External Hard Drives

There was a time when backing up data was really a pain in the neck. One had to resort to loads of CDs or DVDs and what not just to store and backup data.  Thanks to the EHDs, storing data has never been this easy. Fujitsu, the Japanese major is an established player in the electronics segment.   Computing Storage is one area where the company has been looking to gain a market share. In a bid to do so, they have launched several EHDs to suit the several needs of customers worldwide.  Amongst their various lines, the StorageBird series is one that has received a good response from the public.  The latest amongst their products is the Fujitsu StorageBird Solo 35 UB, an elegant and smart device meant for storing all those pictures, music files, videos and any other user defined data.  It connects to notebooks and PC s via the USB interface making it easy to use as well.  The 3.5 inch hard disk drive with a storage capacity of 1TB claims to be perfect for home and office use. Does the drive live up to its claims? Read the review to find out.

Design:

First Impressions:
The first impression you get on seeing the drive is how well designed it is considering the fact that it is cheaper than the Western Digital My Book Essential drive.  The body of the drive is slim and is perhaps made out of aluminium. The enclosure seems to be made up of good quality material and it looks pretty compact and sturdy.

Body:
The front of the drive has a black covering whereas the rest of the body is silver toned. The Fujitsu Siemens logo is embossed on the left side of the front.  On the right side are present two buttons: One for power and the other for backup. There is also an eye catching LED status indicator, which is a long strip of blue almost as long as the length of the device. The back side of the device has two ports. There is a USB 2.0 port that one can use to plug into the PC and there is a DC Input port as well.  So, the device looks sleek with minimal buttons and decent functionality.

Quality:
The built of the StorageBird device is solid and concrete like.  Though the device is a bit smaller than most other drives of 1TB storage size, it can resist external pressure thanks to its rigid aluminium body. The threshold limit is high enough that if it slips from your hand, there would be neither any scratches on the device nor any sort of internal damage. This is a good thing considering most of us are extremely clumsy.

Dimensions:
There was a time when external hard drives were so large that they needed to be in air conditioned rooms. A lot has changed since then. At dimensions of (W x H x D) 203 x 38 x 118 cm, the device is pretty sleek and compact. It weighs a measly 1.2 Kgs and that includes the adapter. That makes it perfect for people to carry it around just like a mobile phone.

LED Status Indicator:
One of the aesthetic highlights of the Fujitsu StorageBird 35 UB is the blue status LED indicator. Enormous is not enough to describe how huge it actually is. It lights up whenever the drive is working. When it flashes, it fills the entire room with its colour. This could be distracting for many people and trying to face the drive away would solve this minor issue.  However, we noticed that the light leaks a bit from the metal body and plastic end. Minor design flaws, not really a huge issue.

Vertical and Horizontal Operation possible:
There is a stand provided with the drive for smooth vertical operation. It is smooth and has a grippy foam rubber that stays with it while you lift it.  The stand allows a better air flow and the rubbery base ensures vibration is reduced when it is on a hard surface.  The drive works in both horizontal and vertical position and hence can be placed on a desk according to one’s needs.  We suggest you go for the horizontal position if you have kids or pets.

Interfaces:
The Fujitsu StorageBird Solo 35 UB sports a USB 2.0 interface that supports almost all portable USB devices. With a transfer rate up to 480mbps, the drive’s interface makes it compatible for any kind of digital media. However, there are drives that have the Firewire and eSATA interface as well. Thus, the Solo 35 UB loses out to such drives when it comes to a better compatibility. But if only backing up of data is your concern, a USB 2.0 port will suffice.

Setup:

The Fujitsu StorageBird Solo 35 UB external hard drive is a plug and play device. So, that means to start storing data all you need to do is just plug in the drive to your PC and store files in it. All hassles of installing separate software to use the drive are eliminated. This is a standard feature in almost all EHDs in the market and this is a feature expected in standard 1 TB drives, so nothing extraordinary here. However, for backing up data, you would have to install the Nero Backitup2 Essential software provided along with the drive on a CD.

Capacities Available:

The Solo 35 UB meant for storing larger amounts of data is available in capacities starting from 500GB.  There are 750GB and 1TB versions of the drive available as well.  The 1TB drive being reviewed is capable of storing about 25,000 songs theoretically assuming each song is about 4 MB each.  The actual memory is lesser due to restrictions placed by operating systems and formatting.  The 1 TB drive has only about 930 MB of space meant for usage. That is still a huge amount of space for most users.

Compatibility:

The Drive is compatible with Microsoft Windows XP , Microsoft Windows Vista and all their editions. It is preformatted to FAT32 which is fine if you would not transfer files larger than 4 GB as FAT32 does not support it. There is an option to reformat this to NTFS on Vista and Mac.

