External Hard Drives

Being one of the biggest names in the storage industry, Western Digital certainly does not need much of an introduction. There are very few external hard drives that have been more popular over the years than the “My Book” series of Western Digital. The attractive casing, solid built quality, great performance and tonnes of storage space continue to make these USB hard drives a very common site on the desks across the globe. The latest model of the My Book series is the WD My Book Mirror Edition and it seems to offer just more than the two huge capacities of 1TB and 2TB that it is available in.

What is different about the Mirror Edition?

The Mirror Edition is a new dual-drive storage system that is pre-configured for RAID 1, which is the Mirror edition. The “Mirror” part of the name indicates that the dual drive storage system automatically mirrors your valuable data using RAID 1mirroring technology for additional protection. In this way, if one of the disks happens to fail, the system continues to run and your data is kept preserved. Otherwise, you also have the option to use the full capacity of the system by configuring the system to use RAID 0. Most of the time, RAID 0 is used for its performance benefits, but when passing data over the USB2.0 interface, you will not be able to find any enhancement in its performance. But, note that the RAID 0 also does not protect your data on the drive and if there is a mishap with one of the drives, you will lose all the data. Keep reading and you might have just discovered your next “Must Have” computer accessory.

Design:

Minimalistic and Simplistic:
The Western Digital My Book Mirror Edition looks great in its sleek black casing and curved corners. While the single drive My Book Essential and Home Editions look like a hard cover book, the My Book Mirror resembles War and Peace at nearly four inches thick. It mostly resembles its sibling the My Book Studio Edition II. The design is stylish and minimalistic with a subtle Western Digital “WD” logo on the sides. While the glossy black finishing of its facia looks nice, the finger prints and smudges tend to stand out. The top, bottom and back of the dual hard drive enclosure features a perforated surface design to help air flow around the drives to keep the Hard disk drives cool. The only thing that you have to preserve in the bottom of the drive is the small sticker that has product information like serial number, model number along with country of manufacturing. To be short, the Mirror is one of the best looking dual drives; it is simple, function and does not stand out like a sore thumb on your desk, unless you really hate the pulsing blue LED.

Not really “Portable”:
Though the drive is relatively compact for a two bay enclosure measuring (H x W x D) 6.54” x 6.06” x 3.87”, its power adaptor is bulky which makes the entire package quite bulky to be described as portable. So, it does not travel everywhere with you like the My Passport series of external notebook drives. You are meant to leave this brick on your desk at home or office and only use the massive storage unit when you actually need it.

Life made easy with LED:
The drive sports an LED on its facia, which changes colour with the status of the drive like powered on, in use, idle and error. One obvious change that we noticed in the drive’s facia is that, the old blue LED circle in the old My Book drives has been replaced with a blue LED vertical line. This makes it very easy to check things on the go. The status indicating LEDs also double as a capacity gauge; when connected to a computer with the necessary software and drivers, the four sections light up, indication the amount of space in use.

The Ports and Connectivity:
On the rear side, you will find a power switch, power connector and a low profile USB2.0 port similar to the ones found in the pocket sized external drives. While the drive automatically turns off when the PC is shut down, the power button can be used to perform a safe shut down and in this way you can prevent the system from powering down before the entire data has been written to the disc. One thing that we did not like about the drive is that, the “Security lock” slot is hidden on the back of the enclosure and in fact, the first day we used the drive, we were almost certain that WD has missed the security lock slot for connecting the security cable.

Interface:
The WD My Book Mirror has employed the USB 2.0 interface and USB2.0 is a protocol that has already started to show its age as it only has a peak bandwidth of 480Mbps. The USB 3.0 has already started showing its face in a couple of products and it will not be long before it replaces its predecessor which dominated the decade. There are no FireWire or eSATA connection which is disappointing but is really understandable as the drive is pre-configured for RAID1 that has been optimised not for speed but for data protection. But if you feel that you cannot do without the FireWire and eSATA interfaces, then you could opt for the pricier My Book Studio.

Features:

Huge capacities:
As we had mentioned earlier, the My Book Mirror Edition drives are available in two capacities: 1TB and 2TB. With the maximum capacity of 2TB, it gives you about 600,000 high resolution digital photos, saved as compressed JPEGs, 500,000 MP3 files, or roughly 880 hours of DVD quality video. To be crisp, there is a hell lot of space available to be exploited.

Speed:
When it comes to speed, the My Book Mirror Edition offers a theoretical maximum transfer rate of 480MB per second based on the USB 2.0 transfer rates, which would translate to about 60MB per second. What these figures suggest is that the My Book Mirror Edition is roughly half as fast in transfer rates as an average 5400 rpm SATA internal notebook hard drive. That is just a side effect of using USB 2.0 rather than a SATA/150 or eSATA interface.

Compatibility:
The Mirror Edition drive is preformatted in NTFS and will work right away when plugged to a Windows PC. The drive also works with Mac, but it has to be reformatted into OS X’s file system, the HFS+ and it is a very simple process.

