External Hard Drives

Transcend, Inc. is a highly recognised and popular manufacturer, renowned worldwide for its products which deal with multimedia and storage features. Transcend Information, Inc. was established in the year 1988. It flaunts a widespread variety and a huge range of generalised standard and proprietary modules, solid state drives, portable hard drives, flash memory cards, digital music players, USB flash drives, card readers and other full line range of multimedia products.

Transcend Hard Drives:

In today’s international market, even though there is an increasing demand and popularity of solid state drives, still the marketing statistics show that hard drives are still leading the sales and demand worldwide. Even though the solid state drives have gained a firm ground in the market, but still, with larger storage capabilities, better usage and larger wide scale adoption, the hard drives are the most popular storage device. And this success of the hard drives is accelerated by the continuous addition and evolution of advanced technologies, which boost the performance factor and also provide better backup options. And when it comes to Hard Disk Drives, Transcend Information, Inc. is a name that inevitably pops up at the very first. Transcend, with its huge full line range of storage and multimedia devices is an in competitive leader in this field and it boasts of a wide range and variety of Hard Drive Units. Moreover, with the new line up of the StoreJet series from Transcend, which sports auto backup features, has a special Turbo HDD transfer mode and very high storage capacities of up to 1.5 terabytes, it has left behind the other competitors of its league.

The StoreJet 3.5T:

Towards the end of the year 2009, Transcend gifted its wide variety of StoreJet hard drives line up with a new member in their family – the StoreJet 35T. The StoreJet 35T is quite an advanced and developed hard drive for its purpose and leaves behind most other devices of its kind when it comes to the statistical representation in the international market. It has a number of worthy features like the One touch Auto Backup button and the Turbo HDD data transfer mode. It is the presence of these features that make the Transcend StoreJet 35T Hard Drive an ideal system for all kinds of data management including downloading data, uploading data, transferring data to and from the device and is a good storage device for vital and important data and information and provides more space than other such systems found in the market.

Basic Ergonomics of the StoreJet 35T:

The StoreJet 35T 1.5TB Hard Drive is Transcend’s latest addition to its range of hard disk drive, which is hardly the size of a hardcover book. The storage device is made up of glossy black cover and is streamlined. With a huge storage capacity of 1.5 Terabytes, the Transcend StoreJet 35T provides ample space for storage of documents, essential files and folders, pictures, music, and videos. It has no limitation for the format of the files to be stored as it supports anything and everything. The Transcend StoreJet 35T has a very slim, sleek and slender design. Moreover, the casing and the designing is made in a unique way which allows the device to be kept upright, in a standing position, without any external support like stands. This means, the footprint of the device is quite small, that is, it takes very less space and as a result, saves precious space on the desk. With a weight of a maximum of 1040 grams, and physical external dimensions of 172.4 mm x 152.4 mm x 44.8 mm (L x W x H), the StoreJet 35T is not really a bulky device, but is rather quite practical, chick and stylish and is designed quite handsomely. This device is very convenient for use at office or at home and is one of the best of its kind.

Features:

Interfaces and Compatibility:
The StoreJet 35T 3.5 inch hard disk drive operates on a 3.0 GB/s eSATA, and with the help of a 2.0 USB interface, has a performance factor of around 480 Megabits per second. The Transcend StoreJet 35T hard disk drive connects through both the USB 2.0 and the eSATA. Moreover, it is compatible with most of the home computers as well.

A cool drive:
An excellent cooling system maintains the stability of the device and helps in protecting stored data and information. Most other storage devices have a tendency to get overheated, which often results in an irreversible data loss. Thus, due to the advanced and efficient cooling solution with a high – low fan of 80mm, the Transcend StoreJet 35T prevents unusual data loss, and thus protects important files, folders, data and documents.

Eco-Friendly:
Moreover, the StoreJet 35T hard disk drive is very eco-friendly as it flaunts a Turbo HDD USB technology which has a special feature, that is, the power saving sleep mode. This Turbo HDD USB also sports a feature which enables a high boost in data transfer rates to an amazingly high average of 42 Megabytes per second, compared to the average 33 Megabytes per second, which is the generalized standard for most data storage devices prevalent in the market, which is almost 30 percent advanced and better than the others.

