For a personal storage device that hides a large capacity in a compact footprint take a look at the Aegis Mini that Apricorn announced not long ago.You may remember Apricorn’s “ez upgrade” their drive update kit for laptops. In addition to making the drive replacement painless, ez upgrade also turns your old drive into a USB device and Apricorn has been offering that for a long time, much before those gizmos became popular.Aegis Mini has a tiny 1.8″ disk drive inside that delivers 30 or 60GB of nominal capacity. Measuring 3 3/8″ x 2 6/8″ and only 5/8″ deep, this baby can still fit in your palm View image.You can choose a Firewire or a USB connection. I haven’t seen a Firewire unit but in mine that 4″ USB cable all but disappears inside its groove. View image If you need to reach farther, say a port on a tower standing on the floor, Apricorn bundles also a 40″ extension cable. Is scratching that elegant silvery surface a concern? No worries, just slip on the padded pouch, also found in the box, before sticking the Aegis Mini in your pocket.How much, you ask? The 30GB USB is the least expensive model but check out the price line up from the Apricorn site. As always, Froogle is your friend.In the box of the Aegis Mini you will find also the Data Protection Suite, a CD with a comprehensive set of data protection apps for PCs and Macs, including backup, synchronization and encryption. Here is what you would see after loading the CD on a PC.View image Add to that shock resistance specs that would probably survive the acceleration on Star Trek and you’ll understand why they called this drive Aegis, Zeus’ shield in Greek mythology.Here’s my summary line for the Apricorn Aegis Mini: Good speed, choice of connectivity, great capacity, well equipped with applications and accessories, light weight and not too expensive.