User serviceable:
What we like the most about the My Book drive is that, it has been designed to be user serviceable. This means, you will be able upgrade or replace the hard drives without the need for any tools. The drive uses 3.5” SATA hard drives, but there is a catch as you will be able to use only the western digital hard drives. Though this limits the flexibility of the drive, this cannot be really considered as an issue as the WD drives are quite popular and are available at relatively competitive prices. All that you have to do to remove the cover is, pop off the top and just remove the cover plate and hence you will have access to the 2 green power hard drives. Not clear? Though it is not obvious, you simply press on a spot in the middle of the My Book Mirror’s top front edge and the cover will pop open giving you access to the drives. This is a very nice touch to the drive because, in case a drive fails, the drive and data remains with you while the WD sends you a replacement.

Software Bundle:
The Western Digital Mirror Edition Desktop Hard drive comes bundled with software for the sake of back up and synchronising your data. The application installer launches automatically once you insert the CD, provided, you have the autorun enabled in your system. Once you are done with the standard stuff of licence agreement, the main menu opens from where you will be able to install the bundled software in to your computer. Make sure that you copy them to another location for safe keeping. The Software CD includes a 30 day trial for Memo AutoSync and WD MioNet and the software that the consumers are going to find as the most useful is the WD Anywhere Backup. There is also Windows only “Google software” that allows you to search for your drive, manage your photos and also to simplify Web Searches with the included Google software.

Anywhere Backup software:
The Anywhere Backup software is compatible with both PC and Mac and offers you the capability to create your own custom backup plans. It is a simple yet effective backup and recovery application that provides around the clock data protection. With this software, you will be able to choose the particular files and folders that you wish to backup along with the location of where they would be actually stored. From then on, whenever a file is created or any change is made, the software will have an automatic backup. The software also maintains multiple versions of the file allowing you to know how it has evolved over time. This wizard driven backup solution allows backing up your selected data to any other media, including your iPod and when we tried out this feature, it worked out as intended. A very important note is that, the serial key which is required to make the software work in the non trial mode is printed at a corner on the back of the setup instruction poster, a very obscure place.

Backup Multiple Computers:
If you had thought that the button labelled “Backup Multiple Computers” means that the software will be able to have a backup of the other computers on the network, then well, you are wrong. The button takes you to a website from where you will be able to purchase a copy of the “Anywhere Backup” software; but, why would anyone want to do that when they already have a copy of the software. The reason is that, the software does not allow you to backup files on network. With huge capacities of 1TB and 2TB, it will be nice to be able to backup all the systems in your home and office using the same My Book Mirror.

WD Drive Manager:
The WD Drive Manager is also very handy software offered. This utility, when installed, shows up on the system tray and offers a quick and easy way to view the status of the drive. The Drive Manager enables the capacity gauge, safe shutdown and also installs another useful utility called WD RAID manager. Of course, if you do not care about having a backup of all your files and you just want as much storage space as possible you can easily change the RAID configuration to RAID 0 mode. A nice feature here is that when you select the option to change the RAID setting you are prompted to type in a unique confirmation code before the RAID Manager resets the RAID configuration and formats the drives. This is a great way to prevent accidental data loss due to user error. This RAID Manager can be launched by right clicking on the Drive Manager system tray icon and it is with this utility that you can refer the status of the RAID system and change its configuration.

WD MinoNet service:
The WD MinoNet service for remote access worked well and we were able to access the content of the Mirror drive over the internet and drag its files and folders into a local system. As the drive is not a NAS device, the host computer has to be on and has to be connected the internet for this to happen.

Performance:

Read and Write Speeds:
When we had put the drive into some real world testing, we had copied and pasted about 30GB of randomly generated files and directories. The configurations of RAID had very little effect on the performance of the My Book Mirror. In each of the cases, the drive took about 25 minutes to write 25GB of data and almost 22 minutes to read them back. In RAID 1, the drive registered a 138.4Mbps on write test and 156.8Mbps on read test.

Noise and Heat:
If you are just one of those persons who hate to hear gadgets making noise, this will be good news for you. The Mirror was quiet throughout the test which is contributed by the fact that the drive does not have any fans and the only noise comes from the spinning of the two disks. Even then, you would really have to strain your ears to hear anything from it. The drive also remained cool when idle and became slightly warm only after hours of usage.

Power:
With the help of its fan-less design and green power hard drives, the Mirror Edition uses a third less power than the other dual drive system.

Cost effectiveness:

Most of the direct attached external hard drives are single drive models, so the cost per GB comparisons here cannot be exactly apples to apples. When compared against the single drive units from reputed manufacturers like SimpleTech, Maxtor and Vox along with the two drive and the huge four drive 2TB enclosures from LaCie, we realised that the 2TB My Book Edition offers a very compelling value of cost per GB. Even when you factor in that you will roughly get half the capacity when using the default RAID 1 configuration, the cost per GB still seems to be very competitive. However, you must also keep in mind that the LaCie 2Big Dual Drive also offers eSATA interface along with the USB2.0.

