Seagate has made a lot out of USB 3.0, the new, faster standard for USB connectors. However, it's such a new technology that it's not common enough for the company to build it standard into its new GoFlex drives, announced today. But there's a workaround.

Seagate sells a kit that will turn any laptop's ExpressCard slot into a USB 3.0 port for one of its GoFlex drives. You start with an adapter, but that's not enough since USB ports require power. The kit also includes a cable that jacks in one of your machine's USB 2.0 to supply the juice. Yeah, it's kind of unwieldy and doesn't look good, but you might not mind the tradeoff for USB 3.0 speeds (theoretically 10x faster than USB 2.0), and really being able to take advantage of the 7,200rpm speed of Seagate's GoFlex Pro drives.

The kit sells for $80, and the Pro drives cost between $140 and $190. Hey, it beats buying a whole new machine.

Via Seagate