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

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

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

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

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

Design:

The casing of the IoSafe Rugged Portable drive is built out of solid aluminium which explains why it looks and feels so solid. On the bottom of the device are the rubber feet and a note to remind you of the data recovery warranty. At the back of the device are the LED indicator and a hole for the Kensington lock. While the drive is actually a 2.5″ drive, it is nearly as big as a regular 3.5” thanks to the solid casing.  We opened the drive to discover that the drive is protected by a gasket that helps keep liquids out.

Dimensions:

The drive measures (H x W x D) 5.7 inch x 0.9 inch x 1 inch and weighs just over a pound, and 1.7 pounds for the titanium version. While the weight is definitely a turn off for people who like their drives to be light, it is impossible to expect such sturdy drives at any lighter weights.

Portability:

As we mentioned earlier, the Rugged Portable is the more portable variant of its 15 pound counterpart the IoSafe Solo Pro. Considering the incredible extreme conditions it can withstand, its portability is amazing.

Capacities Available:

The drive is available in 250GB to 1TB capacities in HDD and 256GB to 512GB in SSD capacities.

Comes with USB 2.0 and 3.0:

At the back of the drive is present a Mini USB 3.0 port. With the drive, a regular mini USB 3.0 and a Y shaped USB 2.0 cable. The former acts as a data cable and a power cable as well.

Plug and Play:

The IoSafe Rugged Portable external Hard drive is also Plug and play like the rest of the devices that are out in the market. All you need to do to use it is just plug it to your computer and it is all ready to use. The drive uses the NTFS file system and hence needs to be reformatted to HFS+ in case your operating system is Mac.  This process is done in a matter of minutes thereby causing minimum inconvenience.

Features:

Host of Technologies!

The IoSafe Rugged drive employs Full Metal Jacket Technology, Full Suspension Drive Technology, HydroSafe, ChemoSafe and EnviroSafe Technology.  The drive is enclosed by a billet of Aluminum or Titanium alloy making it crush resistant up to 5000 pounds. The Full Suspension Drive Technology allows for suspension in all the six axes of motion making it secure from shocks up to 20 times. The HydroSafe Technology makes it waterproof and protects data loss up to 10 feet for 3 days in water. The ChemSafe technology makes immersion in diesel fuel, oils, fluids etc for one hour without any data loss. The drive is also resistant to UV exposure, rain, fog, hail etcetera for 24 hours without any data loss. The device is also capable of operating up to high altitudes such as 15000 feet thanks to the AltiSafe Technology.

Not Fire proof!

The only environment that the Rugged Portable is incapable of handling is fire unlike the IoSafe Solo Pro. The reason is that fire proofing the drive would have added an extra few pounds and made it less portable.

Theft Protection:

The Kensington Lock present on the back of the drive helps in securing the drive to any immovable objects using the Kensington Locks.

Software Included:

Along with the drive is present software that is not necessary for backing up data on the drive. The Genie Timeline Pro Full version, an award winning backup software helps in Continuous Data Protection software for Windows Users. There is the Apple Time Machine that needs reformatting of the drive in order to be used. The TrueCrypt AES 256 Encryption Compatible is open source software that helps in encryption of data on PC, Linux and Mac platforms.

Performance:

The Rugged Portable lived up to its expectations in both the USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 categories. The drive was able to read and write at 31 and 28 Mbps, thereby placing it in the above average category. The USB 3.0 speeds were 102 and 85 Mbps for read and write speeds respectively. These whooping speeds do make a difference when you are transferring large files.

Definitely Rugged:

The drive as its name states lives up to the rugged title. The IoSafe Rugged Portable can survive drops from 10 feet, survive under water for 72 hours, can survive dunks in chemicals and even be crushed by 2500 pounds and still safeguard data. The titanium coated variant of the drive can even withstand bullet shots.

Heat:

The drive was cool throughout its operation, but the drive was slightly vibrating.

