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Buffalo Technology has added a new model to its line of external hard drives. The DriveStation Combo4 is equipped with automatic backup software, four hardware interfaces, and speed-boosting software for USB transfers. These features lend themselves to backing up large collections of image files that may be spread over more than one computer. The Combo4 is compatible with both Windows and Mac systems, although the included backup software is for Windows only.

The Combo4 houses a 7200 rpm SATA drive and provides eSATA, FireWire 400/800, and USB 2.0 connections. Buffalo claims that its TurboUSB software boosts USB transfer rates by 20 percent. The 3-pound DriveStation uses Buffalo’s Heat Sink Chassis design, which cools the drive without the use of a fan to keep the Combo4 quiet. The drive comes preformatted and loaded with Buffalo’s SecureLockWare software for 256-bit AES file and folder encryption, as well as Memeo AutoBackup software for Windows. AutoBackup allows users to select folders to be backed up through a simple setup process, and then automatically backs up files as they’re created or altered.