Package:

Inside the bright, lime green package of the My Book Mirror Edition3.5 inch USB 2.0 external Hard drive, you will find the storage device, USB cable, AC adaptor, a quick install guide, a software CD and warranty information. The drive comes with two USB 2.0 cables of different lengths: 5 inches and 2 inches, in order to accommodate wherever you wish to have it. This is really a nice gesture as we often run into drives that do not come with enough cables.

Warranty and Service for My Book Mirror Edition:

Western Digital offers its My Book Mirror Edition external hard drive a generous three years warranty for parts and labour. Though this is not as great as the five year warranty that is provided with the My Passport Studio, it is a lot better than the stingy one year warranty that is found in many of the other storage devices like the SimpleTech drive. For the sake of service, WD offers its technical toll free phone support from 6am to 5pm Monday to Thursday and from 6am to 3pm Friday through Sunday. On its Web site, you will find a comprehensive set of Web-based support including downloads, product RMA, a sizable knowledge base, and online installation guide.

Verdict:

In the short time that we have spent with the Western Digital My Book Mirror Edition, we have come to appreciate its good looks, ease of use and the extra protection that has been offered by the RAID system. The drive performed fairly well in its read and write speeds; though it was not as fast as WD’s eSATA and FireWire equipped storage drives, its performance was on par with the other external USB Hard Drives in the market. Although an eSATA connection would have made the My Book Mirror Edition even more attractive, the reality is that most people do not have eSATA ports on their notebooks or desktops. Noise and heat were never an issue, thanks to the device’s fanless design and GreenPower hard drives. We recommend this drive for those who have private data that they just cannot afford to lose and also to the ones looking for a reliable high capacity storage device.

Check Western Digital Elements 1TB External Hard Drive Review, My Passport Elite Hard Drive Reviews in Western Digital External Hard Drive Section.

My Book Mirror Edition (1TB, 2TB) External Hard Drive - Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	Western Digital
Model Name	Western Digital My Book Mirror Edition
Model Numbers	1TB: WDH2U10000 2TB: WDH2U20000
Drive type	Hard drive array
Dimensions (H x W x D)	166 x 98 x 154mm
Weight	2.63 Kg
Colours available	Black
Interface	USB 2.0
Capacities available	1TB and 2TB
Software included	Memo AutoSync WD MioNet WD Anywhere Backup WD Google Software
Compatible systems	Apple MacOS X 10.5.2 or later, Apple MacOS X 10.4.11 or later, Microsoft Windows Vista / 2000 / XP
Data transfer rate	480 Mb/s
Compliant Standards	RoHS
Power Source	Power adapter
Package contents	WD My Book Mirror Edition external hard drive, USB cable, AC adaptor, a quick install guide, a software CD and warranty information
Warranty	3 years

HXSU012BA - 120GB Capacity, 1.8″ Portable Hard Drive from Samsung

Hard Drives are getting smaller by the day, first they used to be on the desk, next they became portable and now, they have become small enough to even fit on your ring finger. Of course, that is assuming that you are willing to reduce storage capacity for the sake of a smaller drive.  One company which is following the trend of miniaturization is Samsung, which has launched the new Samsung S1 Mini. With 120 GB and a 1.8″ drive with a USB 2.0 Interface, this represents the increasing number of users preferring to use the lighter 1.8 inch hard-drives over the 2.5″ model.  In the following review, we will see in detail about the S1 Mini. It caters to users who are looking for good performance and if smaller size is a criterion, then this is definitely the right review that your are reading.

Design:

The chassis of the S1 External Hard Drive is its most distinguishing feature, small enough to fit into a shirt pocket or a jacket. At 87mm long, 62mm wide, and 15.5mm deep, it is just slightly larger than your mouse and as thin as your USB drive. It weighs 0.201 pounds making it amongst the lightest players in the market.  Samsung HXSU012BA comes in 120GB and is available in six colours - piano black, snow white, wine red, sweet pink, ocean blue and chocolate brown. Each colour covers the front and sides of the device and the top has a subtle circular lattice pattern with speckles of glitter. The top of the S1 is ultra-glossy, black and smooth, but it has a dotted texture under a clear plastic cover, so it is not exactly as smooth as Samsung claims it is. There are open vents on the underside to allow cooling air and the aluminum cover dissipates heat. It lacks a fan or for that matter any sort of cooling device, which would add noise.

The S1Mini has only one port- the USB 2.0 port, through which it charges itself. There is a soft blue “activity”  LED  light on the top of the S1 Mini to notify you whenever you are transferring data. The back of the drive is a matte black plastic with leather like look texture, reminiscent of a dashboard of a 1980s car. Along with the S1, Samsung provides 2 cables with it – a regular USB connector at one end and a mini USB jack at the other of 2 lengths – 50cm and 4 cm respectively. The latter being ideal for a laptop link.

