On Jan 19, I/O Magic released an 8gb version of its GigiBank portable USB storage device.
Features:
- USB 2.0 connection, backwards compatible with USB 1.1
- The USB connector can be ‘tucked away’ when not in use
- 2″ x0.5″ x2.5″
- Less than 2 ounces
Full Press Release
I/OMagic Enhances its Portable Storage Line-Up with Release of its GigaBank™ 8.0
Easy to Use, Pocket-Size 8GB(a) Storage Device is Targeted to Mobile Consumers
IRVINE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jan. 19, 2006–I/OMagic Corporation (OTCBB:IOMG – News), a leading provider of data storage products, announced today that it is set to ship to retailers the latest product in its portable storage line-up, the new GigaBank(TM) 8.0. The GigaBank(TM) 8.0 has a capacity of up to 8GB(a) of storage space in a miniature and lightweight USB 2.0 unit, designed to store MP3s, video and photos as well as back up documents or transfer files.
Source: I/OMagic Corporation
“We see tremendous growth potential with portable storage devices,” states Tony Shahbaz, president of I/OMagic. “I/OMagic’s product marketing strategy is to try to provide user friendly, stylish products that have the greatest storage capacity possible for consumers. We feel the GigaBank(TM) line fits within this plan, as they are targeted toward mobile consumers and carry large quantities of music, photos, video or documents with them where ever they go.”
The GigaBank(TM) 8.0 is small (2″x0.5″x2.5″) and lightweight (less than two ounces) and it requires no battery or power adapter. It is powered through a USB 2.0 port (which is also USB 1.1 backwards compatible). When not in use, the USB connector can be conveniently tucked into the enclosure. It comes with a USB extension cable for hard to reach USB ports. The GigaBank(TM) 8.0 is plug-and-play compatible and it supports Windows XP/2000/ME/98SE.
The I/OMagic GigaBank(TM) 8.0 will soon ship to national consumer electronics and office supply retailers and has an introductory MSRP of $199.99.
(a) Note: 1 GB=1 billion bytes.
A user’s total accessible memory/storage/data capacity will be less than stated as a result of the user’s operating system and other factors.
About I/OMagic
I/OMagic is a leading provider of data storage products (such as CD-RW and DVD+/-RW drives, USB Portable Storage Devices and floppy drives, including its MediaStation, DataStation and GigaBank(TM) products). The Company sells products under three brand names — I/OMagic®, Hi-Val® and Digital Research Technologies® — through nationally-recognized computer, consumer electronics and office supply superstores and other retailers.
Forward-looking statements in this release with respect to the anticipated shipment date and sale price of the Company’s new GigaBank(TM) 8.0 device, as well as product performance, are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, the Company’s dependence on the PC and consumer electronics industries and on product lines based on new technologies; the Company’s ability to develop new products based on new or evolving technology and the market’s acceptance of those products; manufacturing capacity, availability and reliability; competition and pricing pressures in the technology industry; general economic and business conditions; and other risks detailed from time to time in the Company’s periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Contact:
I/OMagic Corporation
Nancy Andrews, 949-707-4806
nandrews@iomagic.com
or
Investor Contact:
Aurelius Consulting Group
Dan Werneke, 407-644-4256
dan@aurcg.com
www.runonideas.com
I have the same problem, I was told by a rep just mail the device back to them and tape a NOTE on the device DATA MUST BE RECOVED! man I taped it on there good, after about a month I get a new unit and plug it in and it doesn’t work. I call the company and no one knows anything about the recoved data. Amazing this company stays open!!
I opened mine after it stopped working and I think it gets so hot that it melts the glue that keeps the wires connected and it spreads onto some of the solder connections. I have scraped it off then it started spinning up again but could not be used anymore.
Try this!
Gigabank 8 GB
If the drive letter does not appear, goto Admin Tools, Comp Mgt, Disk Mgt, right-click on the disk, Activate the disk, then create a partition but do not format it. Assign a drive letter and exit.
