External Hard Drives

The My Book Live Duo Personal Cloud Storage is the latest and hottest product from the storage giants Western Digital. This product is, as the name indicates, a two bay personal cloud storage expanding on the company’s range of single bay My Book Live. With this device, the engineers have clubbed the advantages of remote access and shared storage by having a double safe backup and boosted capacity of a dual system with RAID.

Design:

Design wise, we hope that you are aware this Western Digital My Book Live Duo is no portable storage. It is not only one of the chunkiest we have seen, but the strongest to live for a while. It is quite big with dimensions of (H x W x D) 165mm x 157mm x 99mm. As you might be aware, the device connects directly to your router using gigabit Ethernet, to share everything in the drive using home network. The package includes a USB2.0 port to extended its capacity further or just transfer the files.

Capacity:

The Western Digital My Book Live Duo Personal Cloud Storage is currently available in two flavours of capacities of 4TB and 6TB.

Features:

The My Book Live Duo Personal Cloud Storage sports an 800MHz CPU providing automatic backup for the Windows users through the Western Digital SmartWare Software. The Mac users too have not been left in the cold, as they can use Apple Time Machine.

The Duo Personal Cloud Storage:

While the original version, the Western Digital My Book Live impressed the market with its great deal of functionality as well as mobile app support, for that kind of money, it came under criticism for the absence of any built-in back-up support in case of a crashed backup. It left the experts in dilemma considering the fact that the Applied Micro APM82181 NAS Platform was definitely more than just capable of the ordinary NAS functionalities.

One of the major advantages of having the Western Digital My Book Live Duo External Hard Drive is its double safe backup which always maintains another copy of all of your data for real-time back-up in mirrored mode, which is RAID1. While one half of the available storage is used to store the user’s data, the second half if used for the storage of the duplicate copy. In case one of your drives fail, then all of your data will be protected as all of it is duplicated on the second drive. If you are not a big fan of having two copies, Western Digital has the Spanning mode, with which you will be able to combine both of the drives into one huge storage space for making the most of the available space.

Media server:

One of the bells and whistles that Western Digital My Book Live Duo has to offer is its built-in media server, using which you will be able to stream in photos, videos, movies as well as audio to any of the DLNA approved multimedia device. The choice of DLNA certified multimedia devices are huge, you get the WD TV Live Streaming media player, PS3, Xbox 360, Blu-ray players as well as smart TVs. One sweet advantage of the media server is that, you will be able to stream your tablet and smartphone right from the MyBook Live Duo with the WD 2go mobile app which you can purchase from iTunes as well as the Android markets.

Warranty:

Western Digital offers three years warranty for My Book Live Duo Personal Cloud’s parts and labour.

Verdict:

The WD My Book Live Duo Personal Storage lives up to the words of Chris Bull, director of marketing for Western Digital. It is the ideal, overall entertainment and storage solution for today’s fully connected consumer. The device provides safe back-up and also access and share data from anywhere from your tablet or smartphone.
For the complete detailed review of the WD My Book Live Duo Personal Storage, check back soon.

Western Digital My Book Live Duo - Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	Western Digital
Model Name	WD Digital My Book World Live Duo Personal Cloud Storage
Model Numbers	6TB - WDBVHT0060JCH 4TB - WDBVHT0040JCH
Drive type	Personal Cloud Storage
Capacities Available	4TB and 6TB
Dimensions (H x W x D)	165mm x 157mm x 99mm
OS Compatibility	Windows XP (SP3), Windows Vista, Windows 7, Mac OS X Leopard, Snow Leopard, or Lion
Interface	Gigabit Ethernet
Ethernet	10/100/1000 Mb/s
Software included	WD SmartWare
Features	Media share Double safe backup Drive spanning Complete out of box storage Streaming to HDTV User serviceable
Supported browsers	Internet Explorer 7.0 or higher, Safari 4.0 or higher, Firefox 3.6 or higher, Google Chrome 14.0 and later on supported Windows and Mac OS platforms
Warranty	3 years

Lacie Porsche Design P9230 USB3.0 Portable External Hard Drive Review

The Lacie Porsche Design P9230 is the latest addition to its range of external hard drives along with the Porsche Design P9220. This device can be said to be an all new breed of desktop external hard drive. LaCie has promised that this external hard drive will prove to be the ultimate blend of ‘looking cool’ and ‘delivering the most wanted’. In the following review, let us find out if it does the same.