Setup and Installation of S1 Mini:

The installation of the Samsung S1 1.8″ 120GB Hard Drive can never get this simple. All you need to do is just plug in the drive and voila! The system will recognise it and once, the drive is installed, the auto-run application loads and there will be present a screen that allows you to read the manual or install the backup software of Samsung.

Capacities available and Compatibility:

The Samsung S1 Mini USB 2.0 is capable of storing files, music, movies and other documents. The drive is available in capacities of 120GB, 160GB, 200GB and 250GB.

The drive is compatible with both Windows( Microsoft Vista, Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Professional ,Windows 2000 Professional)  and Mac Operating Systems( Apple MacOS X10.4.8 or later). However, the maximum file is limited to 2GB. It is easy to reformat the drive to NTFS, HFS+ or EXT3 depending on the operating system you use.

Features:

Samsung SecretZone:
Samsung S1 Mini, like other Samsung devices features the Samsung Secret Zone privacy software application operating in the Windows environment. It enables you to protect and save as well, private data from others. This software basically creates virtual drives to store information that you wish to be encrypted. The encrypted data can be mapped into windows as individual drives and they can be of the FAT16, FAT 32 or of the NTFS file format. These drives will be stored as an image file and can be decrypted without the need for the Security Zone Utility. The file is protected by a password and can be opened by the SecretZone software and is easier to handle than TrueCrypt, though not equally powerful.

Samsung Auto Backup software:
The Auto Backup software enables you to backup your data in real-time or as scheduled. This application provides both manual and scheduled backup, and has a nice easy-to-use interface. The file filter dialogue box allows you to select various types of files that you want a back up of. It is preset to back up documents. But if you want to back up your multimedia files, you will have to do it manually. These backup files can be password protected.

Energy Efficient and Noiseless:
The lack of any cooling device such as a fan makes it totally noiseless.  The Automatic Power Saving function, an energy conserving feature, turns the drive off after it has been idle for a few minutes. So, there you have a fairly energy efficient and noiseless unit.

Performance:

When tested for the standard transfer speed test, the 1.8 inch, 4200 rpm drive performed as fast as its 2.5 inch 5300rpm counterparts. Its 23.54MBps read speed and 20.89 Mbps were faster than the Seagate FreeAgent Go and Iomega eGo Camo. However, the leader in the segment is the Transcend StoreJet 25f. At 27.52MBps read and 24.3MBps write, it beats the S1.The USB link seemed to be a limiting factor as the drive was 25 % slower than other models in its league.  However, the S1 is not far behind in terms of access time.

Warranty:

Samsung S1 Mini 120GB ultra small size external hard drive is covered under a generous 3 year warranty that protects it against manufacturer’s defects. For general trouble shooting issues, Samsung provides a comprehensive list of FAQs and a self diagnostic chart to check your drive for common errors on the site before contacting the RMA service.

Verdict:

The Samsung HXSU012BA S1 Mini Hard Drive is certainly small, we were shocked when we got it out of the box at just how small it really is. However the price you pay for having a 120GB drive the size of a pack of playing cards is that it is expensive. At £130 it is over twice the price of a 500GB 2.5-inch drive pricing a 500GB (they do not make them yet) around the £540 marker. That is around 10 times the price of a 500GB 2.5-inch drive at the moment.

So it comes down to whether you really need a largish storage solution (i.e., 120GB) in such a small package. We mean it is not as if you are going to be carrying this in your jeans pocket when you head out on a date (or maybe you are). The Samsung S1 Mini is all about the size- a meager 1.8”. However, the price you pay for a 120GB drive is simply too much. It is twice as expensive as 500GB drives in the market. The model offers good performance, however one is let down by its sheer cost. It can be placed only vertically and is a little visually challenged. So, it comes down to whether you need to store a large amount of data in such a small size. So the Samsung S1 Mini is recommended, if size is all what matters.

Check other Samsung External Hard Drive Reviews, 2010 Latest External Hard Drives in this website.

Samsung S1 Mini 120GB Portable Hard Drive - Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	Samsung
Model Name	S1 Mini
Model number	HXSU012BA - hard drive - 120GB
Colours available	Piano black, snow white, wine red, chocolate brown, sweet pink and ocean blue
Dimensions (W x H x D)	6.2 cm x 8.7 cm x 1.5 cm
Weight	0.154Kg
Form factor	1.8″
Hard disk drive capacity	120 GB
Other capacities available	160GB, 250GB and 500GB
Interface	USB2.0
Data transfer rate (max)	480 Mbit/s
Average seek time	12ms (Read) / 14ms (Write)
Compatible operating systems	Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, Microsoft Windows XP Professional, Microsoft Windows Vista, Apple MacOS X 10.4.8 or later
Software	Samsung Auto Backup Samsung SecretZone
Additional features	Safety Key Less Power Consumption Password lock
Package contents	2 x USB cable - external
Accessories	Pouch
Warranty	Three years

Western Digital is a name that everybody knows and recognises when it comes to storage. They have numerous series of hard drives that are devised to suite the specific needs of the individuals. Have your criteria for your storage requirement and we guarantee you that you would find one that is perfect for you in the range of western digital hard drives.