With a maximum spindle speed of around 7200 rpm and a maximum buffer speed of 32 Megabytes, the StoreJet 35T is quite efficient in working capabilities and usability. The average temperature of the device ranges from 5 degrees Celsius ( 41 Fahrenheit ) to 55 degrees ( 131 Fahrenheit ).

The Turbo HDD USB Transfer Mode:
The Transcend StoreJet 35T Desktop hard disk drive sports a cutting edge modern day technology which features an unprecedented performance in data transfers, with a high altered speed of 42 Megabytes per second, which is an increase of about 30 percent than the regular average of 33 Megabytes per second. This feature is optional, that is users can, by their own will switch from normal mode to the Turbo HDD USB mode and vice – versa. And, this is catered with a change in the colour of the ring shaped LED indicator, which changes its colour from green to a bright shade of blue to notify the change in mode and the acceleration in speed. Another utility of this feature is that, when the device is inactive, it automatically goes off into a sleep mode after 10 minutes. Thus, it is efficient and saves the wastage of power up to 67 percent when the device is idle.

One Touch Auto Backup Button:
The Transcend StoreJet 35T External Hard Disk Drive has another unique feature – The One touch auto – backup button, which makes data transfer and storage extremely easy and convenient. This feature is unique to Transcend as no other hard disk drive manufacturers sport this kind of a feature in their data storage products. This system of backup with the click of just one button makes it very convenient and handy for users to instantly backup and/or synchronize the data and information stored in the device with their PC or their laptop. This also ensures that all important data has a hard copy and that it is also stored in a secondary location for safety. StoreJet Elite software is another useful utility tool, bundled with the individual device features, a bonus gain which offers a smart way of scheduling the backups, along with the other Internet tools and other advanced and modified security tools.

Box Contents:

Other than the Transcend StoreJet 35T external hard disk drive, the package also contains a USB cable for synchronization of the device with a desktop PC or a laptop or notebook. A power adapter is provided for charging the device. A Quick start guide, which is a user manual for the users to read and understand the functions and features of this storage device, before using it. And a warranty card is also provided by the manufacturer.

Warranty:

A 2 years return to base Manufacturers warranty is provided with the Transcend StoreJet 35T External Hard Disk Drive.

Verdict:

This high performance storage device is definitely one of the best of its kind. With the shockingly high storage capacity, along with a highly accelerated transfer speed it is one of the best storage devices one can ask for. With an advanced cooling solution, a power saver sleep mode, and other Store Elite software for security, maintain proper, safe and secure data storage abilities, which is a great plus point. And to top it all, the Turbo HDD transfer mode is a unique additional feature, which places the Transcend StoreJet 35T way above than the other storage devices of its type in the priority list. This is a very good buy for users, who want a huge storage capacity, complimented with proper security, good performance and amazing transfer speed.

Check other Transcend External Hard Drives, Latest External Hard Drive Reviews, Specs, Ratings in our website.

Transcend StoreJet 35T Turbo HDD - Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	Transcend
Model Name	StoreJet 35T
Form Factor	3.5″
Interface Type	USB 2.0 and eSATA
Colour	Black Streamlined
Capacity	1.5TB
Other Capacities available	1TB
Performance	USB 2.0: 480Mbits per second
HDD Details	Built-in 3.5″ SATA hard drive
Dimensions ( length x width x height )	172.4mm x 152.4mm × 44.8mm
Weight	1040g
System Requirements	Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Mac OS 9.0 or later and Linux Kernel 2.4.2 or later
Processor Speed	7200 rpm (max)
Buffer	32 MB (max)
Certificates	CE, FCC, BSMI
Special Features	TurboHDD mode which boosts device performance by up to 30% One touch Backup and security
Power Saving Mode Timer	10 Minutes
Power	AC Input : 100V – 240V DC Input : 12V/2A via Switching Power Adapter
Packaging	Transcend StoreJet 35T external hard disk drive USB Cable Power Adaptor Quick Start Guide Warranty Card
Warranty	2 years manufacturer’s warranty

Hitachi has been a major name in the Electronics segment manufacturing from the smallest of the accessories to huge gadgets.  One segment where they have forayed is the portable hard drives sector and one of their products the Hitachi LS-1000-EMEA 3.5-inch 1TB Simpledrive External USB Hard Drive is the on the focus this time. This well designed drive offers USB 2.0 storage while consuming minimum power and giving your data the security it needs. With software like the Hitachi Backup software, loosing data is history.  Does the drive live up to the claims of the company? Read the review to find out.

