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The amount of data you can quickly and easily back up onto a portable device is about to increase. CMS Peripherals has announced two additions to its line of ABSplus external hard drives.

New are the 200GB and 250GB ABSplus drives, but they don't come cheap: The 200GB costs $500; the 250GB model, $600. Both drives are in the desktop line of ABSplus backup drives (as opposed to the portable line) and are available now. CMS already markets 80GB and 120GB models.

The ABSplus drive is a combination hardware/software backup product. You plug the drive into your PC, and it automatically backs up your entire hard drive--or at least everything created or changed since your last backup.

Software Side

The bundled ABSplus backup software copies your files without compressing or otherwise altering them, simplifying the task of restoring a lost file. But because the software doesn't save multiple versions of your files, restoration is limited. For instance, if you want a report in the condition it was in last Wednesday, but it was altered and backed up again the following Friday, you're out of luck.

If a total disaster wipes out everything on your hard drive, you can boot from the ABSplus CD and restore everything from the backup drive. You can boot a Mac, but not a PC, directly from the drive.

Multiple Machines

An ABSplus drive doesn't have to be tied to a single PC, and CMS says that users can easily the boxes from one computer to another. The drive does have to be plugged in to an AC wall socket as well as to the PC itself. It's available in both USB and FireWire versions. Desktop ABSplus drives weigh 2.4 pounds and measure 8.25 by 5.12 by 1.6 inches.

The USB versions don't require USB 2.0, but that standard is highly recommended for performance reasons. If your PC doesn't have USB 2.0, you can buy a PCI upgrade card with your ABSplus for an additional $50.

CMS also makes a separate notebook line of ABSplus drives. These are smaller, weigh less, and are powered by the host PC. But you'll find no 250GB drives here. The largest notebook drive available is only 60GB, and it costs as much as a 200GB desktop model.

Cost Conscious

These are not cheap products. The desktop models start at $350 for the 80GB version (CMS's Web site lists a 40GB model for $300, but CMS says that it is discontinuing that model). In contrast, according to PC World's Product Finder, you can buy Iomega's 80GB USB drive for well under $200.

So why pay over $300 for CMS's drive? You're buying the hardware/software combination, according to Michael Peters, vice president of sales for CMS. "We give a totally integrated, tested, bullet-proof backup solution," he says.

But Peters notes that, with the new, high-capacity drives on the market, CMS is "rethinking our current pricing strategy." Prices on the older drives may soon be coming down.

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