Kanguru announces eSATA pendrive

Author: Gareth Halfacree
Published: 20th November 2008

The Kanguru e-Flash is the first pendrive to come equipped with both USB 2.0 and eSATA connectivity.

If you're looking for an ultra-fast pen drive but can't stand the wait for USB 3.0 “SuperSpeed”, you might want to see the latest bit of kit to come from the labs of Massachusetts-based Kanguru – a USB/eSATA unit.

First spotted by Engadget, the Kanguru e-Flash features both USB 2.0 and eSATA connectivity at opposing ends – allowing for backwards compatibility whilst giving it the ability to interface at speeds of up to 3Gb/s if you've got a free eSATA port.

Available in 16GB and 32GB capacities – with a 64GB version due at the start of next year – the devices certainly tick a lot of boxes. Realising that not everyone has a PC with eSATA connections, Kanguru has opted to bundle a bracket adaptor that allows you to convert a free internal SATA port to an eSATA unit at the rear of your PC along with the necessary cables to make use of same.

The performance of the device is nothing to sneeze at, either: the company claims a read speed of up to 30MB/s when connected via USB jumping to a massive 75MB/s when using eSATA; write speeds aren't quite so dramatic, but still pretty reasonable at 20MB/s for USB and 25MB/s for eSATA. Clearly, USB has been holding external SSD devices back – remove that from the equation and you can get more than twice the read speed from the same flash memory.

Compatible with Mac, Windows, and Linux kernels above 2.4.1, the devices are available in the US right now priced at $85 (£57) for the 16GB or $120 (£80) for the 32GB. Pricing for the 64GB has yet to be announced, along with availability this side of the pond.

Tempted by some eSATA pendrive goodness, or are you hanging on to your existing USB 2.0 solution until USB 3.0 pokes its head above the parapet? Share your thoughts over in the forums.