Sophisticated design:

As the name of this desktop external hard drive indicates, the Lacie Porsche Design P9230 1TB & 2TB Hard Drive is a result of LaCie joining hands with one of the popular design brands in the world. These two companies first joined hands in 2003 to produce and icon and since then, they have created some of the Miss Worlds and Miss Universes in the EHD world. This desktop hard drive has a very futuristic design and the design brand has managed to do it again. The aluminium casing with a width of 5mm is very much capable of protecting your data in the drive inside. The highlight of the design is an adorable LED that indicates power. This LED is the element of the drive that gives it the sophisticated look.

Huge capacities:

The Lacie Porsche Design P9230 USB3.0 desktop hard drive comes in two huge capacities of 1TB and 2TB which is just more than enough for all your music, videos, files and games too. The difference in price between both the capacities is not much, you get double the capacity for just 30 pounds. The mobile version of the Porsche Design P9230 is the Porsche Design P9220, which is available in smaller capacities of 500GB and 1TB.

Software selection:

LaCie has included heaps of user friendly software suites into the Porsche Design P9230 USB 3.0 External Hard Drive. The first one of those is the automatic back-up system that is very easy to set-up offering ‘no worries’ automatic backup for both PC and Mac systems. The LaCie Private Public protection is built-in, which gives you the peace of mind that all of your files are both secure as well as protected , wherever you go. Like most of the external hard drives of this age, the company has also offered free external storage with Wuala. It gives a massive 10GB free storage for one year allowing you to securely store and share data.

Performance:

The Porsche Design P9230 sports the USB3.0 interface, offering you the fastest ever data transfers. And by fastest ever, we really mean it, for instance, you will be able to transfer a 1GB video in just 10 seconds. The cable included is also USB2.0 interface compatible for the sake of convenience. With USB3.0, you will be able to transfer as well as share all your media in minimal period. The sophisticated aluminium casing not only adds to the stylish looks of the drive, but also helps it dissipate heat. This feature just adds life to the drive. One of the surprising features of the drive is that, it also has an energy saving mode that provides about 40% power saving when not in use. This in turn increases the battery life of your laptop or netbook.

Box contents:

The box contents of the Porsche P9230 included the drive itself, USB3.0 cable that is USB2.0 compatible, a quick install guide, external power supply and a complete software suite including all the software that were mentioned above.

Warranty:

The Lacie Porsche Design P9230 USB3.0 desktop hard drive comes with two years limited warranty for parts and labour.

Verdict:

The LaCie Porsche Design P9230 desktop external hard drive is perfect blend of amazing design and incredible functionality. Overall, we can conclude by saying that the world renowned designer with the technical capabilities of LaCie has produced a very fine product, and we do recommend it.

Check all Latest External Hard Drive Reviews and other Lacie External Hard Drives in this website.

LaCie P9230 External Hard Drive - Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	LaCie
Model Name	Lacie Porsche Design P9230 USB3.0 desktop EHD
Model numbers	1TB: 302001EK 2TB: 302002EK
Colours available	Aluminium
Dimensions (H x W x D)	120 x 190 x 38 mm
Weight	1 kg / 37 oz.
Interface	USB 3.0 port (USB 2.0-compatible)
Cooling System	Aluminium  cover
Available Capacities	1TB and 2TB
Spindle speed	7200rpm
Data transfer rate (max)	USB 3.0 : up to 5Gb/s USB 2.0 : up to 480Mb/s
Compatible operating systems	Mac and Windows PC
Security	LaCie Private Public protection
System requirements	Computer with a USB 3.0 or USB 2.0 port Latest version of Windows® XP, Windows Vista®, Windows 7 / Mac OS X 10.5, 10.6 Check www.lacie.com/usb3mac for USB 3.0 Mac compatibility Minimum free disk space: 600MB recommended
Special features	Porsche design Power saving features
Box Content	LaCie Porsche Design P’9230 USB 3.0 cable (USB 2.0-compatible) Quick Install Guide External power supply Complete Software Suite: LaCie Private-Public, Backup Assistant
Warranty	2-Year Limited Warranty

Even if you are a proud owner of a high storage capacity phone or tablet, the chances are high that you will run out of storage if you are one of those who love downloading TV shows, videos and even movies. Seagate has decided to get you out of this misery by introducing its all new Seagate GoFlex Satellite which promises to provide your smartphone and tablet with as much space as in your laptop in a very compact means.

Design:

The Seagate GoFlex Satellite Mobile Hard Drive lives up to that high-end look expectations with a glossy black plastic top and bottom with matte finishing and the sides have been wrapped in a silver plastic. This portable external hard drive looks almost same as the Go Flex Ultra portable and GoFlex Pro. With the dimensions of just (H x W x D) 5 x 3.5 x 0.8”, is only a notch bigger than most of the manufacturer’s portable external hard drives. However, it is not like a smartphone.