In the following review we will be discussing about the Western Digital Elements 500GB Portable hard drive (WDBAAR5000). This hard drive would suite the people who are looking for a portable storage solution with a clean design, quality built and a decent storage capacity at an affordable price range.

Simple design:

As we had mentioned earlier, Western Digital Elements is not a striking beauty, but has clean looks and not everybody is going to like its boxy looks. It has no patterns on its body and just has the Western Digital Logo on top of it. The facia, that is, the top part of the drive has a matte finishing whereas the sides have glossy black finish. We find that, with the dimensions of (H x W x D) 0.60” x 3.10” x 5” and weight of 0.44 grams, it is on the very light side for a portable external hard drive. Western Digital is renowned for its quality and it has maintained the same with the Elements drive too.

Capacities available:

The Western Digital Elements External Hard drive is available in 500GB, 320GB and 250GB. If you are in search for a higher capacity, you can also opt to use the Western Digital Elements Desktop Hard Drive which is available in 1TB, 750GB, 640GB and 500GB capacities.

Interface and operation:

In the rear of the drive, you will find the USB2.0 interface which allows the handling and maintenance of the device to be very simple. Just plug in the port and you will be performing the operations that you intended to do in just seconds. Since the device is powered directly by the USB port, it does not need any external adaptor. In case, you own one of those systems that limit the power from the USB port, there is an optional cable available.

Compatibility:

The Western Digital Elements 500GB USB 2.0 hard drive is compatible with both Windows and Mac Operating Systems. But the drive is designed and comes pre-formatted to be used with only the Windows Operating System, however, they can be easily reformatted to be used with the Macs.

Features:

It is very disappointing that the drive is not equipped with any of the features that the other portable hard drives of Western Digital have. We accept that the dive comes at a very low price tag but there would have been no harm if WD had included at least password protection. Most of the other costlier WD portable drives have at least a few of the features like the WD SmartWare, Automatic Backup, Password Protection and Hardware Encryption, High Performance, Capacity Gauge, USB dock, High Capacity and Mac readiness. It is really a shame that the Elements drive has been denied of everything.

Performance:

Coming to the performance, the 2.5″ 500GB Elements has a data transfer speed that is in par with the other portable hard drives like Simple Tech Signature Mini and Western Digital My Passport Studio and is better than some of them including the Maxtor BlackArmora and Toshiba drives.

Package:

The package of the drive includes the Elements drive itself, the USB cable and a Quick Installation guide.

Warranty:

Western Digital offers its Elements Portable drive, two years limited warranty for parts and labour.

Verdict:

The Western Digital Elements WDBAAR5000 500GB external hard drive is a very simple drive that serves the needs of the everyday consumers with not many bells and whistles. It appeals people looking for simple drive that does the job of transferring the data in a no hassle way. We have no hesitations in recommending this drive.

Check other Western Digital EHD Reviews, latest 500GB External Hard Drives in this website.

Elements 500GB External Hard Drive - Technical Specification Sheet

Manufacturer	Western Digital
Model Name	Western Digital Elements
Model Numbers	250GB: WDBAAR2500 320GB: WDBAAR3200 500GB: WDBAAR5000
Drive type	Portable drive
Dimensions (H x W x D)	0.60″ x 3.10″ x 5″
Weight	0.44 grams
Colours available	Black
Interface	USB2.0
Capacities available	250GB, 320GB and 500GB
Compatible OS	Windows® XP, Windows Vista®, Windows 7 Mac® OS® X Tiger® or Leopard®
Data transfer rate	480 Mb/s
Microsoft Certifications	Compatible with Windows 7
Compliant Standards	RoHS
Power Source	USB bus
Package contents	USB 2.0 portable hard drive USB cable Quick Install Guide
Warranty	2 years

ST305004EXA101-RK - 500GB Desktop External Hard Drive from Seagate

Seagate are one of the leading manufacturers of hard drives and storage solutions. It was founded in the year 1979 as Shugart technologies and since then they have been very product specific and went on to find milestones in the storage market. Its first ever product was the 5MB ST-506 which was the first hard disk to fit the 5.25” form factor of the Shugart mini floppy drive and its latest being the Seagate Expansion series of external hard drives. In the following review, we will see in detail about the Seagate Expansion 500GB external desktop drive.

Stylish and Practical:

Design wise, you would find that the Seagate ST305004EXA101-RK is not as sleek as its portable sibling. However, it has exactly the same deign, the only difference being its dimensions (H x W x D) 1.57” x 4.96” x 8.15” and weighing a bulky 2.25 pounds. Seagate has put both style and common sense into the design of the drive. By given the top intersection of the drive shiny black finishing, it has given the drive the style factor to attract the style freaks and by adopting matte black finishing to all the other areas, it has avoided the scratches and smudges on the body of the drive. The drive has a rectangular form factor with elegant curves in its facia which sports the attractive logo of Seagate and also a small LED light to indicate the activity of the drive. This light is not very bright and so, it will not bother you much if you have it in front of your system.

