Korean company iodd has come up with an external drive enclosure with a very practical secondary feature. The iodd 2501 Portable Virtual ROM can act as a virtual optical drive and mount ISO files. Your computer will recognize the 2501 as both an external drive and an optical drive. A jog dial on the side of the case lets you scroll and mount stored ISOs. If you’ve used Daemon Tools, think of this as its hardware equivalent.
The iodd 2501 doesn’t need an OS to run, which means you can actually boot and install from an ISO. It’s perfect for people who repair computers, but I’m sure anyone who owns a lot of optical media or ISO files can see how useful this drive enclosure is. You can store OS installation disks, games or ripped Blu-ray discs, all in one small device.
Like most drive enclosures, the iodd 2501 does not come with a hard drive, but that’s not a real problem since you can use any 2.5″ hard drive or SSD with it. It connects via USB or eSATA, has a write-protect switch, and draws power via USB. The iodd 2501 Portable Virtual ROM is available at Amazon for $70 (USD). Time to rip those discs!
[via Everything USB]
