning, high capacity hard drive, available in either 160 or 320 GB versions, uses a numeric keypad allowing users to type in their passcode to access their data. At less than an inch thin, and approximately the size of a 3 x 5 inch index card, it’s small enough to fit in a shirt pocket.

The new secure hard drive meets the 128-bit advanced encryption security standard to help ensure information remains secure, and real-time encryption means users don’t have to wait for the “lag time” that typically accompanies encrypted drives. The hard drive features full-disk encryption for up to ten unique user ID’s and one administrator, making it an ideal tool for ThinkPad notebook PC users on-the-go or collaborating at work. Additionally, the self-powered hard drive eliminates the hassle of keeping up with power cords, and a convenient built-in USB cable makes transferring data simple and stores in the hard drive’s housing when not in use.

Recognized for its combination of simple-to-use design and advanced levels of security, the Consumer Electronics Association recently awarded the ThinkPad USB Portable Secure Hard Drive the CES Innovations 2009 Design and Engineering Best of Innovations Award in the Computer Peripherals category.

The prestigious Innovations Design and Engineering Awards recognize achievements in product design and engineering and are sponsored by the Consumer Electronics Association. Innovations entries are judged based on engineering qualities, aesthetic and design qualities, function and user value and unique features. In addition to the new hard drive, the CEA recognized Lenovo as an Honoree in the Computer Peripherals category for its space-saving and eco-friendly design of the ThinkCentre M57p Eco ultra small form factor desktop. With the desktop’s vertical stand, users can attach the desktop behind their ThinkVision monitor, saving previous desktop real estate and showing off a clean design.

Review By Reviews.cnet

The 320GB Lenovo ThinkPad USB Secure Hard Drive’s is an external hard drive that takes a tactile approach to security; users must input a passcode on the built-in keypad before the drive will let them access its contents. We like that the drive has an integrated USB 2.0 cable, but the rest of the case is an eyesore, especially compared with other stylishly thin external drives. The upside is that Lenovo ThinkPad USB Secure registered chart-topping performance results, but the increased transfer speeds come at a price. The $219 retail price is worth it for people who value security and performance over flashy design, but the budget-minded consumer can pay less and get a thinner, attractive drive with more storage space.

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Review By Laptopmag

The USB Secure Hard Drive is a somewhat bulky external drive that can fit into a pants pocket with just a bit of difficulty. Measuring 4.7 x 3.4 x 0.8 inches and weighing 6.4 ounces, it has more heft than similar devices, like the 500GB Hammer morespace portable, which measures 4.8 x 3.3 x 0.6 inches and weighs 1.4 ounces less. The drive’s body is covered in black soft-touch paint that feels great in hand and matches the appearance of Lenovo’s ThinkPad notebooks.

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Review By Lenovo News.softpedia

One of the most useful features built in the new Lenovo portable hard drive is the full-disk encryption for up to ten unique users and an additional administrator. This allows for a better management of the data stored on the hard drive, while also enabling more users to take advantage of the same storage solution. Also, Lenovo has managed to develop the 3 x 5-inch portable hard drive in such a way that it doesn’t require an additional power cord, since it can be powered by the built-in USB cable that can fulfill both tasks.

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Review By Notebookreview

Lenovo provides two USB cables for the portable drive, one to provide power and the other for data transfer, however I found that the just plugging in one cable did both jobs. If your PC is older two cables may be necessary. After connecting the drive to your notebook or desktop PC you simply punch in the password number on the keypad (by default when new it is “123456″) and hit the unlock key, after which the drive is unlocked and you can access data like any other drive. There is no special software necessary to install, the hardware is self-reliant and takes care of encrypting and securing your data. If you disconnect the drive from your PC it automatically reverts to encrypting and locking the data.

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Review By Thinkpadtoday

At 3” by 5” it will slip away anywhere, even in the proverbial shirt pocket or purse! The Consumer Electronics Association recently awarded the ThinkPad USB Portable Secure Hard Drive the CES Innovations 2009 Design and Engineering Best of Innovations Award in the Computer Peripherals category.

If I am going on a trip, my Seagate 40GB drive always goes in my laptop bag but it’s long overdue for replacement so a ThinkPad USB Portable Secure Hard Drive will be my traveling companion from here on in.

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Review By Pcmag

The Secure Drive does all its encryption in hardware. You can encrypt your data with software, but that usually involves encrypting batches of files and tying up your PC or Mac while they’re processed. The Secure Drive does all its encryption on the fly, with no degradation in performance. The drive’s benchmark numbers, like its PCMark05 hard drive test score of 3,126, backs this up. That’s a very good PCMark05 score for an external USB hard drive, our fastest score in this category. The recently reviewed Maxtor Black Armor, another secure drive, achieved only 2,769 on this test.

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