Ports and connectivity:

In one side, there is a small power point and in the opposite side, there is the power switch. On top, you will find a couple of small lights, one that indicates power and another that lets you know that the wireless connection is powered. Moving on to the rear, there is the latest docking connector. Hence, though the device comes with a USB3.0 adapter, you will also be able to make use of any of the manufacturer’s other connectivity options such as eSata, USB2.0 and FireWire.

Interface:

Loading of data on the Seagate GoFlex Satellite Portable External Hard Drive is as simple as plugging it into your tablet and dragging files into it. As soon as you get the drive, one of the first things to be done is the downloading of the free GoFlex app. To connect your iPad wirelessly to the drive, just go to the settings menu, turn on the GoFlex Satellite and it will get connected easily. The only disadvantage to the GoFlex Satellite is that, you will not be able to connect to the net when connected to satellite. This is an absolute bummer, taking into consideration the nature of iPad. The GoFlex app is quite intuitive as well as colourful and bright, making it likable. On the left side, you will find categories like videos, music and photos. When you select one, the contents come up on the right side of the screen. Whatever we did there went through pretty well.

Features:

The Quicklook options allows you to read through the documents and gives you an option to download it to the iPad or just print it with the help of AirPrint. However, we really wished that it would have been great if we were able to upload files to Seagate GoFlex from iPad. Up to 3 users will be able to connect to the device simultaneously. Just connect to the device wirelessly and will be able to view the contents with a browser. The fact that the interface was same that of the iPad app. You will also be able to upload files wireless, however, only one at a time.

Performance:

With the USB3.0 interface, the GoFlex Satellite is a very decent performer. We managed to copy a folder of 10GB in under 5 minutes at a rate of 32 mbps. Though this is not the quickest, it is in par with the averages.

Battery:

Moving on to battery life, the GoFlex will get you about 5 hours of battery life and 25 hours of standby.

Package contents:

The package contents of the GoFlex Satellite includes the mobile wireless device itself, compact wall adaptor with retractable pins, compact car charger, USB to DC cable, USB3.0 USM adaptor with detachable USB3.0 cable and quick start guide.

Warranty:

Seagate GoFlex Satellite comes with three years limited warranty for parts and labour.

Verdict:

Price wise, the Seagate GoFlex Satellite is more economical than most of the other similar kind of drives such as the Wi drive when per MB basis is considered. This drive is by far the most flexible on the market, thanks to exchange port adaptor. One of the major plus points of this portable external hard drives is that, it is also compatible with the Android devices. The only major disadvantage is that, you cannot be connected to net while using the device. Overall, the GoFlex Satellite is a fantastic device for boosting your storage needs.

Check other External Hard Drive Reviews in this website.

Seagate GoFlex Satellite 500GB Mobile Hard Drive - Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	Seagate
Model Name	Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Satellite
Product Code	STBF500101
Colour	Black
Type	Ultra portable drive
Dimensions	4.72in L x 3.54in W x 0.87in D
Weight	0.267kg
Capacities Available	500GB
Interface	USB 3.0 and WiFi
Folder sync software	Yes
Spindle speed	7200rpm
Software	Preloaded premium backup software with encryption and synchronisation
Encryption	Powerful encryption technology
Compatible OS	Windows and Mac
Supported file formats	Video: H.264 video, MPEG-4, Motion-JPEG Audio: AAC, MP3, Audible (formats 2, 3, 4), Apple Lossless, AIFF, WAV Documents: Microsoft Office, iWork, Adobe Acrobat (PDF) Select file types supported by third-party apps
WiFi	802.11 b/g/n  WPA security
Box Contents	GoFlex Satellite mobile wireless storage device USB 3.0 USM adapter with detachable USB 3.0 cable Compact wall adapter with retractable pins Compact car charger USB to DC cable Quick start guide
Battery	Lithium-ion (non-replaceable) Up to 25 hours standby Up to 5 hours of continuous streaming (1 user)
Warranty	Three–year limited warranty

Iomega designs a wide range of external hard drives for both Windows and Mac systems, but the MiniMax was designed especially for Mac. Iomega MiniMax got a bit of a blow as soon as it hit the shelves; it was released at the same time around when Apple had re-launched its Mac Mini, making the MiniMax look outdated already.

Design:

The Iomega MiniMax external hard drive comes with brushed aluminium finishing with white polycarbonate top plate. This design makes the drive just perfect for the former Mac Mini. With dimensions of 16.5 x 16.5cm, the footprint is quite identical too, to sit under the Mac Mini. It sports a soft rubber base that will help it placed on the desk. Even though its design seems to be set to match the old Mac, its style still looks good next to any of the latest Macs.

