Comsol is poised to start shipping its USB mini-drives today following the delivery of the Australian-owned company’s first shipment from Taiwan.

Essentially a 2.2GB GS Magicstor one-inch hard drive in aluminum casing with a USB 2.0 connector, the arrival of the unit on Australian shores heralds the next step in portable storage, according to Comsol managing director, Bryan Hedley.

“We’ve got the first ones to hit the deck – a lot of people wouldn’t have seen this product before,” he said.

The drive, which costs $449, allow users to store more than double the largest solid-state USB key drives that are generally available and often more expensive.

It requires no external power and operates under Windows ME/2000/XP and Mac without having to load any drivers or software. Software that accompanies the device also allows users to take their preferred setup to another computer.

“If you’re going overseas on business you can use the software to save Outlook Express settings and Internet Explorer favourites,” Hedley said. “These are going to be perfect for travelling executives.”

Comsol’s first order was from Harris Technology – the drive will appear at all of HT’s retail outlets and will also be available from its distribution centre.