Warranty and Data Recovery Service:

IoSafe Rugged Portable comes with a one year warranty that includes with the Data Recovery Service. The Data Recovery Service helps in trying back to recover the data in case the drive stops working for a reason. In case the drive is beyond repair, the warranty will cover up to 3000 pounds worth of data. But in order to avail this warranty, you must activate it. No hidden conditions here. IoSafe does not have any secretive clauses in the warranty that prevent you from repairing your drive, making it the best warranty in the market. You can upgrade the warranty to three year or five years by shelling out cash. The company also has free technical support through the weekdays. On the website are available FAQs, downloads, guides and other forms of support.

Verdict:

In case you are looking for a rugged and portable drive that protects your data, then the IoSafe Rugged Portable is the one you must buy. The drive is extremely stylish and at the same time is designed to safe guard your data from the vagaries of Mother Nature. The Data Recovery Plan is the best warranty in the market and the inclusion of USB 3.0 means higher transfer speeds.  If the drive could withstand extreme heat as well, then this could have been the daddy of disaster proof drives in the market. But if you live in a harsh environment, then this is a great way to safeguard your data. If you are an ordinary user, the drive does seem extremely expensive, but the data recovery services make the price worth it. A big thumbs up to IoSafe for such a sensational niche product; we recommend it.

Check 2011 Latest External Hard Drives in this website.

IoSafe Rugged Portable Hard Drive - Technical Specification Table

Design:

Book like!

Western Digital’s My Book range are so called because the basic design for devices under the brand resembles a book. Different models of My Books are identifiable by the colour scheme used. The Book Pro Edition II was silver coloured and the My Book Premium was a glossy black. The WD World Edition External Hard Drives, on which our focus is a glossy white coloured device that looks extremely slick and amazingly does not show fingerprints that make devices ugly. There is a rubber strip included as well, something that is common to all the other devices under My Book brand. The rubber strip runs along the top, base and back of the device enabling it to be laid down without exposing it to the risk of getting scratched.

The construction:

The top, side and bottom sides of the device are perforated in order to help the air flow inside and keep the device cool. The grilled look makes it look a class apart and we could easily say that this is by far the most attractive NAS box we have ever seen. Aesthetic functionality at its best. In the middle of the spine is present a strip of white lights. The light is capable of acting as a memory gauge meter. The bottom one lights up when the device is on and the others light up according to the activity of the drive. A very interesting aesthetic add to the device that goes great with it. If however you find it distracting, there is even an option to turn it off in the menu.

On the back of the device is present a power button and a gigabit Ethernet, USB and power connection option.

Hidden Security Slot:

A small issue we have with the design of the My Book World Edition Hard Drive is its location of the security slot. The slot is hidden amongst the back along with the other vent holes. It gets frustrating if you want to protect your data but do not know where the slot is.

One Hard Drive only:

The Western Digital My Book World Edition External Hard Drive (1TB & 2TB) uses one hard drive unlike other expensive NAS appliances that use at least two hard drives lest one fails the other would still have the data. It is extremely important to have high data redundancy as more and more information around us is on computers. Another interesting feature of the device is the inclusion of an USB port, something that is not too common amongst NAS devices. While the USB port cannot be used to connect to a computer, you can connect it to another hard drive to back up data on this one thereby adding more storage to the network. Thankfully!

System Requirements:

The Western Digital My Book World Edition requires you to have an Ethernet connection either a network adapter, router, hub or switch; A web browser, Adobe Flash Active X 9 and a Broadband Internet connection.

System Compatibility:

The My Book World Edition device is compatible with both Windows and Mac platforms. The device is compatible with Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 as well as Mac OS X Tiger, Leopard and Snow Leopard.

Capacities Available:

The My Book World Edition is available in two capacities: 1TB and 2TB. The 1TB drive is capable of storing up to 200000 photos or about 80 hours of video or 250000 songs. Such a large memory ensures all your data is safely stored at one place. The 2 B memory drive is of the similar specifications as the 1TB only slightly thicker.

