A few months ago, G-Technology brought out a new variation of its G-Drive ev drive in the form of the snappily titled G-Drive ev ATC with Thunderbolt. It was kind enough to send Televisual one for review. Having used the 1TB drive pretty extensively on a recent corporate film project, it definitely gets the thumbs up from me.
The G-Drive ev ATC with Thunderbolt is basically one of G-Drive’s lightweight portable G-Drive ev RaW drives (the black drive below) in a cleverly designed ruggedised outer shell. A little clasp in the casing flips the lid open, enabling you to take the drive in and out.
The G-Drive ev RaW drive can be used with or without the G-Drive ev ATC with Thunderbolt casing. Without the casing, it’s a USB3 device, but once it’s been slotted into place inside the casing it becomes a Thunderbolt drive. This is a similar principal to how G-Technology’s desktop docking station, the G-Dock ev, works, but this time in a portable, rugged form factor.
A Thunderbolt cable is even conveniently built in and slotted neatly along the outer shell of the G-Drive ev ATC with Thunderbolt. It’s quite a short cable – but it’s a really neat solution and even includes a little plastic blue cap to protect the end of the Thunderbolt plug. A USB 3.0 cable is also handily included for using the G-Drive ev RaW drive without the ruggedised casing.
As a standalone drive, the G-Drive ev RaW is quite a bit lighter than G-Technology’s very similar looking G-Drive ev drive (around 35% lighter, according to G-Technology), so even housed in the ruggedised casing, the whole thing is still pretty lightweight.
The casing feels solid, durable and well made, and is certainly very rugged. It’s watertight and protects from pressure, shock and dust. G-Technology says it survives a two metre drop onto a carpeted concrete floor and floats in water and can be dropped into a pool of water from a height of 1ft for 30 seconds while remaining protected.
The RRP for the 1TB G-Drive ev ATC with Thunderbolt ruggedised unit and drive is US$229.95 (around £150). As I said at the start, it gets a thumbs up from me. If you’re after a drive you can take on any shoot, whatever the weather or shooting conditions, it’s a perfect fit.
Staff Reporter
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