Features:

Nero Backitup 2 Essentials:
The Nero Backitup 2 Essential software enables one to do instant backup of files, folders and the entire main hard drive by just plugging in the hard drive using the USB cable. The software has features that include full synchronization and backup from a PC or a notebook’s internal drive.

Backup Button:
One of the USPs of the device is the Backup Button. On the plastic black end of the drive is present the backup button represented by a ‘b’.  This button enables one touch backup of your data. When the drive is plugged on to your PC and you click the button, and all data is synchronised and information stored in their PC or laptop would get stored in the drive. Thus it allows storage of all important data in a separate safe location at the touch of a button.

Powered using External Power Supply:
Unlike certain USBs that are powered by being plugged to a PC, the Fujitsu StorageBird is powered using an external power supply.  The presence of a power button allows one to switch on or off the drive whenever needed.  Also another noteworthy feature is the presence of Intelligent Power Management feature. The drive switches itself off after certain time of not being in use and thus saves a lot of unnecessary wastage of power.

Performance:

Decent Read and Write Speed:
The Fujitsu StorageBird Solo 35 UB Desktop Hard Drive has a reading speed of 30.5MBps and a writing speed of about 26MBps under test conditions. When we plugged it into a notebook and tried transferring files of 100 GB size, it took little over 3 hours to transfer. These are reasonably decent values and hence the drive is okay if one is looking for a no frills drive for the sake of backup. There are drives with better speeds such as the Western Digital My Passport SE (has an average of 34MBps reading speed and 29MBps writing speed) but they are not as economical as the Fujitsu drive is.

Less Heat and Lesser Noise:
We did leave the drive to run for about 3 hours while transferring 100GB of data and after that, the drive was lukewarm at 33 degrees. Using the drive in an open and well ventilated place while usage will help in keeping the drive cooler for a longer while. When it comes to the noise, the device is pretty quiet and we literally heard nothing even while transferring the biggest of files.

Low Power Consumption:
Under test conditions, the drive consumed about 17 watts of power and lesser than 3.5 watts while in sleep mode. That is pretty low energy consumption and hence the drive scores points here on being energy conscious.

What is in the Box?

The Fujitsu StorageBird Solo 35 UB comes along with a Power pack, a USB cable, a detachable base for vertical operation, Backup software on a CD ROM and a Quick Installation Guide.

Warranty:

The StorageBird Solo 35 UB has a warranty of one year which is highly disappointing as there are EHDs in the market with warranties up to 5 years. Considering that there have been complaints of instability of the Western Digital hard drive inside, one year simply does not seem sufficient.

Verdict:

Does Fujitsu succeed in delivering a great product? The answer is a yes and a no. The StorageBird Solo 35 UB is a decent EHD with a huge memory and good transfer speeds. Not only that, it seems to outdo many of the aesthetically challenged drives in the market as well. The device feels sturdy and is resistant to scratches and damage. The one touch backup feature is yet another noteworthy feature. All this bundled along with the Nero Backitup 2 Essential software make it an ideal drive for storing data. However, the drive has its share of flaws. The LED is a bit too bright and does attract criticism for not being discrete.  But the major problem is with the growing number of complaints regarding the failure of these drives after a short period of time. One user reportedly said “The Drive was great while it lasted”.  Let us hope that Fujitsu finds solutions to this problem soon. If they do, this product will certainly be a great hit.

Read reviews of latest, best selling External Hard Drives in this website.


Fujitsu StorageBird Solo 35 UB - Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	Fujitsu
Model Name	StorageBird Solo 35 UB
Model Numbers	500GB: S26341-F103-L17 750GB: S26341-F103-L20 1TB: S26341-F103-L22
Colour	Grey
Dimensions (W x H x D)	203 x 38 x 118 cm
Weight	1.2 Kgs
Hard disk drive capacity	1TB
Capacities available	500GB , 750GB and 1TB
Form Factor	3.5 inch
Interface	USB2.0
Spindle speed	7200 rpm/ 5400 rpm. The drive we used had a spindle speed of 5400 rpm
Average seek time	12ms (Read) / 14ms (Write)
Average Latency	4.17ms
External Data Transfer	30.5 MBps read speed 25.5 MBps write speed
Operating Temperature	0 to 35 degree centigrade
System Requirements	Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Vista CD ROM Drive, PC with a minimum free HDD Capacity of 105 MB 1 free USB 1.1 or 2.0 port.
Special features	Integrated Backup Capability Vertical or Horizontal placement
Package contents	StorageBird Solo 35 UB, Power Pack, USB cable, Backup software, Quick Installation Guide, Manual
Power consumption	17 watts And 3.5 watts in sleep mode
Power Supply	Input 100 – 240 V
Warranty	Three years