Easy Set up and Easier to Use:

All you need to use the device is to plug it into a power socket and a router and voila, the device will appear on the network browser if you are on Windows and on Finder, if you are on Mac. You can then unload the media on to the device and be relieved for your data is totally secure. For users who are still on Windows XP, there is no reason to worry as Western Digital provides software to make things easy for you guys as well. Just pop in the CD and click on Map Network Drive option for backup. There are other features such as scheduling backups etc. which will be discussed in detail later on in the review. But honestly, this is by far the easiest setup we encountered for network attached storage.

Features:

Setting the NAS up:

Once you have set up the device, the drive’s shared folders would be available on the network where they can be assigned to network drives. To set the NAS up, log on to it on a web browser assuming you know what the IP address the router has given it. Or you could run the Discovery Utility that Western Digital has provided on the included CD and lets you configure it. It is pretty easy to map a network drive, browse though the shared files of a network and create shortcuts. The initial configuration page asks you to set up the time zone, passwords and a select network options. Beyond this, the program allows you to select Basic or Advanced mode. The Basic Mode is for the users who are new to NAS and want to just get a job done whereas the advanced mode lets you do a lot more such as specifying user access control and individual permissions for accessing USB devices. But the device lacks self downloading features where you could set the device to download on its own without involving a computer.

iTunes Server Capability:

One of the highlight features of the device is its iTunes server capability. It allows you to store all music and other multimedia files on the drive and allows other computers that run iTunes to access it without any issues. You heard that right. You can access all the music and multimedia files on any computer without any violation issues. The device is DLNA certified therefore can act as a server for gaming devices such as Microsoft Xbox 360, Televisions, And Mobile phones etc.

No BitTorrent client built in:

The drive does not have in built BitTorrent client, but that is still far from being a popular feature and so no points cut for the drive.

Remote Access:

MioNet is the software that the My Book World Edition uses for remote access. The server is registered with an account at MioNet and then you can log on to the NAS server from any part of the world to get data off it. The setting up of the server is easy. Connect the NAS server to a computer, and launch the MioNet registration page from the CD. The installation of the MioNet software is not necessary as the My Book World Edition does not require any software to remain powered in order to work properly. The software allows you to access your computer from the Internet. However, due to piracy concerns, sharing of a few formats are not allowed.

No Switch On feature:

The device does not feature a wake up LAN feature so you cannot turn it off nor start it up. But since the device uses a meagre 6W at idle state and 9W during a file transfer, we do not have to worry about power wastage running it all day long.

Time Machine compatible:

When the device was launched, it was not compatible with Time Machine. However, at the time of writing this review, all models shipped were made Time Machine ready.

Performance:

Instant Recognition:

A problem with a few NAS devices lies in them not being able to be recognized by the computer. The Western Digital My Book World Edition does not have that issue. When we connected to a switch and to a router, it was recognised instantly and was accessible using Internet Explorer. The OS we were running on, Windows 7 also recognised and enabled us to access it using Network Discovery.

Issues with Access:

While we were able to browse files and folders properly using the NAS server, we were unable to copy any folders from the NAS to the computer. The webpage seemed to hang every time we did that rendering remote access solution useless.

Router Speeds:

While the device does not have too many features to boast of, it proves to be a solid performer. My Book World Edition was able to transfer files at a whopping 120 Mbps for writing and 206Mbps on the reading parameter thereby beating every router in the market except Synology DS 209+. A point to be noted is that, the speeds are comparable to a USB 2.0 part hard drive but since the latter are physically connected they have an advantage over speed.

No Fan Inside:

The device is pretty silent and the only noise that emanates from it is from the hard drive which is of the low power and of the Green range. There are absolutely NO cooling fans used and thanks to the very efficient grilling design, the device keeps cool. But remember not to position it in dusty or confined places in order for it to run optimally.