As with most of the gadgets, you will find the ports in the rear which includes a USB2.0 port for all the data transmissions and also a port for external power.  The built quality of the drive is excellent and we assure you that it can certainly handle a few accidental knock downs.

Capacities Available:

500GB is the lowest capacity in which the Seagate Expansions Hard drive is available in, the higher capacities in which the drive is available includes 1TB, 1.5TB and 2TB. You can find our exclusive review on the 1TB version of the drive. So, if you are a very storage hungry person, you can make your choice accordingly.

Set-up and Installation:

Recently, the set up and installation of drives have been made extremely easy by the manufacturers so that even a novice user should not have any issues during the process and this Expansion 500GB  USB 2.0 external drive is not an exception as the process takes just minutes and you will be ready to go. Connect the power chord to the electrical outlet and the USB cable to the system and make sure that you do not hook it to any of the USB ports in the front of the drive as it might result in the malfunctioning of the drive. Once this is done, just press the power button that is in the back of the drivel; once the green LED glows, it indicates the activity of the drive.

Once the set-up is complete the installation is extremely easy too. The drive will be immediately recognised the Windows Operating System. Apart from this, you need not install any additional software and there will not be any need for any configuration changes too. The utility that allows you to do some simple backup and restore operations is available in the drive itself and you are also given the flexibility to control when the drive goes to sleep mode. Out of the box, the drive has been pre-formatted NTFS, which is surprising, given that Seagate also markets its drive to the Macintosh users. NTFS is the most advantageous file system as it allows you to have robust security and this system makes use of the drive space much more efficiently by formatting the drive with 4KB clusters.

Compatibility issues:

Seagate Expansions ST305004EXA101-RK 500GB Desktop Drive is compatible with Apple MacOS X 10.4.8 or later and Microsoft Windows Vista / XP. The drive cannot be used with Windows 95 or 98 as the 95 OS does not support USB and the Windows 98/SE does not have native support for USB2.0. Here, some of you may argue that there was an upgrade to Windows 95 that supports USB version 1.0, but the clinch is that this drive is not backwards compatible to USB version 1.0 or 1.1.

Features and Performance:

The management of the drive too is as easy as its installation. The Seagate 500GB External Hard Disk drive instantly adds more space for files and consolidates all of your files into a single location. The drive can also be used to free up the space on your system’s internal drives for the sake of improved performance. All that you ever need to do to save the files is just drag and drop them. Though you cannot enjoy lightning fast data transfer speeds of the external hard drives with FireWire or eSATA interfaces, the Seagate Expansion 500GB drive’s USB2.0 interface offers you with an acceptable data transfer speed. Seagate has stated that the drive has an interface transfer rate of 480Mbps but while testing, we found that the average transfer rate of transferring 400GB of data was 5.6Mbps, which translates to 336Mbps. This is not very bad and it transferred the mixed digital content without any issues. The drive has a spindle speed of 7200rpm and 16MB cache.

Noiseless and energy efficient:

A notable feature of the drive is that, it is energy efficient too. Seagate has employed a built-in power management feature for giving you an energy efficient operation. Additionally, the drive is a very silent operator, even while transferring large number of files, it stays husshhh…

Package:

Seagate Expansions 500GB drive comes in its own yellow and black package. On opening it, you will find the drive, a USB cable, Power supply cable, Quick start guide and warranty information. The power adaptor has a clip that allows you to take out just the pins so that, if you are out of your country, you will be able to purchase the pins that suites that country and clip it into it.

Warranty:

Seagate offers its 500GB Expansion External Desktop Hard Drive 2 years limited warranty. We are disappointed with this warranty as the other rivals offer a minimum of three or five years warranty for their products.

Verdict:

Seagate Expansion 500GB ST305004EXA101-RK External Desktop USB 2.0 Hard Drive is a very economical solution for those who are looking for a budget drive with large capacity. The good looks, nominal speed and energy efficiency features of the drive drives us to recommend the drive.

Check 2010 Best External Hard Drives, other Seagate external hard drive Reviews in this website.

