There are quite a few improvements and changes made with the GPT50 but right out of the box, I found GPT50 both lighter weight and 33% smaller (not as deep a cabinet) than the GT050Q (I have four of them now) making it more portable--weight and size are important considerations for traveling/mobile lap top-based music creators.

The GPT50 has a new stylish, smooth look that starts with a brushed aluminum front panel with recessed, black-anodized ventilation screening, blue activity LED and a flush-mounted, front panel power switch you have to hold down momentarily (3-seconds) to power down. I (personally) love this! I'm clumsy: sometimes I inadvertently hit "rocker" type power switches and turn gear on/off accidently. Turning off a mounted drive without first ejecting it, can result in data loss!

The GPT50 has an internal power supply (no dangling wall warts) and is made in an even more environmentally-conscious way--a little known and standard policy I noticed early on about all Glyph products.

The GTP50 uses front-panel ventilation holes to draw cool air in while exhausting warm air out the back using a temperature-controlled fan. But the GTP50, while still properly cooling, is very quiet. I have a 2TB GPT50 running here on my desktop and it is very quiet--outside noises and my HVAC running are much louder than this drive! Recording very quieter acoustic sounds in the same room--even close to my DAW rig--is now an everyday practice using my new GPT50.

The GPT50 comes with a trio of interface ports: FireWire 800, USB 2.0 and eSATA. You can also install, along side other Glyph drives, the GPT50 into Glyph's 1U rack-mount system using the optional GPT Rack Kit. Lastly, like all Glyph drives you get their now famous 3-Year warranty with a 2-Year Free Basic Data Recovery Policy, and 1-Year Advance Replacement (U.S. Continental 48 States only).