Apple Time Capsule 2009 Edition Review

Everybody wishes to backup their data, but in the past, backing up your data meant fiddling with heaps of CDs, non-intuitive software, tape cassettes and multiple DVDs; in short, back up is usually either tedious or complicated. External hard drives came in as a great relief and Apple seems to be providing a simpler solution known as the Time Machine which comes with Mac OS 10.5 “Leopard”, which provides a hard drive for backups as well as AirPort Extreme functionality. The Time Capsule is a wireless base station with built-in hard drive. You will be able to expand its storage by plugging in a USB2.0 hard drive and use it to share a printer and integrate it into the existing wireless networks. It is basically an Airport Extreme base station with a 500GB or 1TB internal hard drive which is designed to be a wireless Time Machine target for one or more Macs as well as a NAS (network attached storage) device.

The eighteen month curse:

Unfortunately, the first Time Capsule released by Apple started to die just about eighteen months of backup. The users of Apple Time Capsule had taken to the web with their complaints about their dead storage and wireless devices and tallied the hardware failures in an effort to convince Apple that there is a problem. A Mac user created an Apple Time Capsule Memorial register went live October 2009 and in one week it had logged more than 300 dead devices. Many users added to the two most popular threads, which together boasted more than 60,000 views and over 600 messages claiming that their Time Capsules failed just without any warning.

Is this the solution?

Apple then released its new version of Time Capsule on November 2009 as an upgrade to the failed model of 2008 and the one released in early 2009, which also had some speed and performance concerns. Without any doubt, the Apple Time Capsule is just one of the very few wireless N routers with built-in storage, making it a rare and simple all in one router and backup option for your home.

Design:

A bigger version of AirPort Extreme:
The minute you look at the Apple Time Capsule, you would realise that it just looks like an oversized AirPort Extreme 802.11n base station, with a chrome Apple logo on top. It is only slightly taller than the base station, but then, has a much larger footprint which might be because of the accommodation of the built-in-hard drive, cooling fan and circuitry. Functionality wise, the Time Capsule is basically just an AirPort Extreme Base Station with a hard drive that is built-in. For a wireless router, we feel that the Time Capsule is bulky, but is relatively compact when compared with the other competing NAS servers. It possesses a clean square design and is classically Apple in white.

Minimal controls:
On the facia of the device, there is just one status light that changes colour according to the working condition of the device. Solid green means that everything is in good working condition, if blue, then it is ready for the wireless client and if the light flashes amber, it simply says that you are in trouble, oops! Your device is in trouble. You will be surprised to find no external antenna, buttons or switches apart from the tiny reset hole on the rear.

Connectivity:
In the rear, you will also find three gigabit Ethernet ports and a USB port. You get only three gigabit Ethernet ports, which is one lesser than what most competing routers offer for use with wired clients and the USB port is used to host another External Hard Drive or Printer. To reset the router to its default manufacturer settings, just stick a pin in the hole at the rear of the device.

Capacities:

The latest Apple Time Capsule is available in 1TB and 2TB capacities.

Interface:

No Web Interface:
As in the case of the base device, the Apple Time Capsule does not offer a web interface and this means you have to install the AirPort Utility software that is included to set it up. The software is available in both Mac and Windows versions. The Windows version installs a number of other services too, like Apple’s networking service Bonjour and the AirPort Base Station Agent that runs whenever you system boots up. Installing any new software will have adverse effects on your system’s performance, but without the Bonjour, Window’s will not be able to connect to the device. The AirPort Base Station Agent aids by automatically detecting the shared folders of the Time Capsule.

Most of us prefer devices that you will be able to access and manage via web interface that allows you to get the job done conveniently from any system that is connected to the device over the network. Sadly, Apple is the only networking vendor that does not offer this type of interface. Whereas, vendors like Linksys also offer you with a desktop software application that is also available for both PC and Mac to aid those users who are just not comfortable using browser for the task.

The AirPort Utility:
The AirPort Utility makes setting up the Time Capsule easy for the novice users to its credit. The wizard mode of the utility walks you through the process of configuring step by step.  If you are one of those techies and want to customise the router beyond the recommended settings, the utility also offers a manual mode that gives you access to some of the much more advanced functionalities. The Time Capsule demands a restart for any of the changes in the setting to take effect, and this is extremely annoying because, having to do so interrupts the connections of all users and makes the process of setting up very time consuming than we are usually accustomed to. Note that, most of the other high-end routers will be able to apply most of the minor setting changes without a restart. However, there were no gaffes while setting up the Time Capsule and it was all up and running in just ten minutes. Just like its sibling AirPort Base Station Agent, the Apple Time Capsule supports a maximum of fifty clients at a time as per Apple’s specification, which is a lot fewer than the 200 clients that the routers of other vendors claim to support.