Now that you have a drive letter you can use this software to see if you have salvagable data: http://www.jufsoft.com/badcopy/
If so, make the $40 purchase and retrieve your files!
Matt,
I’ve tried what you’ve written, but in Disk Mgt, it doesn’t even find the drive.
Any other ideas?
I purchased the 8gb driver and it SUCKS!!! for lack of better words. I can plug it in and the blue light will actually come on but it won’t show up on the computer?????????
Had the same problems as everyone else. Took mine apart, pulled the CF card out and plugged it into a generic CF cardreader. Plugged it into the USB port on my laptop and recovered everything on it.
Purchased it on 2006 , thanksgiving for cheap. Today the blue light is on and drive does not show up on my computer. What crap !
I bought the I/O Magic Gigabank 8MB USB drive. I thought to myself “This is cool!” Well after about 4 or 5 uses in died. I called Gigabank and they told me that I corrupted it and I would have to send it in to have it fixed and my data recoevered. Guess what ….. corrupted it my ass! This thing has a Seagate Micro 8gig HDD in it. A substandard piece of crap that should not have ever been sold to anyone for any reason. To whoever said “Class Action” in this blog …. I agree! I/O Magic …. more like I/O Trash. BOYCOT I/O MAGIC and SEAGATE!!! Their HDDs are junk anyway.
Oh …. by the way …. the Seagate Mico 8gig HDD failed! Listen really close … that CaChunk CaChunk CaChunk noise you arehearing is a crashed HDD. It is a hardware failure and ha nothing to do with what any of you put on the drive.
I’m having the same issue as everyone else. The drive just all of a sudden stop being recognized by the computer. It does not show up under disk management either. I might try to open it up and use a CF card reader. I really need to recover the data.
My 8gb GIGAbank had the same problem as the rest. No blue light wont turn on. I read all of the comments on here, went to the Comp store and bought a Sandisk 12-in-1 reader. Used the CF Type II slot and BAM! It recognized it and I transfered the files off of it. NO RECOVERY!!! There was nothing wrong with the Micro HDD, it was the crap from I/O Magic!
Same problem with the 500g device–you know, the one that i used to follow the age old advice about backing up. Just wish I’d backed up my backup, since after shuffling laptops, most of my data over the last 20 years is gone, unless I can crack the case and recover the data using another reader.
Anyone know if the 500g drive can just pop into an external hard drive case?
I am interested in a class action suit for this device if anyone is going forward with it, I’m on. My Hub bought it some time back and backed up years worth of work on it and now there is no way to access it because it “wont start” as says in device manager. The light came on after quite a few times of pulling the USB in and out of the port. So now the light stays on but the comp still does not recognize it. What a waste. Anyway, I need the data so I am gong to do what #61 (Zach) said and go buy the Sandisk reader. So we should all get our money back because if the Sandisk reader was required in the first place, then they should have sold the device with one.
Kate
See youtube video, search GigaBank
My lasted for a year and a half and just recently ‘quit’, when I opened it up, there wasn’t a CF, but I tiny disk drive (?). Is there a reader for the ribbon coming off of this? Is there a reader for this at all….
Yes, Mine just went out too after one year. They don’t answer their phone. Does anyone know who can retrieve the data? If so please email me at
I managed to recover all the data from an 8gb with the Seagate st1.2 drive by taking it apart and plugging it into a CF card reader. Guess I’m one of the lucky ones.
DONOT BUY THIS!!!!!!!!!! I BOUGHT ONE AND 5 MONTHS LATER THE USB WIRING RIPPED. AND WHEN YOU CALL COSTUMER SUPPORT ALL THEY SAY IS IF YOU HAVE A RECEIPT WE CAN HELP YOU IF NOT ITS YOUR PROBLEM. LOOK FOR ANOTHER BRAND I\O MAGIC IS THE WORST YOU CAN BUY!!!!!!!!