Interface and slots:

Interface options included are, USB2.0 and FireWire 800, you also get a FireWire 800 to 400 cable included in the box. With the additional FireWire 800 port, you get to daisy chain one more FireWire peripheral. The three additional USB ports allow you to use the MiniMax as a hub. This drive also has its own ON/OFF switch, so unlike the Western Digital MyBook range, it will not automatically switch on and off as the Mac boots and shuts down.

Interface, Capacity and Set-up:

Irrespective of its style, the Iomega MiniMax USB 2.0 Desktop Hard Drive has a heap load to offer to the Mac owners, even if they own the old-school Mac Mini. The MiniMax drive is quite capacious at 1TB and has been pre-formatted for Mac OS. The MiniMax is also available in 500GB capacity, packing in a 7200 rpm hard drive into its mini enclosure. Set-up of the MiniMax is just a breeze, just plug in the power cable, put the power switch on the MiniMax, and the device will automatically mount on Mac mini’s desktop.

Performance:

Moving on to performance, Iomega MiniMax has a random read and write speeds of 17.8/28.9MB/s with its FireWire 800 and about 12.0/17 MB/s using a USB connection. This rate is a bit faster than the eGo Desktop External Hard Drive. One major issue with is external hard drive is that, its cooling fan is rather quite noisy and make a very noticeable humming noise while it is running.

Package:

The package contents include the standard USB and FireWire cables. Iomega has also thoughtfully included a 25cm wire that connects the MiniMax to the Mac and diminishing all the clutters.

Warranty and Support:

Iomega provides a limited warranty of one year on the Iomega MiniMax hard drive. Registering the drive on the site allows the warranty period to go up to a period of 3 years.

Verdict:

Being designed to match a Mac, it does so with a great deal of ease. The FireWire 800 through port as well as the integrated USB hub are some of the very handy extras. The performance does not let us down either. Overall, it is speedy, spacious, convenient and very reasonably priced Mac companion.

Iomega MiniMax External Hard Drive - Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	Iomega
Model Name	Iomega MiniMax External Hard Drive
Colour	Silver
Dimensions (W x H x D)	162 x 156 x 200 mm
Weight	2.29 pounds
Capacities available	500GB and 1TB
Interface	Three-port USB hub Two FireWire 800 ports
Spindle speed	7200 rpm
External Data Transfer	149 Megabits per second
Memory cache	8MB
Transfer Rate	Transfer rates of 480 Mbits/s when connected to a USB 2.0 controller; 800 Mbits when connected to a FireWire 800 controller
System Requirements	PC Users: Pentium® II-class or equivalent processor (300 MHz) or higher Built-in USB connection/FireWire 800/400 (1394a) depending on drive connectivity Microsoft® Windows® Vista* / Windows® 7 (32-Bit) / 2000 Professional / XP Home /XP Professional / XP Professional x64 256MB RAM or higher as required by operating system Mac® Users: Power Mac® G3 or greater Built-in USB or FireWire 800/400 connection FireWire 800 (1394a)/USB 1.1: Mac OS X 10.4 - 10.6 (drive performance will be reduced using a USB 1.1 connection) USB 2.0: Mac OS 10.2 or higher 128MB RAM or higher as required by operating system
Plug and Play	Yes
Package contents	Iomega® MiniMax Mac Hard Drive USB Cable FireWire® 800 Cable FireWire® 800 to 400 Cable (for 1394b to 1394a conversion) Power Supply Quick Start Guide Iomega Protection Suite Software via Download Trend Micro™ Smart Surfing software for Mac - 1 year FREE subscription via download value Iomega QuikProtect MozyHome™ Online Backup service (2GB Free)
Warranty	One year limited warranty and can be extended to Three years if product is registered

The first Thunderbolt technology product in the market is from LaCie. Dubbed as the Little Big Disk, the external hard drive combines the awesomeness of Apple and the speed of Intel. For those who are not aware of Thunderbolt technology, it allows you to transfer files at speeds of 10 Gbps in a single port.  Available in the capacities of 250 GB, 500 GB and 1TB, it easily represents the big leap from USB/Firewire. Read on to find out why we recommend it.

Little Big Disk:

The Little Big Disk is quite appropriately named so. With dimensions of (H x W x D) 1.6 x 3.3 x 5.5 inches, it is a very small drive and is quite a dwarf when compared to its counterparts. It weighs around a pound and half and feels like a solid brick.