Complicated advanced settings:
Though the Time Capsule is easy to use at its most basic configuration, the device can be really frustrating when you would want to use the most advanced features available. For instance, if you wish to add a client to a DHCP Reservation or the Media Access Control address list, you have to reach out for the “Log and Logistics” window in order to view the list of connected clients then, copy the MAC address of the client in question and finally, go back to the list in order to enter it. Whereas, with many of the other routers such as those from D-Link, Linksys and Netgear displays the information much more conveniently and allows you to complete the same task in just a few mouse clicks.

Features:

Networking features:
The Apple Time Capsule is just one of the very few routers who offer very few in terms of networking features and, same is the case with the AirPort Extreme Base Station. Some of the other high end routers like the D-Link 825 and Linksys WRT610n seem to be including a website and service filter which basically allows you to hook up your clients to the network at just press of a button and as an additional advantage; they also have the Dynamic DNS. Unfortunately, the Time Capsule has none of these essential features.
Some of the service providers, especially in college dorms, it requires the users to register a client’s MAC address in order to get access to internet. Again, the Apple Time Capsule does not have this ability in order to replicate the client’s MAC address, while most of the competing routers will be able to take a client’s MAC address as its own.

Wireless:
Moving on to a lighter note, the Time Capsule offers true dual-band Wireless-N and this means that it will offer Wireless-N (802.11n) signal in both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies simultaneously, making it support virtually any existing wireless-networking client. But, we found that it offers the users lesser control over the wireless aspect than most routers in market.

Apple recommends you to use the SSID (Same Service Set Identifier), a wireless network for both of the 5GHz and 2.4GHz Wireless-N and it picked the 2.4GHz each and every time. We just were not able to figure out, why exactly it happened and the router did not allow us to manually set the machines to choose the 5GHz band to take advantage of the higher throughput speeds. Hence, we would always recommend you to have a separate wireless network name for each of the bands and so, you can have more control over which band you would like to connect your client to. This will allow you to get the router to work as 2.4GHz only or 5GHz only wireless network is just not possible. Most of the other true dual-band routers give the more control over the router’s wireless functionality. This is not a small issue, as in most situations, you will want to use only the 5GHz band and turn the 2.4GHz band off in order to just save power or even to keep the spectrum cleaner for the other devices. You simply cannot do this with the Time Capsule and this is totally frustrating.

Guest Networking:
In continuation with less control woes of the Apple Time Capsule, you have even less control with its Guest Networking Feature. The Guest Networking Feature allows you to create a separate wireless network that has access to the net, but not to the local resources like your computer or printer. Though the feature worked fine in our trials, we felt that its functionalities were quite limited. All that you could possibly do with this feature is, change the name of the network, apply encryptions to it and just give the guest clients the ability to interact with one another. The Time Capsule will not allow you to choose which band you want the Guest network to operate in and nor does it allow you to make a separate guest network for each of the bands.

Printing:
Now, let us move on to our favourite storage and printing part. We tested the Apple Time Capsule with Samsung and Brother Printers. As we had mentioned previously, you will have to install the Bonjour on any of the Windows-Based machines in which you would want to share either the printer or the Storage on the Time Capsule. You will also have to check this ahead of time, in order to make sure that your printer supports Mac. We also have to let you know that the setup with some printers did not go smoothly and when we plugged in the printer via the USB connection, the Time Capsule refused to show any reaction. The other printer was recognised by the router, but then, there is no Mac version of the printer’s software driver. At the end, we just figured that it would have been easier to install if only there had been a driver, as the printer appeared in Macbook pro’s “Print and Fact” utility. The other routers usually have much better support for the printers.

Apple Time Capsule’s support for USB external hard drives was much better than for the USB printers and in fact, better than AirPort Extreme Base Station’s support. But, it is still far from perfect.

Storage:
Formatting:
The Time Capsule does not read drives that are formatted in the NTFS file system and it reads only the files formatted as FAT32 and Mac OS Extended. Flatly, we can say that it is just harder to format a drive that is larger than 32GB using FAT32 than using NTFS. This is totally ridiculous; as majority of the external hard drives of today are much larger than 32GB and hence, most of the Windows users will not be able to plug-in most of their USB hard drives into the router and expect to share the data contained on it. If you wish to reformat your drive, you will have to use another computer as the Time Capsule does not include a formatting functionality.

The Time Capsule was able to quickly recognise the external hard drive that was formatted using FAT32 and it also worked fine when formatted in the Mac OS Extended file system. As soon as the drive was plugged in, the Time Capsule recognised the drives and began to share them and the sharing feature worked well in Windows as well. However, you will be able to share the hard drives only as one shared folder and you will not be able to make multiple folders and share them separately with different access privileges, which is a common NAS feature. In this case, however, you will be able to use the AirPort Utility to create user accounts that has a private folder of its own.