Eco-Friendly:

Another aspect of the device is its eco-friendliness. It is not something that people would actually care for while buying a device, but the company maintains that the device consumes much lesser power when running all day than a PC to share the same data. As we mentioned earlier, this Green power drive consumes energy up to one third lesser power than your usual 3.5 inch disks.

What is in the box?

The Drive comes along with an Ethernet cable, an AC adapter for power, a software CD containing MioNet and a Quick Install guide book.

Warranty:

The Drive comes with a decent warranty of three years. There is toll free support available on the phone throughout the week except on Sundays. There is also email and tech support provided in the form of FAQs and downloads on their website. However to access these downloads; you must register the product on the Website.

Verdict:

Western Digital has managed to create a simple no frills NAS device with the My Book World Edition. It is the best looking NAS device in the market and is also extremely easy to use. For laymen and other users, it offers a way to backup their files without giving a second thought, thus making it practically the best choice for many a user. The iTunes capability also will make it popular amongst music enthusiasts. While an eSATA drive would have been obviously faster, the wireless storage is a perfect idea if you have multiple computers. There is no RAID support nor is the hard drive user serviceable but to most of the users the absence of these would not make much of a difference. In conclusion, it is a fantastic device all in all that is capable of great speeds, consumes much lesser power than other drives. Therefore a must buy! In case you are looking for a more powerful, feature rich and better performing device, you could go for the Synology DS 209+.

WD My Book World Edition External Hard Drive - Technical Specification Table

Design:

Body:

The design is stylish, sporting a glossy finish and the logo is displayed on the fascia of the device. The Clickfree C2 Portable Hard drive is available in two colours: glossy black and glossy white. On the face of the device is a blue coloured indicator that indicates activity of the device. The drive measures 4.5 x 0.6 x 2.9 inches making it slightly thicker than the portable drives that Seagate offers. It has rounded corners thus making it less of a pain when carrying in the pockets.

Two-many colours:

While there are not as many colour options as you would find for Iomega’s eGo or Seagate external drives, black and white suffice for most users as they complement the keyboards and CPUs better than any coloured drive. The white coloured drive is perfect for complementing the Mac computers.

Integrated USB cable:

An aesthetic add to the design of the drive is the integrated USB cable that manages to tuck itself properly to the back of the drive thus eliminating the risk of losing the cable similar to the Hitachi SimpleTough. While in that design, we were not sure about its longetivity, here the C2 has a mini USB port on the base and could be used with a standard mini USB cable as well.  Also the hassle of tangled wires vanishes.

Optional Dock:

There is an optional dock that is available on the ClickFree website. When we put the C2 Backup drive on to the dock, it felt a little shaky. We checked if there would be any interruptions in backing up data by trying to push, poke and tap the drive and found that there was no hindrance at all. Though the connection feels flimsy, it is definitely secure.

Capacities Available:

The Clickfree C2 Portable External drive is available in storage capacities of 250GB to 2TB.

System Requirements:

In order for the drive to work optimally, the PC should have Microsoft XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7.  Macintosh users should have no issues with the drive if their OS is OSX 10.5 or later.

Both PC and Mac compatible:

The ClickFree C2 is both PC and Mac compatible, which means you can use it for transferring files from one to another as well. However, the cross platform compatibility ends here. There is no capability to back up both the data of the Mac and the PCs on the same drive due to different file systems.

Features:

Smarter Interface:

The interface used in backing up data is a more tweaked and refreshed version of the original version. If you thought the earlier interface was easy, this is even easier.  The C2 is an Apple white EHD with an integrated USB cable, which once connected to a PC, will start up automatically, go through the system for files that are of various preset types and, just back-up all of them. Absolutely, idiot proof, the interface allows to backup all your data with a single click. A new feature included is a search page that allows you to view a summary of the new and changed files every time you backup. On most regards, the interface of the Clickfree C2 is not much different from the average consumer backup software. It is just that the features list is pretty limited (understandably) and the interface is very simple to cater even the most novice users.