Seagate Expansion 500GB EHD - Technical Specifications, Features

Manufacturer	Seagate
Model Name	Seagate Expansion 500GB External Desktop Hard Drive
Product Code	ST305004EXA101-RK
Colour	Black
Dimensions (H x W x D)	1.57″ x 4.96″ x 8.15″
Form factor	3.5″
Hard disk drive capacity	500GB
Other capacities available	2TB, 1.5TB and 1TB
Buffer size	16MB
Data transfer rate (max)	480 Mbit/s
USB 1.1 Full Speed	12 Mb/s (max)
Average seek time	8.5ms
Compatible operating systems	Microsoft Windows Vista / XP Apple MacOS X 10.4.8 or later
Software	Back-up utility
Additional features	Built-in power management
Package contents	Seagate Expansion 500GB External Desktop Hard Drive USB cable Power Adapter Quick Start guide Warranty Information
Power consumption	AC 110/230 V (50/60Hz)
Warranty	Two years

S2-320 - USB 2.0 interface, 320gb capacity Portable hard drive from Samsung

We know that Samsung is an established manufacturer of 2 inch internal laptop hard disks and so, it is not a surprise that they have decided to release their own range of portable external hard drives. S2 is Samsung’s current flagship model portable hard drive that is unique in its own right. We say that the hard drive is unique as it relies on the on-board USB technology, in order to reduce the length of the chassis, making it an extremely compact hard drive; in fact it is smaller than the Western Digital Passport. So, what have they done? We have to assume that the engineers of Samsung have native SATA interface and replaced it with USB. In the following review, we will see in detail about the Samsung S2 320GB USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive.

Sleek and stylish design:

We are sure that most of you must have came across the Samsung Costume hard drive concept back in mid of 2008. The S2 drive is styled in such a way that it looks completely at home when placed along with the various make-up products. So, no wonder, this portable hard drive is a hit among the techie ladies. Weighing just 154grams, the Samsung HXMU032DA is one of the lightest 2.5″ portable storage solutions available in this capacity. The drive has a very stylish and clean design and is available in four very pleasing colours like Piano Black, Snow White, Wine Red and Chocolate brown to suite the tastes of everybody.

Construction and Interface:

The enclosure is made out of plastic but is attractive nonetheless. The casing and the mountings have a very solid construction. While the front of the device is plain with the matte finishing of the above mentioned colours, the sides of the unit are given a metallic finishing of the corresponding shade. The top surface has simple and repetitive pattern of circles printed to it. The rear side of the drive has leather like surface and has the anti-slip characteristic, which prevents the drive from sliding away from the desk. The drive has a mini USB 2.0 port as interface. A blue LED on the facia of the S2 drive indicates the operation of the drive.

Checking capacity:

You can also easily check available space in the S2 through the capacity gauge icon located on the taskbar of Microsoft Windows operating systems.

Capacities available and Compatibility:

The Samsung S2 external hard drive is available in four capacities which includes 160GB, 250GB, 320GB and 500GB.

The drive is compatible with both Windows and Mac Operating Systems.

Set-up and Installation of S2 320:

The installation of the Samsung S2 320GB hard drive can never get easier. Just plug in the drive, and the system will recognise it, simple and straightforward. Once the drive is installed and the auto-run application loads, you will be presented with the screen that allows you to either read the manual or install the backup software of Samsung that includes some backup and security features. The interface looks very green, may be the drive is eco friendly.

Performance:

The Samsung S2 HXMU032DA external computer hard drive is based on the Spinpoint M hard drive series that runs at 5400rpm, offering 8MB of cache and a Serial ATA 300 interface.

We did three simple tests on the drive. A file copy to, file copy from and a file copy within the drive itself. We also have the Western Digital Passport Essential for the sake of some comparison. The transfer rates turned out to be pretty similar between both the drives; while the Western Digital drive was faster than the Samsung S2 in copying the larger files, Samsung has the upper hand when it comes to copying the smaller files. Said that, the speeds are comparatively slower when compared to most of the other external hard drives in the market, which is mainly due to the fact that both the drives are limited by their USB 2.0 interface. The CPU utilisation while copying from the drive to the system was about 30%, by when the process is done vice-versa, the CPU utilization reduces to about 20%. During the process of data transferring, there was very little vibration transmitted from the drive to the external casing.

Software Bundle:

As we had mentioned in the installation section, the software bundle of the Samsung S2 drive has a backup and an encryption software. Make sure that you have the backup of these software before the drive is formatted, however, you have nothing to worry if you have lost it as you can always get a copy of the same from Samsung’s site.

Samsung Auto Backup software:

If you have installed the Samsung Auto Backup software, the Auto Backup starts up immediately on plugging in the S2 portable drive. The application provides both manual and scheduled backup features. It has a very neat interface and is quite easy to use. The software has a file filter dialog box that allows you select various types of files that you want a back-up of. The backup software is preset to backup the documents, but not the multimedia files such as photos, videos or music; they have to be selected manually. The backups can be password protected and the utility includes versioning, scheduling and compression.

As we had mentioned above, there are two ways to backup data: Manual Backup and Quick Backup. And the backup options have to be configured before using the Samsung Auto Backup.

Manual Backup:

The Manual Backup process includes designating the path to the backup device, configuring of the various backup options, selecting the files that need a backup and choose the kind of backup required (Manual or Automatic). Once you have successfully configured the auto backup software, a new icon appears on your system tray.

