G-Tech's G-DRIVE ev ATC: possibly the most rugged drive yet

G-DRIVE ev ATC

G-Technology’s latest extremely rugged drive allows us to perform a brand new test for us on a disk drive: buoyancy.

The G-DRIVE ev ATC is notable not so much for the properties of the disk drive but for the enclosure it comes in.

The internal drive is part of the EV series of dockable drives and as such is pretty handy. But what distinguishes the G-DRIVE EV ATC is that it is housed in a very rugged case that protects it both from a 2m (six foot six inches) drop and is watertight.

In fact if you drop the G-DRIVE ev ATC in water, it will just float serenely until you retrieve it. I know this, because I tried it.

When you rescue the drive, just shake the water off, give it a quick dusting with a towel, and you're ready to go.

Of course it's no good having a drive that claims to be shock and waterproof if you don't trust it, but the way this is put together it's almost as if it's designed to give you confidence.

The drive is accessible through a slot at the top of the enclosure and this is revealed when the top of the case is swung open. This lid has a waterproof seal and is held in place by a tough-looking latching lever that pulls the top and bottom of the case together.

The drive is available in either USB 2.0 or Thunderbolt, and in each case, the captive cable is slotted into a groove that goes around the bottom of the case. The USB connector snaps into a larger indentation in the case, and there's a captive waterproof cap for the connector itself.

The combination of the drive and the connector still feels lightweight, which is probably why it is able to float.

The case also keeps the drive protected from dust and sand, which is probably one of the more common hazards.

Drives have a 3 year warranty and cost £179.95 for 1TB Thunderbolt and £139.95 for 1TB USB 3.0.

With modern file-based workflows, this is exactly the sort of device we're going to need to protect our recordings. You may have the best camera in the world to shoot events that are only going to happen once in history, but that's not going to help you if you lose your material in a swamp.

Given a choice between one of these drives or an S-Class Mercedes to carry my footage around, I'd go for this one any day!

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