Backup with a click:

As a basic backup drive, the C2 USB External Hard drive does not require any real user input whatsoever; just connect the device every so often so that it can keep things up to date and just forget about it. Unlike several drives in the market, ClickFree Backup allows you to choose the files you need to backup. Even better is the C2 remembers your choice of files that need to be backed up and backs them up every time you connect them to the PC.  You also get to do the scheduling if you choose to leave the drive connected permanently. Some of the advanced backup features include hardware based encryption as well as email attachment extraction. For security, there is a 256-bit encryption via password.

Smart Viewer:

The interface does sport a few nice touches to do a standout, such as the integrated image viewer. Thanks to the Smart Viewer feature, you can transfer photos from one computer to another. There is an option to print, email and share these photos on Facebook, Flickr and My space; all of these directly from the Clickfree software. While this feature does not belong to the essential category, this is a feature that photo enthusiasts would be thankful for.

iPod Music and Play List Import:

The Clickfree C2 also has a feature that has been inspired from the Transformer for iPod, this feature allows users to plug in an iPod or an iPhone into another USB port for a computer and the drive will be able to import music to your hard drive. This gets rid of the horrors of the iTunes. The data can be imported into iTunes as well. Data such as Artists, Track titles and Album are also preserved. Even older versions of iPods that have FireWire ports and USB ports can be used for backing up. We noticed that the C2 does not copy video files. It is a big minus for users who have a lot of video content on their iPod/iPhone. But otherwise, this option is a life saver, in case your iPod was synced to a computer that crashed.  The file format selector can be tailored to your requirements, so you do not end up filling the system with unwanted system files, and also exclude the TEMP files and limit the search to the chosen locations. There are also options to designated entire folders to be copied to the C2 hard disk.

Migration:

With the launch of Windows 7, there are plenty of users who would like to switch from the flop Windows Vista to the latest version.  They would want the switch without losing any of their existing data. The C2 delivers. Its software enables it to transfer files from one OS to another without any hassles.

Hardware Accelerated Encryption:

Data encryption is also possible in the ClickFree C2. The drive uses 256bit hardware encryption which enables you to access data only with a password. A highly recommended way to store data is to safeguard it with a password. There is a chip within the drive itself that encrypts the data; therefore the backup nor the computer will be slowed down.

Burn from Discs and Attachments:

If you are looking for a way to get your backup on to a DVD or a CD, it is possible and can be done in a single click.  The same steps are available in case of scheduled backups and obtaining email attachments from Outlook.

Performance:

The company might be called ClickFree, but there are certainly quite a few clicks you need to do to set it up. We use the device on a Windows 7, and after a 34 second wait, the backup procedure starts.  Every time you connect the drive, it identifies the newer files since the last backup and automatically backs them up. How long it takes for backup is dependent on how many files you have got to copy. The first backup is usually the longest with the consequent backups a matter of a few minutes. The first backup of about 100 GB of data took about one hour. The device also disconnects itself when the done option is selected, a very interesting and thoughtful touch by ClickFree. The next time we plugged in the device, it was able to detect new files and back all of them up under a minute.

Against Competition:

In our speed tests, the device easily trampled the Seagate FreeAgent Go and the Iomega eGo. It was able to transfer 10 GB files in about 7 minutes and took 5 minutes to read. The drive from Seagate took about 9 minutes and the eGo took about 7 and half minutes. So there you go, the C2 is a splendid drive that manages to survive the competition.

Cost Per GB:

When it comes to cost per GB, the drive is easily in the expensive segment.  The price takes the software into account, but the £91 for a 250GB 2.5-inch hard disk is still pretty steep. This means, you are paying about 30 to 40 pounds of premium over the similar kind of external hard drive models. There are the Seagate Replica and Iomega Go drives that offer much better prices when it comes to cost per GB. However, the Iomega software suite installation was time consuming and tedious considering you had to create an account for every piece of software you install.  The Replica is very slow and you have absolutely no choice on what to and what not to backup. It is because of these flaws, paying a little more extra would not hurt.

