External Hard Drives

Everybody is aware of the fact that we should back up our computers but, rather like cleaning the hardly used loo, it is something that most of us choose to put off until tomorrow or often, never. However, the lightweight external hard drives are making life a lot easier for us procrastinators and there are drives out there that make the whole concept of backup very simple, so that, it does not feel like a chore. Whether you are gathering footage of a cycling trip, taking photos in the mountains or just running for a train in the morning, there is always that nagging possibility that your external hard disk will take a few too many knocks and you will lose everything. Freecom’s ToughDrive range aims to ease that risk for outdoor types, with a durable casing that can withstand drops. In the following review we see about the FreeCom ToughDrive Sport, let us see if you can stand your adventurous life.

Design:

The FreeCom ToughDrive Sport Hard Drive has a ridiculous outdoor sports styling, you will love it or hate it. This USB powered portable drive possesses an intelligent piece of design; you just need to look past the fact that FreeCom seems to be suggesting it is a climbing accessory. For instance, the built in rope styled USB lead clips away neatly and gets attached to the drive, so theoretically, you will never lose it. The case itself is not as rubberised as we would have liked but does feel like it could absorb knocks and scrapes with ease. It features a stylish red and black design with a hole at the top end to thread the supplied karabiner clip though, as a secure way to carry it on a belt or bag. The red and black USB plug slots cleanly into the case, giving the whole thing very smooth lines. The makers obviously envisage you climbing with the thing attached to your belt. There’s a brushed metal ring which you can thread your rope through in one corner – hence the carabiner.

So, why is it named Sport? It certainly looks sporty. The red and black design hints at Formula 1 which what seems to be a carrying handle appears to be a thin climbing rope. The climbing theme continues with the inclusion in the plastic package in which it arrives of a carabiner, one of those loops that people when scaling mountains. However, the large warning stamped into the carabiner - “NOT FOR CLIMBING” is very clear.

Installation:

Installation of the FreeCom ToughDrive Sport ultra portable external hard drive is extremely simple. As you would expect these days, this drive is a plug and play device. This kicks in the first time you plug the drive in, taking the form of a hard drive protection wizard that will walk you through the process of setting up a password for your data. The drive is compatible with both Windows and Mac Operating Systems, and the drive is available in capacities of 320GB, 500GB and 640GB. We tested the module in our Windows Vista Laptop. If you explore the drive, you find two installer applications: one for Macs and the other for PCs. This allows you to install any or all of the included software: a Turbo USB 2.0 driver, Adobe Reader, a 30-day trial of NTI Ripper, an auto-archiving application for digital music and a 90-day trial of CA’s MySecurityCenter anti-virus software.

Features:

Really Tough:
This 2.5″ protects data with a range of technology that includes an anti-shock mechanism, integrated USB cable and a toughened exterior that can allegedly withstand drops onto a hard surface from two meters.

Password Protection:
In addition to this exterior protection, FreeCom has equipped the device with a built in 256 bit password that should keep your data safe and sound if somebody nabs it. If you choose to make use of this feature, the password will be required any time the device is plugged in to access data or view the contents. In case you stuff up with the password and forget it, the only option is to reformat the drive, thereby erasing the contents to start again from scratch. Fortunately, encryption can be removed using the preloaded software which then allows the drive to be accessed as normal.

NTI Shadow back-up software:
FreeCom has also supplied the NTI Shadow back-up software, which allows you to create and modify backup jobs based on common file formats such as audio, video, photos and documents, or custom types and manual file or folder selection. Once installed, you can choose which files and folders to back up from a simple check-box listing. After choosing which files you want, you then decided how often you want to back up. This can be every time you make a change to a file in a selected folder, with a certain frequency, say every 10 minutes, or on a specific day at a specific time each week.

Other Software:
The application is quick and easy to configure and uses a wizard to walk through file selection and scheduling, with multiple-file version backups available if necessary. FreeCom has also included a trial version of NTI Ripper for grabbing tunes from audio CDs and MySecurityCenter Internet Security Suite, which includes anti-virus, firewall and anti-spam protection. As you might loose all these software if you have to format the drive after forgetting a password, Freecom encourages you to save it all to a local folder on your hard drive, and a small application is even provided to do this.

Performance:

As the name of the FreeCom ToughDrive Sport USB external hard drive suggests, its highlight feature is being durable. So, let us see here how far it does so. Despite subjecting the drive to numerous 2m drops, kicking it around vigorously in a rucksack and letting a toddler do his best to destroy it, there was no data corruption on our test files. We also dropped it mid-way through saving a large file with no ill effects.

With the Turbo USB driver installed, the manufacturers say that data transfer speeds of up to 480 Mbit per second are possible, although you will never reach this in practice. Since the ToughDrive Sport supports Turbo USB 2.0, it allegedly offers transfer speeds of up to 40 percent faster than the regular high speed USB devices, and this driver can be enabled from the software provided. With transferring speeds, the drive transfers 1GB data in 48 seconds with a regular connection dropped to 45 seconds with Turbo USB 2.0 enabled. Not quite the quoted 40 percent, but it is pretty fast anyway so we cannot see too many people complaining. It is still fast but perhaps one fifteenth of the theoretical maximum data rate.

Warranty:

FreeCom ToughDrive Sport External Hard Drive (320GB, 500GB, 640Gb) comes with two years manufacturer’s warranty for parts and labour.

Conclusion:

Computing and rock climbing are not natural bedfellows. But if they were, this rugged-looking ToughDrive Sport USB hard disk from Freecom may suggest itself as the very accessory you are looking for. If you are carrying data around with you on the move, it is usually prudent to invest in portable storage that is more rugged and durable than your average external hard drive. Typically, there will not be much of features in a tough external hard drive, so we were impressed to see attention to detail in additions like the auto-encryption, effective backup software and the range of other tools and applications provided here.

The drive strikes a good balance between being easy to configure and offering genuinely useful features and combines with a stylish, rugged design and choice of capacities from 320GB to 640GB to offer a solid all-round solution. As external hard drive packages go, Freecom has done a nice job of making the Toughdrive one of the most versatile and appealing on the market. At £130 exc VAT for 500GB it is certainly not cheap, though; non-rugged drives at this capacity will be around £100 or lower. As a portable durable data drive, then, it is one of the best at its price point. Just do not bother taking it up Kilimanjaro.

Check other Freecom External Hard Drive Reviews in this website.

FreeCom ToughDrive Sport (320GB, 500GB, 640Gb) - Technical Specification Table

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