As if the Acer Ferrari designed laptop wasn't enough, external storage maker Fabrik Inc. has launched a series of external storage devices designed by Pininfarina, the company that has assisted with the design of the Ferrari automobile.

Fabrik's new USB 2.0 devices are known as the SimpleTech SimpleDrive line, which launched last year with portable drives also designed by Pininfarina. The drives are color-coded by capacity: fire red (160GB), pearl white (250GB), sapphire (320GB), onyx (500GB) and charcoal gray (750 GB and 1 terabyte). Additional models with a combo USB 2.0 and FireWire 400 interface will begin shipping in May, the company said; manufacturer's suggested pricing begins at $99 for the 160GB model.

Personally, I'm a tad disappointed that Fabrik has decided to emphasize the sizzle and not the steak. On the other hand, baisc external storage is little more than a hard drive, an enclosure, and a few connectors. Standing out from the crowd takes some doing.

What I like about the line is that it offers a 2-Gbyte online backup option for storing critical files "offsite". Sure, it's a not a 1:1 remote backup solution, but at least the drives can dump a "My Documents" folder somewhere safe. I've used a variety of solutions, such as the Gmail Drive shell extension, and several free online storage repositories. The problem is that no one solution makes me feel absolutely secure, and my most critical files are generally ones I don't want floating around the net, in whatever capacity. So while I like the option, I confess that I'd probably not use it for much.