MY I/O MAGIC 8.0 GIGABANK DOES NOT WORK EITHER. WHEN I PLUG IT IN THE USB, THE COMPUTER DINGS TRICE AS USUAL, BUT UNDER MY COMPUTER THERE IS NO DRIVE DETECTED FOR THIS UNIT. MINE IS 1&7/8″ WIDE BY 1&3/4″. IT IS BLACK IN COLOR AND THE BLUE LIGHT COMES ON ONE TIME AT HALF BRIGHTNESS WHEN PLUGGED IN, BUT IT COES NOTHING AND NO COMPUTER WILL DETECT IT. I HAVE A DELL INSPIRON 9400 WITH DUO CORE PROCESSORS AT 2.83 EACH. IT HAS 2 GB RAM AND A 160 GB HD.
GIGABANK 8GB is a piece of CRAP!! I had two and both went DEAD. lost all DATA, but was able to recover most data with ” TESTDISK 6.10″
Testdisk is FREE, try it. GOOD-LUCK.
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Download
I/O Magic my ass. The only magic it does, is wipe your data away and you’ll never get it back!. Please don’t waste your time with this product. Useless piece of **&^(%$#@ SHIT!!
My 8 GB drive just stopped working, could not be recognized at all and I immediately began to blame Vista (after all, that has been the cause of most of my woes in the last year…) then I tried Laura’s KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) method and fiddled around with the rotating wire harness until I heard the rewarding “kaplunk” sound of the device being recognized…15 minutes of holding the device stationary while copying the files to my laptop (wait, wasn’t that where I was backing up from?)
Obviously the “cute” rotating hide-away USB port isn’t really meant to be used for any length of time.
i cant believe this sucker died on me. bought it at office depot in 06 when it was new. just 4 days ago, i wanted to put some video files in it but it wont open.
i plug it on the comp usb, i hear that bell sound that tells me its connected but thats it.
-no pop up of ‘view open files’ like it used (SUPPOSED) to.
-no blue blinking light to indicate connectivity
-no GIGABANK icon to be clicked on ‘My Computers’
VERY F’N PISSED.
My son stored all of his architecture drawings on this drive. It failed and he needed it for college or fail his class. I followed your advice above but could not retrieve any data. I sent it to Drivesaver in CA and in 1 week they retrieved all 200 pictures. It cost me over $1,300. Ouch.
I/O Magic GiGaBank 4.0 GB micro drive “click-click-click-click” and on and on. Pried off the cover w/LED hole is on. Glue is rubber cement, you will bend it.. undid the tiny screw, and removed the tiny magicstor ata/ide drive (paper sticker) breathing hole is fine.
usb wires “seem” ok, will DD check later. May try card reader, but WHICH Direction is pin#1? The seagate PDF link above was GREAT! I know this click noise, I do NOT like my odds. BUT HOW??? maybe try the freezing thing, I mean cold shot. Whack that flea on the floor
if I get mad enough. One point to all the “cant see drive letter” folks. First try unit in as many other computers as possible. Take it to the store and plug it into sales units. It HAS worked for many dead USB thumbs and small ext pocket drives. Good Luck all.
Piece of crap = don’t buy!!
Why on earth would you store important stuff on a USB drive? When even the 300 gb hard drives fail.. just using it for backup and transfer files. I just got the 12 gb Gigabank. Probably shoulda known something was up when I went to the site for the encryption software and the site didn’t fully finish with my order, never gave me the activation number, charged me the $5 and their ordering emails both bounced. Knew it was a Seagate right away though because all their model numbers start with ST.
I had a similar experience with i/o Magic’s 320gb external hard drive I got from Target (lesson learned!). After about six months it would crash from overheating. I went through the RMA process and returned the faulty unit (I paid for shipping) only to have them send me either the same one or one that’s just as faulty. I store my music on it and even if I’m just playing the music through iTunes, it will crash after about 45 mins. I have to keep it off for at least 30 mins for it to cool down before it will even turn on again. I want to just crack it open and take the drive itself out (or at least leave the cover off for more air ciruclation) but I can’t figure out how to open it–it’s different than the instuctions listed above. Anyone have any suggestions?