Design:

Compact and Light:
The picture on the package does not really do justice to the device. While the image on the package shows the drive to be blocky, it is actually relatively light and compact. At 16.6 cm x 5.9cm x 12 cm, the drive comes under the larger sized drives.  It weighs a little over a kilogram making it very light and hence very portable.

Elegant and Classy Design:
It is a white case with a black border on the top and is provided with a stand. The Device feels rigid and once you remove those plastic pieces on the end of the shiny black, it looks classy.  The main casing is made of aluminium and there is no trace of flimsiness. The upright design looks great and would look perfect on your desk. The black bits gleam and have a substantial feel to it. Classy and Business like.

The Blue Light Indicator:
There is a dark blue line right close to the base that makes it look elegant. That is primarily for indicating that a drive is being accessed when connected to a PC.  The light is bright enough even to be seen in bright daylight and does not blind our eyes like some other drives do. Present on both sides of the device, there is no option to switch on/off the indicator, much to our annoyance.

Easy to Setup:
Gone were the days when installing or setting up something was rocket science. Nowadays, the maximum you need to do to install your hard drives is plug in to your PC. Same is the case for Hitachi LS-1000-EMEA 1TB Hard Drive. Simply connect the power cord to the wall that is the other end of the USB drive to the back of the PC. Voila! You are ready to go. This Plug and Play setup is hot swappable. It can be removed from the PC after being disabled from the Safely Remove Hardware application.

Features:

Compatible with Vista and Mac as well:
The LS-1000-EMEA is compatible with PCs and Mac as well. Amongst the Windows OS’ it works with Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft XP and Microsoft 2000. It works with Apple MacOS X 10.4.11 or later versions of that.

This drive is also available in 2TB capacity.

Switches on/off along with your PC:
You do not need to worry if your drive is switched off or not as LS-1000-EMEA 3.5-inch 1TB Simpledrive has the ability to automatically switch on and off along with the PC it is connected to.  When connected to the PC and if the PC is switched off, the drive automatically is switched off as well.

Memory and Size:
The Hitachi LS-1000-EMEA External USB Hard Drive is provided with a Memory of 1TB. The internal hard drive in the drive is the Hitachi Deskstar™ 7K1000.C (HDS721010CLA332).  1 GB can store about 350 Mp3 tracks and over 800 high quality digital camera shots. So, 1 TB can store a lot of data. How much? You do the math.

It lacks a Firewire port and the Standard 3.5 “Drive arrives in a FAT32 format and can be formatted to NTFS as well.  The rpm of 7200 it has, is an industry standard.

Hitachi Backup Software:
Along with the Drive is provided a software bundle with applications like the Hitachi Backup Software. The Backup software allows you to choose folders that you want to back up. To restore them, one can use either the provided software or access the files from the drive where they are stored. The backup software is very simple and effective to store data. Apart from all this, there is automatic backup as well, which backups your data periodically to minimize data loss.

Performance:

A Bit Noisy:
Enough with all the positives, one major fault that the Hitachi drive has is its noise. The Drive makes a louder than average noise while reading/writing when placed on a desk.  Nothing serious, but will be an irritant especially if you are doing some other activity while the drive is being accessed or read. Yet the noise is nothing compared to the other devices in the market these days. In order to cut down on the noise, all you need to do is place the drive on some sort of a cushion. Instant relief.

Good Performance:
When we tried transferring some music into the Drive, we realised it was reasonably fast. 320GB took about 3 hours and 550GB in about 6 hours. So, pretty typical USB 2.0 transfer speeds. A normal format is a matter of minutes but it does not check the whole drive. If you would want to format everything in the drive it would take about 10 whole hours! Our tests revealed that the read speed works out to 25MB/s.   A reasonably good performance.

In the Box:

The Hitachi LS-1000-EMEA comes along with the hard drive, a USB 2.0 cable, an AC Adapter, a Quick install guide and a Hitachi Backup Software.  Overall, a reasonable stock of accessories is provided.

Warranty:

The Hitachi LS-1000-EMEA 3.5-inch 1TB SimpleDrive External USB Hard Drive is provided with a warranty of 3 year. That is reasonable considering most drives in the market these days offer a warranty of 1 to 5 years as well. You can also get toll free support on weekdays from 7 am to 5.30 pm. Live Chat help and Email tech support is provided as well from the SimpleDrive site. There are FAQs, downloadable software, drivers and tips for troubleshooting provided on the site.