Backing up:
Time Capsule’s marquee feature is its ability to back up your Macs running Leopard using Time Machine over the network. Apple recommends that you connect your Mac directly to the Time Capsule for the first backup, which makes a copy of all files on your Mac; backing up that much data takes a long time over the network. We backed up my MacBook Pro’s 120GB of data to each Time Capsule connected via Gigabit Ethernet and it took a little over nine hours to complete the first backup. After that initial backup, Time Machine will back up to the Time Capsule every hour, unless the Mac has been powered down or the previous backup took longer than an hour. These hourly backups are incremental that is, they back up only files that have changed, or have been added since the last backup. Such backups take less time and are generally handily accomplished over a wireless connection.

Missing popular features:
The internal hard drive of the Time Capsule allows you to erase its contents and manually archive it to an external hard drive and you will also be able to change the default share name to one of your choice. Unfortunately, you will not be able to physically access or replace the hard drive on your own, while most of the NAS servers and External Hard Drives allow the users to replace the internal hard drives. Apart from file sharing, the Time Capsule does not seem to offer none of the more popular NAS features. As you might be aware by now, the device cannot be used as iTunes or Media server in order to stream digital content from the device to the computers, set-top boxes or even gaming consoles which is just ironic, considering the fact that most of the other NAS servers that we have tested before feature a server for Apple’s own iTunes software. In addition to this, the Time Capsule will not be able to download files on its own or work as an FTP or HTTP server; both the features which are usually found in NAS servers.

Remote access:
The Apple Time Capsule allows the Mac users to access the shared folder remotely via the Internet using a MobileMe account, to which you will have to subscribe after the free trial offer of 60 days. During our tests, everything seemed to work just fine as if a computer was connected to the device directly through its wireless or wired connectivity. The shared folder appeared as it was when accessed via the local network, but it took a little bit longer because of the internet connection. We will also be able to make use of the Time Capsule’s settings by this way via the AirPort Utility. Note that, the remote access feature is Mac only and is not available for Windows users, even if you possess a MobileMe Account.

Another fact that you must be aware of is that, the remote access feature might not work at all if you access the net via a corporate network, where certain services of the Base Station can be blocked for security reasons. Though it is very true that the corporations tend to have tight control over their networks, some of the other NAS server’s remote access features, such as those of the Western Digital My Book World Edition which worked fine with some of the corporate networks. The way the Time Capsule shares its files with the remote users is very disappointing, as the other NAS servers, like the Synology and WD allows the users to share files with multiple users or share photo albums, but the Time Capsule only works with one MobileMe account at a time. And, unlike the Time Capsule, most of the other routers support DDNS, which allows you to set up remote access without having to pay anything at all. But, you need to have some networking know-how in order to make that work.

Operating System:
If you have the Mac OS 10.5 Leopard installed, the Time Capsule compliments the Time Machine well, which is Apple’s fancy backup software. All that you have to do is, run the Time Machine utility and choose the Time Capsule as the backup destination. The actual time taken to do any kind of backup job could be really long and it totally depends on the amount of data you have on the system’s hard drive. Most of the time, you would actually want to connect the computer to the Time Capsule through one of its three wired connections for the first job of backup. For the Windows users who want to use the Time Capsule as a robust backup solution, you will have to invest in a backup software application such as Acronics. Although the built-in backup utilities of both Window’s XP and Window’s vista work with Time Capsule, as they would with any other external storage device, they, especially XP is far from being comprehensive. Again, this is another disappointment as most of the network storage devices we have reviewed comes bundled with backup software and does not require any additional utilities to work comprehensively in Windows. The Time Capsule also does not incorporate a way to automatically backup the contents of its internal hard drive onto an external hard drive. Hence, in order to preserve all your important files and data, you may have to do it manually.

Security features:
The security features have been done similar to that of the AirPort Extreme Base Station. The Apple Time Capsule features a built-in firewall and also supports WPA2 and also a 128-bit WEP for the purpose of wireless encryption. The device also supports RADIUS access control, which allows you to manage wireless clients from a centralised location. Though Time Capsule does not give parents the freedom to filter specific websites, it will allow them to set time limits for kid’s access, provided, they follow the steps to get the MAC address for their kid’s computers.

Performance:

In performance testing, the new Time Capsule showed an enhanced performance than the old one. In 5GHz throughput test, the new Time Capsule scored 60.4MBps and the old one scored 57.8MBps and the difference is similar in the 2.4GHz band with the new Time Capsule scoring 29.4MBps and the old one scored 24.9MBps. Coming to range test, the new Time Capsule scored 33.8MBps at 2.4GHz faster than the 20.3MBps of the older Time Capsule. At 5GHz, the new Time Capsule scored 51.5MBps and the older device could not hold a 5GHz connection at that range long enough to complete the test. In other tests too, like the mixed mode test and NAS tests, the Nov2009 Time Capsule showed an enhanced performance than the early2009 version.

