Japanese hardware company Ratoc has announced one of the first external Serial ATA (eSATA) adaptors that connect add-on hard disk drives and RAID arrays like the LaCie Two Big (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/03/10/review_lacie_two_big/) to a host computer using the new, notebook-oriented ExpressCard 34 format.

The REX-EX30S card slots into any 34mm or 54mm ExpressCard slot, but the company only ships drivers for Windows-based systems. The card's single eSATA port support data transfer rates up to 3Gbps with Native Command Queueing (NCQ) and a hot-swap capability. It's even RoHS-compliant, so it's lead-free to meet various regional import regulations due to come into force this year.

Ratoc's own tests show the eSATA card's read and write speeds are 2.2 and 2.7 times faster than a USB 2.0-connected hard drive, the company's website (http://www.ratocsystems.com/home.html) claims.

The card will retail in Japan for ¥10,500 ($89/£51) when it ships toward the end of this month. ®

Related reviews

LaCie Two Big 1TB eSATA drive (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/03/10/review_lacie_two_big/)
ATI CrossFire Xpress 3200 chipset (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/03/01/ati_crossfire_xpress_3200/)
Freecom FSG-3 Storage Gateway (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/03/13/review_freecom_fsg-3/)

Related stories

Sonnet add-in to tune UK MacBook Pros into to eSATA (1 May 2007)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/05/01/sonnet_ships_tempo_in_uk/
WD ships eSATA external hard drive (5 February 2007)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/02/05/wd_ships_esata_my_book_hdd/
Seagate readies 750GB desktop hard drive (21 April 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/04/21/seagate_750gb_barracuda/
WD unveils 6GB pocket drive (29 March 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/03/29/wd_passport_6gb/
WD brings external hard drive biz to book (14 March 2006)
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/03/14/wd_my_book_hdd/
Seagate preps Iomega, iVDR killer (9 January 2006)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/01/09/seagate_tornado/