Warranty:

The ClickFree C2 Drive has a warranty period of three years. The website features online support and a toll free number is available for telephonic support.

Conclusion:

Backing up data is very important and above that very tedious. The very easy to setup nature, its focus on what backup users are looking for, thoughtful features such as iPod music backup is what set it a class apart from all its rivals in the market. The ability to transfer data from a Macintosh to a PC, the ability to backup data on regular intervals, the accelerated encryption and features like Smart viewer are major positives of the device. The price might be on the steeper side when compared to all the other external hard drives in the market, but the drive is good at what it does: backup. And we have no qualms in recommending it.

Clickfree C2 Portable Hard Drive - Technical Specification Table

Today, the focus is on the Transcend StoreJet 25D2, a sleek and shiny portable hard disk that is remarkably tough thanks to the shock dampening system used internally.  Certified to be useable on all Mac and Windows systems, the device has a greater target audience.  Let us know review the device in greater detail.

Sleek and Suave:

The Transcend StoreJet 25D2 Mobile Hard Drive is easily one of the best looking devices to release in the market this year 2011. At (H x W x D) 129.9 x 82.07 x 17.3 mm, it is pretty convenient to carry around with us without much of a hassle. Weighing around 190 odd grams, the device is highly portable.

Body Finish:

The device has a shiny glossy lacquer finish that reminds you of the finish on Apple products thereby making this device perfect to complement your Mac computers.  The lacquer finish makes it less prone to scratches.  There is an eye catchy LED that acts as a power and data transfer indicator.

Rugged:

Appearances are deceptive. Do not let the shiny glossy looks of the device fool you into thinking that it is delicate and fragile. The device possesses a shock dampening system that uses an internal suspension technology which minimises any possible damage in case it falls or slips.  It was able to resist a few knocks and falls.

Rubber Feet:

The Transcend StoreJet 25D2 comes with a rubber dock base that allows you to rest your drive on a flat surface ensuring stability.

Interface:

The device comes with a USB 2.0 interface capable of speeds up to 480Mbps although it would have been way better had USB 3.0 been the interface. But we believe that 2.0 will be still here till 3.0 takes over the market completely in a big way.

Plug and Play:

Another feature of the device is Plug and Play. There is absolutely no need for installing any software as it is in the case of the earlier drives. All you need to do is plug in the device and you are all set to use it.

Capacities Available:

The StoreJet 25D2 Portable Hard Drive is available in 250GB, 320GB, 500GB, 640GB and 750GB capacities. The cost per GB is pretty competitive when compared to its rivals in the market.

Compatibilities:

The drive is compatible with Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. Another specialty of the device is its compatibility with Mac operating systems. Any OS later than Mac OS 9.0 is capable of running the drive. Linux users have to note that the device is compatible with Linux Kernel 2.4 or later versions.

StoreJet Elite Backup and Security Software:

Transcend Elite is a new software developed for use with StoreJet. It has easy user friendly applications that help in maintaining files organised, protected and updated. The software uses Intelligent Backup Scheduling and Multitasking and helps in backing up various types of files. The files can be organised in different categories. Large files can be compressed and private data can be encrypted by adjusting a few settings. There is the option of flexible scheduling that allows you to back up data at regular intervals of time. Options such as Real time incremental backup, AES encryption make this software very useful to the user.

Performance:

Fortunately, the Transcend StoreJet 25D2 USB External Hard Drive is good with performance too, delivering about 30mbps to read and 24mbps to write a 10GB folder. This rate is faster than the ClickFree Portable Backup Drive, Lenovo ThinkPad USB Secure Hard Drive, Iomega eGo Camo and the Seagate FreeAgent Go too.

Accessories:

The device comes packed with a very stylish travel pouch that protects the device from all sorts of scratches. A USB Cable is also provided with the device and is black or white depending on the colour of the drive you chose. There is a quick start-up guide that is pretty helpful for first time users and a warranty guide booklet out lining the warranty details.