Heat:

The Time Capsule was very hot throughout our testing and it made us concerned about the lifespan of the device. We recommend that you leave it in an open and well ventilated space when in use. As we had mentioned in the introduction, there were numerous claims from consumers that the Time Capsule dies after 18 months of use. So, we hope Apple take the necessary steps.

Service and support:

Apple offers its Time Capsule one year standard support. This is extremely less considering the fact that the device has a non-removable, built-in hard drive and also runs very hot. We recommend you to purchase an extended AppleCare coverage plan and also note that, if your Apple computer or Apple TV is covered under Apple Care, then your Time Capsule is also covered. Apple offers 90 days of complimentary, toll free phone support and as always, at Apple’s website you will be able to view FAQs, troubleshooting articles, user forums and also the manuals and software.

Verdict:

Apple Time Capsule is one of those devices that some geeks were just waiting for. Once again Apple has delivered another impressive product. Its elegant integration of two things most people need in their lives network storage and a high-speed wireless router makes it a highly useful product for both Mac and PC users. Obviously, Mac users will get more mileage out of it due to its ability to work with Time Machine so it is less of a must-have for PC users. It is a shame we ran into a few setup issues because once we ironed the problems out the unit performed flawlessly.

The bad news is that it is really expensive. Even the latest versions remain costly and though the device has a much improved performance than its previous version, it still seems to be suffering from some of the key shortcomings such as, lack of many of the NAS and networking features, no iTunes, a nonuser serviceable hard drive and no web interface management or media server support. For that cost, you will be able to get the Linksys WRT610N plus a 2TB version of Western Digital MyBook Mirror Edition external hard drive, which will give you all the basic functions of a Time Capsule as well as the missing features that we have mentioned above. However, we also have to admit that Apple’s Time Capsule is the only wireless router and network storage combo that comes in a very good looking package.

Apple Time Capsule 1TB, 2TB - Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	Apple
Model Name	Apple Time Capsule
Model Numbers	MC344LL/A
Drive type	NAS server and Storage device
Capacities Available	1TB and 2TB
Dimensions (W x D x H)	7.7 x 7.7 x 1.4”
Weight	3.5 pounds
Colours available	White
Host Connectivity	Gigabit Ethernet / 802.11a/b/g/n
Hard Drive Type	Standard - 3.5″ x 1/3H
Interface Type	Serial ATA-300
Networking Type	Wireless access point - Integrated
Data Link Protocol	Ethernet, IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet
Storage	1TB or 2TB Serial ATA server-grade hard disk drive
Interfaces	One Gigabit Ethernet WAN port for connecting a DSL or cable modem Three Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports for connecting computers or network devices USB port for connecting a USB printer or USB external hard drive 802.11n wireless
Wireless protocols	IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n
Frequency Bands	2.4GHz and 5GHz simultaneously
Software included	AirPort Utility for Mac and Windows AirPort Disk Utility for Windows Bonjour for Windows
Compatibility	Interoperable with Wi-Fi Certified 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, or 802.11n enabled Mac computers, iPhone, iPod touch and Windows-based PCs NAT, DHCP, PPPoE, VPN Passthrough (IPSec, PPTP, and L2TP), DNS Proxy, SNMP, IPv6 (6to4 and manual tunnels)
Package	Time Capsule AirPort Utility for Mac and Windows AirPort Disk Utility for Windows Bonjour for Windows Power cord Printed and electronic documentation
Power	Line voltage: 100-240V AC Frequency: 50Hz to 60Hz, single phase Maximum continuous power: 34W
Security	Wi-Fi Protected Access™ (WPA/WPA2)2 Wireless security (WEP) configurable for 40-bit and 128-bit encryption MAC address filtering NAT firewall Support for RADIUS authentication 802.1X, PEAP, LEAP, TTLS, TLS, FAST Time-based access control
Warranty	One year

Overview:

Pros:

• Support for all versions of Windows and extended support for Macintosh.
• Hard disk speed of 7200 rpm and a cache memory of 8 MB and 16 MB to ensure fast input output streaming.
• Dedicated one touch immediate data backup button.
• Metal finish that ensures both shock resistance and water resistance.
• Unmatched data security, data protection.
• Solid metal casing body for sturdiness and a glossy finish for beauty.
• Small, compact and easy to carry around.
• Special LED indicator that provides information on the amount of disk space left.
• It never heats up even after long hours of continuous and heavy   usage.
• Produces the least amount of noise while working.
• Good software support and complete background data redundancy check.