Quick Backup:

In order to do a quick backup, select files and folders that you wish to backup, right click on your selection and then select the “Quick Backup” from the context menu. The Quick Backup will only function with the backup device configured properly. The files and folders that have been backed up with Quick Backup are automatically stored as backups of the originals.

Backup Restore:

The backup data can also be restored with the Samsung Auto Backup. To do this, you will have to launch the restore wizard. There are three ways by which this can be done: Right click on the selected files and click over “Restore”, Select “Restore” from “Task” menu and the third way is to Click on “Restore” from the toolbar. In the first screen that prompts you to select the restore backup destination, you can either choose to backup the files to their original folder or designate a new destination folder to restore the backup files to. Restore wizard will then present restore time and duplicate file restoring options. You will be able to choose to restore backup files from the most recent backup or from the closest backup to a specified date and time. As for duplicate backup files, you have the option to restore backup files that are different from their originals only or to restore all the files. Restore file filter wizard lets you designate the types of files you wish to restore.

Samsung SecretZone:

The Samsung SecretZone is an information privacy software application operating in the Windows environment. It enables you to save and protect important and private data from others with ease.
With the SecretZone Software you basically create virtual drives to store information that you wish to be encrypted. The encrypted containers can be mapped into windows as individual drives. The virtual drives can be of the file formats, FAT16, FAT32 or of the NTFS file format. The data or the size of the virtual drive that you create will be stored as an image file. The software also supports converting container files into executable ones which can be decrypted on the fly without the need for the SecurityZone utility. This file is password protected and can only be opened by the SecretZone software. Though this tool is not as powerful as the TrueCrypt, it is somewhat easier to handle.

Partitioning and changing the File System Type:

It is possible to partition your S2 Portable External Hard Disk Drive and change the file system type: FAT32, NTFS and Macintosh. Use Samsung USB Format Utility to format your S2 Portable External Hard Disk Drive to FAT32.

NTFS Reformat:

To reformat to NTFS, right-click “My Computer” and then select “Manage”, then from the “Computer Management” tool, select “Disk Management”. Right-click the drive you wish to format and then select “Delete Partition” and once drive partition has been deleted, right-click the drive you wish to format and then select “New Partition”. From Create Partition Wizard, select “Primary Partition” and then enter the desired size of the partition. Finally, from the “File System” menu, select “NTFS” and format.

Macintosh Reformat:

To format in Macintosh, Launch Mac OS X’s “Disk Utility” tool and open the main drive folder from the desktop. Then, open the “Applications” folder and then the “Utilities” folder. Then select the “Disk Utility” file and the drive you wish to reformat. In the “Partition” menu and then, from the “Options” menu, the type of partition you wish to create and select the drive volume from the “Name” menu and the desired format from the “Format” menu. Once formatting is complete, the drive will appear on your desktop.

Eco-friendly:

A power saving intelligence program of the drive monitors the drive’s use and places the drive into a low power sleep mode, whenever the drive is left unused for more than five minutes.

Heat generated:

Talking about the heat, the drive gets warm on working for a while, but not very hot that makes it uncomfortable to touch.

Package:

The package of the Samsung S2 320GB hard drive includes just the External drive itself, the USB 2.0 cable and a quick start guide.

Warranty:
The Samsung S2 320GB 2.5-inch USB 2.0 hard drive comes with three years manufacturer’s warranty.

Verdict:

With a sleek and stylish design, the Samsung S2 320GB Compact size hard drive is a drive that you would love to show off to your friends. The entire package is very simple and not too overwhelming and great for someone looking for a drive with simple backup and security functionalities. The included software bundle with no complications is sufficient for an average user, which is the target consumer group of the S2. With the option of two smaller capacities and one larger capacity, you do have a wide range of choice. Samsung is hoping to tempt film fans into buying its new 500GB portable hard drive by including a copy of the Tom Hanks film Angels and Demons on it. Budget wise, the drive costs slightly higher than some of the other drives of same capacity, but is worth every penny you spend.


Samsung S2 320GB  External HDD - Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	Samsung
Model Name	Samsung S2 320GB portable hard drive
Model number	HXMU032DA
Colours available	Piano Black, Snow White, Wine Red and Chocolate brown
Dimensions (W x H x D)	82 x 111 x 17mm
Weight	0.154Kg
Form factor	2.5 inch
Hard disk drive capacity	320GB
Other capacities available	160GB, 250GB and 500GB
Buffer size	8MB
Interface	USB2.0
Data transfer rate (max)	480 Mbit/s
Average seek time	12ms (Read) / 14ms (Write)
Compatible operating systems	Microsoft Windows Vista, Windows XP Home / Professional Edition, Windows 2000 Pro and Mac OS x 10.4.8 or later
Software	Samsung Auto Backup Samsung SecretZone
Additional features	Safety Key Less Power Consumption Password lock
Package contents	S2 Portable External Hard Drive USB Y-cable (85cm), USB Mini cable (10cm) Carrying Case, Quick Install Guide Bundle software preloaded on the hard drive Electronic User Documentation (PDF)
Warranty	Three years