Verdict:

The Hitachi LS-1000-EMEA 1TB Simpledrive is a great drive at a great price. It offers what most users want in an external hard drive – a huge storage capacity, automatic backup and good performance. While the first causalities of its low cost is the absence of a Firewire port and perhaps another USB drive, all in all, the drive is a great purchase and is definitely recommended if you would not mind a little bit of noise.

Check other 1TB External Hard Drive Models, Hitachi External hard drive Reviews, Ratings in our website.

Hitachi LS-1000-EMEA 1TB External Drive - Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	Hitachi
Model Name	Hitachi LS-1000-EMEA 3.5-inch 1TB Simpledrive
Model Number	LS-1000-EMEA
Model	Slim line model
Drive type	Hard drive array
Enclosure Type	Desktop
Hard Disk Interface	USB 2.0
Dimensions (H x W x D)	62×165.1×120.65mm
Weight	1 kg
Colours available	White
Capacities available	1TB and 2TB
Hard Disk Rotational Speed	7200 rpm
Cache	8MB
Software included	Hitachi Backup Software for PC users.
Compatible systems	Apple MacOS X 10.5.2 or later, Apple MacOS X 10.4.11 or later, Microsoft Windows Vista / 2000 / XP
Power Source	Power adapter
Power Requirements	100 - 240 VAC
Package contents	Hard drive, USB cable, AC adaptor and a quick install guide
Warranty	3 years

Ever since the advent of the USB storage devices, it has become extremely easy to add storage to your PC without opening up the case of your CPU and cram in a hard drive.  Western Digital needs no introduction as it is easily amongst the top in the storage industry. It’s “My Book” series are amongst the most popular external hard drives in recent years.  The company has a series of hard drives that are devised to suite the specific needs of individuals.  Their attractive casing, solid built quality and great performance makes the Western Digital external hard drives very popular.

The latest model launched is the Western Digital My Book Essential Edition 1TB USB 2.0, which promises a good chunk of a space at an equally tempting price.  It is a USB 2.0 drive external storage device that can be used in either RAID 1 for data security or as a single volume in RAID 0 to take full advantage of the 2 other drives. Though not intended for high throughout performance, its read and writes speeds are on par with other external hard drives.  This drive is also projected to be more eco friendly and consumes less power than its predecessors.  Targeted at users the external hard drive is perfect for users looking for a simple and secure direct attached storage solution.

Design:

Glossy again:

The WD My Book Edition’s glossy black interior makes it look incredibly sleek and hence dust and fingerprint prone.  The casing and the curved corners makes it resemble the classic books and it can easily nestle amongst the books of your rack.  Though it would have been better, if it were designed to stand vertically, users want the book feel. The External hard drive is relatively compact for its two bay enclosures, but the real disappointment is the bulky power adapter which makes the package less portable.

Ports and Connectivity:

On the front of the drive is an LED whose colour changes with the drive’s status - powered on, in use, idle, and error. On the back of the drive is a power connector, a low profile USB 2.0 port and a power switch button. It lacks a Firewire port and an eSATA connection, which is extremely disappointing. However, that is justifiable, as the drive (which is preconfigured for RAID 1) is optimized for data protection rather than speed.  Here lies the true USP of the drive: If any one of the drives dies, all you need is to replace the drive and there would be absolutely no data loss.

When configured for RAID 0, the extra storage space comes at the cost of more vulnerability.  The 2 drives cannot be set up as 2 different volumes and the status and data integrity of one drive has nothing to do with that of the other.

Compatibility, Configuration and Capacities:

The My Book Essential Edition is available from 500GB to 2TB capacities. The My Book Drive is compatible with Windows® XP, Windows Vista®, Windows 7 in the Windows range and Mac OS® X, Tiger®, Leopard®, Snow Leopard in the Mac series. The Drive supports the following languages : English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian.
The file setup is FAT32 that allows you to save about 4 GB in size and one can switch onto the NTFS. If you are a Mac user, all you need to do is to reformat it into OS X’s file system HFS+.

Setup:

Setting up the Hard drive is very easy. All you need to do is plug the power cord to the wall , other end of the drive, USB to the back of the PC and then to the back of the drive.