Cons:

• WD MyBook has no support for Linux.
• Instead of going for platform support, WD chose OS support for this device which means it will not be compatible in the OS’s launched in the future including Mac and Windows.
• It has a very low write time on the disk and a moderate read speed which is unexpected from a device that is power packed with features.
• The USB and Firewire ports do not quite live up to the expectations.
• At times, the data redundancy checks make the system too slow and thus have to be reconfigured form time to time.
• The device feeds of power and resources for the CPU and thus increases the load on the processor even when the hard disk has resources of its own.

Review:

Bill Gates had once famously remarked, “I am sure nobody on this earth will ever need more than 100 KB of hard disk space for their personal needs”. Well, I think Mr. Gates was mistaken. Ever since the dawn of evolution in the world of computers the only thing that has increased at an alarming rate (probably faster than India’s overwhelming population) is the demand for storage space in the virtual world. Gone are the days when we had to buy tons of CDs to store all their data. Even pen drives are turning out to be the thing of the past. Because, the big boss, External Storage Devices are here!

The Western Digital MyBook Premium Edition external hard drive is “the next big thing” as promised by its makers Western Digital better known as WD. It is one of the best portable devices around although it does not feature much in terms of storage capacity. It sports a sleek, trendy and sporty look much like a Ferrari sports car. Let us see if it lives up to its much hyped expectations.

Design:

A smoothy:
The WD MyBook Premium Edition Hard drive is typically candy shaped with curved smooth edges. It has the WD logo at the bottom right and this time it also sports a brushed metal plate that can be customised to imprint user details using LASER printing. Though this really adds cream to the biscuit, how many people would really go for it is the main question. Western Digital was the first to style their external storage devices to add a bit of a feel to it. Moreover the WD MyBook external storage devices also sport an anodised finish of oxidised gun metal and are completely encased in white protective covering. The best part is that WD MyBook external storage drive comes with a glossy metal finish enhanced with self clean technology. This ensures a completely smudge free device with a glassy look which is unheard of in other glossy finished items.

Dimensions:
With dimensions of (W x D x H) 2.2” x 5.6” x 6.8”, this device is as sleek and compact as it could get. And weighing just 2.9 lbs, people really could not have asked for more. All this and more make this device a real pleasure to hold, to look, to use and even to carry it around in your pocket much like your trusted mobile phone. What is more, this device is just perfect for the occasions when your friends decide at the last moment to have a bash and you do not have the time to look for your music CDs. Just put this device in your pocket loaded with all that you need and it is fun on the go.

Durability:
With great power, comes great responsibility. And what more could a portable drive’s final mark depend on rather than its portability? An external drive with gigs of storage and great features is useless until and unless it can take responsibility of the data stored in it; and this where the portability comes in. The Western Digital Devices are highly portable especially the MyBook which ensures that data remains safe and protected even if it falls in the wrong hands. Whether the MyBook falls out of a fast moving car, an aero plane or even falls in the sea, relax! Your data will always remain safe. With its compact shock and tamper proof design it can withstand shocks when dropped from up to 500 meters height. Moreover, it also has a very high water resistant capability and is water resistant up to 100 meters depth. The only thing that was left unnoticed in the test was perhaps what would happen if you threw the device in a volcano.

Connectivity Options:
A good external hard drive is not only the one, which promises the largest data space or the fastest data usage. It should also host a variety of connectivity features so that the device is usable on all devices and platforms over the world without the slightest technological glitch. This one of the primary reasons why external storage devices today are going for multiple connectivity options. The Western Digital MyBook Portable external hard disk is surely in the league perhaps at the top with the bundle of connectivity features it is providing. It already supports USB 2.0 and has five USB 2.0 ports that ensure that this device can be simultaneously connected to more than one device. It also sports an extremely fast Fire wire 400 port even though many external devices today are providing up to fire wire 1000 port. And with just one Firewire 400 port, it leaves a lot to be craved for.

Capacities:
The Western Digital MyBook Premium Edition external hard drive comes in a variety of storage capacities that includes 160GB, 250GB, 320GB, 400GB and 500GB. All the hard drives have 7200 rpm hard disk. This really is cool because one has loads of varieties to choose from and one of the best features is the fact that all hard drives right from the lowest capacity to the highest capacity have the same amount of spindle speed.

Features:

Cache Memory:
While most of the manufacturers seem to ignore the cache memory of their hard disks, it is really worthwhile to mention that Western Digital has pushed the limit up by paying careful attention to the cache memory of their hard drives. While the 400GB and the 500GB versions have a whopping 16MB of cache memory, the other variants including the 160GB, 250GB and 320GB models are not far behind with a good 8MB of cache memory. This really is the best thing Western Digital could come up with. While most people think that it is the USB speed that matters for data transfer rate, they must also note that the cache memory plays a vital role in data redundancy check and determining input and output rates.