Sturdy Casing:

The Little Big Disk External Drive is enclosed in LaCie’s classic d2 case. Made up of aluminium, the front of the device has a smooth finish whereas the other sides have a grilled appearance. There is a circular blue LED light that indicates drive activity.  At the back of the device are vents that help in keeping the device cool. Also present are the two thunderbolt ports and the power plug for the adapter. There is also a Kensington Lock slot as well that allows you to lock the device using a lock.

SSD Drive:

The Little Big Disk features 2 250GB Intel 510 SSD Drives. These drives have no moving parts making them lesser noisy and consume lesser power. These SSDs support streams of video and multichannel audio thanks to their superior performance and durability. The drives are RAID preconfigured for better performance.

Connectivity:

The original Little Big Disk featured FireWire 800, HiSpeed USB 2.0 and FireWire 400. The LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt edition does away with all those connections and simply has 2 Thunderbolt ports. Thunderbolt ports can connect to eSATA, USB and FireWire provided you have the right adapter.  Not many PCs right now boast of having Thunderbolt connections, so try avoiding the drive in case you do not own a MacBook Pro.

Thunderbolt Technology:

Along with Apple and Intel, LaCie has designed the device to handle 10Gbps file transfer with Intel’s revolutionary Thunderbolt technology. This new high speed technology now allows connecting to computers and devices like never before. Higher speed rates are vital to consumers and professionals and this is where thunderbolt delivers.  The high transfer rates are sustained with low latency making it an even safer technology. The Thunderbolt technology works in a dual channel and dual protocol in a bi-directional way using a single cable. That translates to the fact that you can connect a PC to six thunderbolt devices and files would still transfer at 10Gbps per each port without any bandwidth getting sacrificed.  More details on its performance will be discussed later on.

Capacities Available:

The LaCie Little Big Disk was available in 250GB, 500GB and 1TB storage capacities.

System Requirements:

This is where the device loses out. Though the thunderbolt technology is quite amazing, not many computers have Thunderbolt ports yet. Apple’s MacBook Pro is one of the few that does. Also, the drive expects you to have MAC OS 10.6.

LaCie Backup Software:

Along with the drive comes the backup solution titled LaCie Backup software. It basically creates new backups by creation of new folders. The folder names are properly indexed and the backups are always complete.  The best part is the fact that most backups take place within a matter of minutes making us wonder if manufacturers should boost up memory size of the drives.

Performance:

To truly understand the speed of Thunderbolt, let us see what the maximum speeds for ports are. USB 2.0 has a limit of 480 Mbps, FireWire 800 has a limit of 800 Mbps. The newer USB 3.0 has a limit at 5 Gbps. The thunderbolt technology triumphs over all of them at 10 Gbps. This technology is going to be extremely useful for film makers and editors as the large edited video and audio files can be transferred within a matter of seconds.  Daisy chaining is also possible.

Quiet:

Because the drive uses SSDs, there are no moving parts and hence little vibration and lesser power consumption.

Designed to get rid of heat:

The LaCie heat sink design enhances heat dissipation from the drive and maintains it at moderate temperatures. So there is absolutely no chance of the device failing due to high temperatures.

What is in the box?

Along with the LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt, there is provided an AC power adapter kit, a removable drive stand and a Quick Install guide. The device lacks a power switch and so in order to switch off the drive, you will have to disconnect power supply.

Warranty:

There is a limited warranty of one year on the Little Big Disk external drive.  Support is available on the website in the form of FAQs, drivers etc. The phone support provided by LaCie is not free.

Conclusion:

LaCie has truly delivered a product to remember. The LaCie Big Little Disk Thunderbolt edition is special as it is the first external hard drive to feature this revolutionary technology. Although the drive is on the more expensive side and not all devices are Thunderbolt compatible yet, the prospects of 10 GB speeds are intriguing. With such high speeds, file transfers that took hours take minutes. Same is the case with backups. The device rarely has any issues and is less noisy.  Therefore if you are someone who transfers large files often and are willing out to shell out some extra cash, we suggest you go for this.

LaCie Little Big Disk - Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	LaCie
Model Name	LaCie Big Little Disk Thunderbolt Edition
Colours available	Silver
Dimensions (H x W x D)	1.6 x 5.5 x 3.3 in. / 40 x 140 x 85 mm
Weight	630g/1.41 lbs
Interface	2 x Thunderbolt 10Gbits
Cooling System	Aluminium heat sink
Available Capacities	250GB, 500GB and 1TB
Spindle speed	SSD Drive ( 250GB and 500GB) 7200rpm ( 1TB)
Data transfer rate (max)	10Gbps
Compatible operating systems	Mac OS 10.6
Security	Kensington Chain Lock compatible
Box Content	LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt AC power adapter kit Removable drive stand Quick Install guide
Warranty	One year