Features:

Hard drive:
The internal hard drives are user replaceable and all you need to replace them is press a spot in the middle of the top front edge and replace the drive.

The My Book uses the 3.5 inch SATA hard drives and allows you to use ONLY Western Digital hard drives. While this restricts the flexibility of the drive, it is not much of a problem as WD Drives are popular and are sold for relatively cheaper prices.

The Back Up Software:
Along with the drive, there is a full version of the WD Backup anywhere and a 30 day trial for Mionet for remote access. The WD Back up anywhere is a wizard driven back up solution and allows you to back up selected data to any other media including your iPod.  The serial key required to install the software is at the back of a corner on the back of the setup instructions poster – a very obscure place.  The interesting aspect of this feature is the Visual Backup feature that enables you to display your content in categories and show the progress of a backup.

Data Protection:
Data in the WD My Book is protected by an extra level of security with password protection and 256 bit hardware based encryption.

Cost per gigabyte:

It is not fair to compare the My Book Essential to single direct attached hard drives atleast, in terms of cost per gigabyte. When viewed against single drive units from Maxtor and Vox, the model offers a very compelling value. It is cheaper than the LaCie 2big Dual and Vox V1. Even when you factor that you get roughly half capacity when using the RAID 1 configuration, the My Book Essential offers a highly competitive value.

Accessories Provided:

Apart from the External Hard drive, there is the WD SmartWare software (preloaded), 2 USB Cables, an AC Adapter and an Instruction Manual that comes in the package. There are 2 USB wires provided with the device – one 5 inch and one 2 inch connectors. They are quite handy as most drives do not come with sufficient cables.

Performance:

The transfer rate on the USB 2.0 is about 60MB/s and the average read speed is around 35 Mb/s which is not as bad as it sounds. Sure it lacks Firewire and eSATA ports, but as mentioned earlier the drive focuses more on data protection.  A file transfer of 1 GB took almost 40 seconds and copying back to the computer took 20 seconds.  The edition is significantly faster than the LaCie while operating  through USB 2.0 but it trailed behind most single hard drives by a small margin.

It is reasonable to expect a write speed of 23MB/s and a read speed of 51Mb/s.

Power Consumption:

The Western Digital WDBAAF0010HBK External Drive is designed to save energy and uses WD Green power Technology to lower power consumption up to 30 percent. There is a sleep mode that reduces power during idle times along with a power saving feature that turns the drive off and on with the PC it is connected with. Apart from being a low power consuming drive, the company claims that the packaging has been entirely done out of recycled materials and hence, focusing on less wastage.

The battery remained cool even throughout long and lengthy workloads. Considering that it remains cool and does not produce much noise, the model is a winner in this segment.

Warranty:

The external hard drive is provided with a warranty of 3 years from the date of purchase. Though this is not as good as the 5 year warranty provided on some other drives, it is better than the stingy one year warranty provided on most other drives. The Western Digital website provides Web based support including downloads, a sizeable knowledgeable base, product RMA and an online installation guide.

Verdict:

The Western Digital My Book Essential Edition 1TB USB 2.0, is another product from the storage major that caters to users who are looking for a drive that offers good value as well as data security bundled with a stylish sleek design. Though the drive provides a rather impressive amount of external storage, the hardware seems to have a shell life and there are faster drives in the market than this. However, if you think the design would look great in your rack and you hardly care about the size or other features, this is a good choice.

Check other Best selling External Hard Drive Reviews in this website.

My Book Essential Edition 1TB Desktop Hard Drive - Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	Western Digital
Model Name	My Book Essential Edition 1TB USB 2.0
Product Code	WDBAAF0010HBK
Drive type	Hard drive array
Enclosure Type	Desktop
Hard Disk Interface	USB 2.0
Dimensions (H x W x D)	137 x 54 x 166
Weight	1.15 Kg
Colours available	Black
Capacity	1TB
Other Capacities available	500GB, 640GB, 750GB, 1.5TB and 2TB
Drive Device, Buffer Size	Variable
Hard Disk Rotational Speed	7200 rpm
Software included	Memo AutoSync WD MioNet WD Anywhere Backup
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
Power Requirements	100 - 240 VAC
Package contents	WD My Book Mirror Edition external hard drive, USB cable, AC adaptor and a quick install guide
Warranty	3 years

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