An Eco-friendly Drive:

The Drive also scores points for being eco-friendly. The device is designed to sleep in case of 10 or more minutes of inactivity thereby saving up to 25 percent power.

Warranty:

The device comes with a three year warranty period which is considered decent. Though it pales out in comparison to the 5 year warranty that major hard drive manufacturers give, it is better than the 2 year warranty some other drives have.

Verdict:
The Transcend StoreJet 25D2 is a pretty decent device. It looks good, feels good and is pretty solid. It is rugged and portable, making it perfect for people always on the Go.

Transcend StoreJet 25D2 External HDD - Technical Specification Table

Design:

Casing:

The Western Digital My Passport Essential has been built to the same size, weight and basic footprint of its sibling WD My Passport Elite, with the dimensions being (H x W x D) 15 x 126 x 80 mm and weighing 0.18kg. As in the case of most of its other Western Digital siblings, the My Passport Essential too possesses a glossy finishing. This kind of finishing has its advantage of having a stylish look, but not so great when it attracts fingerprints and smudges. But, we do not think this will be much of a concern for the consumers. This housing has a thick built with tight seams and minimal flex. There are 4 small rubber feet that helps the drive sit securely on some of the angled desktops in the market.

Colour Options:

With the hi-gloss finish, the potential consumers have a wide range of colour options. Currently, there are eleven options for Western Digital My Passport Essential 500GB hard drive in the market; while few of them are really eye-popping, a few are downright scary; Midnight Black, Deep Viola, Intense Blue, Real Red, Vibrant Pink, Brilliant Orange, Cherry Red, Arctic White, Raindrop Blue, Super Sunny Yellow & Ultra Mint.

Portability:

As far as portability is concerned, it fits comfortably into any camera bag, along with a travel nettop. Not too long ago we reviewed the My Passport Elite that was quite impressive, hence we are delighted to see a less expensive version offering similar kind of specifications. With the identical hard drive inside, the Essential is basically an Elite in a plastic glossy finishing with just a few of the details of the upper tier models stripped off. When not in use, the My Passport Essential 500GB Portable External Hard Drive is easily tucked away into a convenient neoprene zippered casing, which is complete with a spot for the USB cable.

Similarities with Elite:

Apart from the matte finishing, what the Essential has not taken from Elite is the sliding port cover. Rather than offering the rubberised protection found on the older models, the interface on the Essential is exposed to the elements. Similarly, the capacity gauge and status lights have been given an axe and replaced by an illuminated USB icon that glows blue while the drive is doing anything with the system. While the capacity gauge is certainly a very handy feature on the Elite, the clutter free design of the Essential is a great visual as well as functional statement. The use of the drive is as simple as it looks.

My Passport Essential Hard Drive Capacities:

While shooting outdoors on vacations, the huge capacity memory cards will be sufficient for a day or so, but when it is a week of adventure, suddenly you will end up with a large amount of huge files, that is where the large capacity portable hard drive come to rescue. The My Passport Essential was released in four capacities ranging from 160GB to 500GB. But currently, only the 500GB version is available for sale. The spindle speed of the drive is 5400rpm, and regardless of the capacity of the drive, both the models are connected through USB2.0, which provides a potential maximum data transfer rate of 60mbps.

Interface:

Since the Passport Essential USB 2.0 external hard drive is fully powered through its USB connection, it provides a very convenient and single cable solution giving the drive a great deal of portability. If you are working with a portable netbook and working on its battery power, you might run into power issues.
What is worrying is, instead of employing the mini USB to connect, the drive makes use of the less-known micro USB interface. The micro USB connectivity can be usually found only on smartphones, but hardly on USB drives, as it less reliable than the Mini USB found elsewhere. That is, if the Essential drive happens to be knocked down while a data transfer is in progress, the procedure might end up failing. This is no good on a drive that is supposed to provide peace of mind If you happen to lose the cable that you get in the packaging, you may have to kick yourself, as it is far unlikely that you might find a replacement hanging around.