I bought this stuff on dec 21/08. 8 gb gigabank, thought am a proud owner of it. this is the crappy stuff I’ve ever bought. I just jumped on it, because deal was so cool without a time for reading reviews…
whatta crap thing
I have an 8 gb gigaban. Like many others listed, after one month, it does not register.
What is your response to these many people?
We have some inhouse expertise, but they have been unable to open the gigbank
Same story only I guess I was luckier than most of you.
I needed to reformat my system, so I backed up onto a gigabank and it restored well.
Today I needed to move some important files from one system to another and the blasted thing is unrecognized by either computer.
I guess I’ll just hard wire the two systems.
I am also having problems with this product. It is suddenly not being recognized by my two computers. When I troubleshoot, says something about no drivers found. It seems from all the comments above, that this is a product to be avoided, and certainly not to be recommended.
I have one of these on my bench. It is literally in pieces,
as i disassembled it to get at the CF card.
Yes, there is a fake vent hole in the bottom,
and a fake indentation under the label on the top,
to look like a real micro-drive.
Well, this CF module is badged as a “Seagate * GB ST 1.2 Drive”
It is a “hard drive” as opposed to a “floppy drive” LOL!
In this case, the trouble was with fatigued (broken) wires between
the swivel mount and the card reader circuit board. Repairing this
required disassembly. There is a tension pin in the knuckle assembly
which must be driven out with a drift (straight punch), then the bottom
side should be bent out of the way to get at the wires. The wires do not
have to be unsoldered from the circuit board, but due to the plug being
molded, the hinge plate must be bent out of the way to get at the broken
wires, to splice them. And yes, there is a screw hidden under the bottom
trim plate, which is brushed aluminum, and is fastened with contact cement.
This needs to be straightened after removal, before gluing back on…
…too much monkey business!
Enjoy the CF card (remove the two little foam rubber bumpers on the top side),
and just use it in any old digital camera that accepts CF2 cards.
Note that this is CF2, not CF, so some older Canon Powershots might not
recognize it, or might only recognize it as 2 GB. Of course, externally formatting
it to FAT32 instead of FAT, might be a hack. I don’t know. I haven’t tried it yet
in my PowerShot. This particular Gigabank belongs to a customer, so i don’t dare
format it yet, even though I did manage to copy all the data to one of my
=REAL= hard drives. LOL!
Please help!! I’ve tried all that has been suggested… no blue light, computer doesn’t recognize and I have the first 3 years of my son’s life on this gigabank!! I didn’t think this would happen!!
The only magic going on here is your money disppearing down the toilet. GARBAGE company with GARBAGE products.
Mine has been working fine for a while… Too bad I can’t trust it now.
What I need to know is this:
when I pulled the thing open and gently slipped the CF off the little board, it wouldn’t fit in any of my card readers (Dazzle and my Canon Powershot) because it was too thick for the slot. So I pried off the aluminum foil backing and there’s what looks like a little Motherboard back there with all kinds of crap on it. What kind of card reader are you using that this thing slips into? I want my data back, so I can promtly throw this piece of junk away.
I had mine for 2 years and it worked without a problem and then stopped working within a matter of days. I tried it in every computer available but the tin can didn’t work in ANY of them.
I then took it apart and inserted it into a CF reader as suggested with NO success either. It acted like it was still in its original tin can which wasn’t helpful. So I reread all of the helpful posting and found that I was able to get most of my data from a program listed in JuneBug’s posting. I didn’t think it would work, but it DID. Since it is free and you don’t have anything to loose, try it. I don’t know if I got all of it, but I got what I wanted from the tin can, so I count myself among the truly blessed. Hopefully this helps someone else.
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Download
I bookmarked it…
Without doubt I can say that this is at the top of my favourite blog list….