I love gadgets and one of the great things about running this blog and the MacReviewCast podcast is the fact that I get to try a lot of the new gear that comes out. Some of it is so good that I end up keeping it and sending them the money. The NewerTech Voyager Q is one of them. It’s just that handy to have around.

We all have external hard drives and after a while they either become outdated because of the size of the hard drive, or the hard drive dies. Some of them you can exchange the hard drives by taking them apart and others make it so difficult that it’s not worth your time. The Voyager allows you pop in hard drives, read and write, copy or restore and then pop them out like a DVD. Simple in concept, but so handy to use that you’ll be filling all those old hard drives you have lying around with data and photos, movies, or music for storage or transporting to other computers. The Voyager is just one of those gadgets that Mac and PC users will love to own.

Let’s take a minute and look at the features and specs on the Voyager.
Main Features:
Supports all 2.5″ and 3.5″ SATA I/II hard drives up to 2.0TB
“Quad Interface” for maximum data transfer rates and system compatibility
Data transfer rates up to 3.0Gb/s (300MB/s)
Hard drive eject lever for safe removal of 3.5″ drives
Hot-Swap functionality for fast access of multiple hard drives
Weighted base and non skid rubber feet for stable operation
Status LED: Blue = Power, Flashing Red = Disk Activity
Compact design…measures 3.937″ x 5.95″ x 3.169″ inches
Whisper Quiet operation…no cooling fan needed
Plug and Play with Macs and PCs
All interface connection cables included

Notice the last one on the list, all cables are included, eSATA, USB, FW400, FW800.
Talking about connectivity, what transfer rates can you expect…
eSATA: up to 3.0Gb/s (or 300MB/s)
FireWire 800: up to 800Mbps (100MB/s)
FireWire 400: up to 400Mbps (50MB/s)
USB 2.0: up to 480Mbps (60MB/s)

The portability makes it easy to carry the Voyager in a bag for travel, or easy to move from Mac to Mac to PC and back again in an office or home. You could find a better looking enclosure for your hard drives, but none that are as easy to access, and so compatible with all your computers. I’m still coming up with new ways of using my Voyager, and I’m certain there will be more as my hard drive collection expands.

The only downside I found was the price for the Voyager Q, Quad interface unit is $95.00 while the price for the S2, USB and eSATA interface Voyager is $50.00. I’d like to see the Quad unit for sale at a lower price point, but the S2 unit is a value if you have the USB2 or eSATA ports available. Do yourself a big favor and check the Voyager out for yourself at Other World Computing.