ADATA has just released a sleek new portable drive. The 500GB, 9mm-thick, drive from ADATA is covered in slick steel. At the time of this writing, the new ADATA drive is the smallest and thinnest portable drive on the market. Then again, that title can be snatched at any minute. Design aside, ADATA’s drive includes a great price tag $90. This drive also happens to come with some impressive stats. Looking for a portable drive that’s the thinnest available? Make sure to take a look at what ADATA’s got.

Specs (and all that good stuff)

The new ADATA DashDrive Elite has a USB 3.0 interface. As a result, the DashDrive Elite transfers files faster than most of its competitors. ADATA has included a nice LED indicator that flashes bright blue when powered on or when the drive is working. This cool light works nicely against the brushed steel exterior, and also provides a way to tell whether or not the device is working. ADATA has also included the company’s signature one-touch backup service. This service makes it possible to backup data with one touch.

ADATA claims that setting up the drive is a snap. Even though this drive looks the part of a complex portable, it’s nothing like more obscure drives on the current market. As an added bonus, if you purchase the ADATA DashDrive Elite, you will be given a 60-day trial version of Norton’s Antivirus Security suite (2012). I’m not so certain that you will want this suite (Norton is notoriously hard to remove once downloaded, and can cause system slow down), but it’s a nice incentive all the same.

Purchasing and Availability Details

ADATA didn’t provide press with an exact release date. The company did say that the device will be released “shortly.” Presumably, this means at the end of September or the beginning of October. ADATA will want to release the portable drive before Microsoft hogs the tech airwaves at the end of October with its major upcoming announcements. In much the same way that trying to release products when Apple has set up a press conference, attempting to gain consumer attention when Microsoft has the stage is not a good move.

As mentioned above, ADATA’s latest drive will have a purchase price of $90. This is significantly less than competing thin drives already on the market. Specifically, ADATA’s new Elite drive goes up against Toshiba’s recently released portable drive (retailing for $115). Seemingly, ADATA’s newest drive is definitely something worth checking out. From its good looks and excellent design to its fast transfer abilities, ADATA has hit the nail on the head this time.

The only question is: will ADATA’s Elite drive remain the thinnest portable drive on the market? In just the blink of an eye, another portable drive manufacturer could come and snatch that title away. But, for now, ADATA enjoys the winning slim spotlight. If you’re shopping for a portable drive, ADAT’s Elite will be hard to beat both size and design-wise.