SmartWare:

The Western Digital My Passport Essential 500GB unit comes preformatted to be used with a Windows system, and the drive gets recognised immediately in both PCs and Macs. If you are one of those Mac exclusive persons, Western Digital satisfies you with the WD My Passport Studio. On plugging in the drive for the first time into the system, it calls up the drive’s software installation page. The utilities include WD Sync, Copy Application Software and Google Software. If your AutoPlay is enabled, the very first time the My Passport Essential is plugged in, the SmartWare Software shows up. The SmartWare Backup software is one of the best in the industry, being highly user friendly and offering complete drive security. The software insists that you install a copy of the software in the host system; this is not too ideal and we would like to run it directly from the drive itself. However, once the installation is done, you get a plethora of features.

The WD Sync is, as the name indicates, a synchronisation and encryption software that enables synchronisation of data between various systems using the Passport Essential. You also get to protect your data on the drive with the 128-bit encryption. This is exactly the same file type that can be found on the LaCie Little Disk, but just re-branded for Western Digital. If you are using the Essential on a friend’s system, you will also be able to sync the native PC’s wallpaper, so that your friends system feels more at home. Note that, this utility is Windows only. The Copy Application Software has the capability to backup the software that is included in the Passport Essential. The Google Software has the complete suite of browser tools and other software offered by Google. While Google is great, the suit is actually not related to storage and seems a bit like crapware. However, we do appreciate the quick access to Google toolbar, Google Desktop and Picasa on a fresh hard drive.

As we had mentioned previously, all of the installations are handled through simple and easy to navigate through auto-run screen. Though WD has not offered its Anywhere Backup application, which is a great tool, we do not think that will prove to be a deal breaker for most consumers.

Backup Preview:

A feature we liked the most is the preview mode of the backup that does the scanning of your host PC for the essential files such as, documents, pictures, videos and others, and presents you with a simplified graphical representation of the amount of disk space that will be needed to be backed up. As soon as the backup is set, there is no need for you to have any worries about this; SmartWare keeps an eye on your PC for any new files, and continues to backup on a regular basis. Overall, the process is quite neat and tidy.

Performance:

Moving on to performance, the read and write speeds of the My Passport Essential  500GB Hard Drive is more than satisfactory. The Essential reads small files at a rate of 11.3mbps and large files at a rate of 48.8mbps. The writing speed of small files being 21.3mbps and 34.2mbps, that is with or without the encryption being on. Considering that it is a USB-only drive, the My Passport Essential id quite fast and, and it is, the only drive we had seen that matched the My Passport Essential’s USB data transfer rate is its cousin, the My Passport Elite.

Heat and Noise:

The heat and noise performance of the Essential is very impressive. Its ability to control heat dissipation is amazing, and after spinning for about an hour with some serious photo editing, it became only slightly warm. The bottom of the dive which is the hottest, had a temperature of just 89 degrees Fahrenheit, which was barely noticeable. As always, the plastic case of Essential proved to be an amazing insulator. Even the slightest noises from the drive were hardly noticeable. Even as we moved the drive in use, it has no discernible effect on the pitch, which is an excellent sign as far as the construction of the drives volatile parts are concerned.

Warranty:

Western Digital My Passport Essential comes with three years warranty for parts and labour.

Verdict:

Being a USB2.0 external hard drive, the My Passport Essential is small as well as capacious. Apart from the very minor niggles; the My Passport Essential is an attractive gadget to consider. Even some of the colours the model is available in makes it look more cheesy and juvenile. The speed is just perfect, with the backup tool as well as the full-disk 256 bit hardware encryption at a cost of 14p per GB is no different from the other 750GB portable external hard drives; this makes the drive an excellent value with one of the most affordable cost per GB ratios currently available.

Western Digital My Passport Essential 500GB - Technical Specification Table