OS Support:
The Western Digital MyBook Premium drive supports a variety of operating supports. A very surprising thing is that this device supports the entire Windows family. Yes, right from Microsoft Windows 98 SE, Windows 2000, Windows ME and Windows XP, it supports all versions and it did not leave out the Macintosh operating system either. It even has support MAC OS version 10.28+ and above. What is really annoying is the fact that Western Digital chose to ignore Linux in the list of OS support. It could have at least included support for Red Hat or Fedora which were released well before Windows XP and have quite some fan following. Also, with more and more new operating systems making the mark, Western Digital should have taken care to ensure multi platform support rather than multi OS support. No brownie points for this.

Software Included:
While most of the hard disks coming out from the stables these days are more of a pen drive with enhanced storage capacities, Western Digital made sure that this device lives up to what it really claims to be. An external storage device! One of the most basic features of a storage drive: one-touch ready backup with full software support; and this is just what the WD MyBook Premium has. Apart from a dedicated ready backup button, it also has a slew of software’s up its sleeve that ensures data backup, data safety, protection from data theft and lots more! The most notable software is the EMC Retrospect Express Backup and System Recovery Software (on drive). Although it is proprietary software, it is no less than the commercially available ones out there. It also includes AVG personal edition for data and file security and E-Theft for protection against data theft.

Notable Design Features:
All though the design of the Western Digital MyBook external storage device has been discussed in detail, it still really has some out-of-the-box features that are worthy of a separate mention altogether. And with its anodised finish of oxidized gun metal, this device ensures optimum working performance even in the harshest conditions. Also with its glossy metal finish, the device stays clean as ever even if you deliberately drop it in the mud to test its glossy look. And still, the best design feature of his external hard drive is the complete encasing of the hardware and interiors in a white protective covering coupled with a conducting material layer that ensures rapid heat dissipation when the device is used for long hours at a stretch.

Cool and Silent:
One really cool feature of this device is Silent Play. With twin coolers at the top and button and cooling fans at the back, this device is always cool no matter how long it has been used. Thus the device never heats up, which is a real boon as it ensures long life and enhanced data protection.

Additional Features:
One really cannot do without a few free goodies isn’t it? And this is what Western Digital expected from its customers and hence added lots of special functionality, which are worthy of mention here. The best additional feature is perhaps the Capacity Gauge. It is a backup button that features an LED. The LED works like an indicator and thus keeps the users informed or rather warned the amount of disk space left in their drive. Another note worthy feature is the Auto OFF option. This ensures that if the device is not used for a certain amount of time, the drive shuts down automatically to save power and battery backup. And since the time for Auto OFF is configurable, it thus depends upon the users to set their own time according to their own requirements.

Performance:

Start up:
It is the performance that finally decides whether the device is what it really claims to be or just another cosmetic from the tech stable. Various tests were conducted on this device and surprisingly, though it managed well in some, it also faltered in some. As claimed earlier, the Western Digital MyBook Premium Edition proved to be a mix bag of surprises. What is really surprising is the fact that in spite of its 7000 rpm hard disk, it fails to deliver what it could have. However it really does have a good start up time and when switched on, it gets started up in less than 15 seconds. The device functionality is also very impressive as it can really work for hours on end without getting heated up. It also has a very impressive track to track seek time of 2 milliseconds and an average seek time of 8.9 milliseconds. It also sports an average latency speed of 4.9 milliseconds. Another thing that is really creditable is that the device worked really well in the most extreme conditions.

Read and Write Speeds:
However, the big disappointment came when the WD MyBook external storage device was subjected to data storage test. While in the writing test, the hard disk took almost 36 minutes to write the 10GB test folder, it took about 15 minutes to read the 10 GB test folder. Though the reading time if the MyBook is not really slow, it cannot be called impressive too. And the writing time of 10 GB for the test folder was one of the slowest writing speeds of an external storage medium. However, when clustered files of up to 4 GB were written onto the storage device showed a somewhat better performance. However, despite this heavy workload, the MyBook external hard drives remained as cool as ever. Also one of the striking features that was revealed by the test was the fact that the device rarely produced any sound. It was as silent as anything and made the least bit of noise.

Effect on the CPU:
The test further produced some really interesting results. For example after hooking the MyBook to a CPU through the USB port showed that the random access time was over 15 milliseconds and this affected the read write performance in general. CPU utilization figures were the most interesting and they started showing the ill-effects of MyBook’s interface. CPU usage was up by 11 percent and when switched to Firewire port from the standard USB port, CPU usage further increased by 10 percent. That means, the device was feeding off the resources from the CPU despite being provided with a well stocked larder of its own. However in the synthetic benchmark tests such as HDTach and SiSoft Sandra, the Firewire interface of MyBook emerged as a clean winner. However, it performed poorly in the real world transfer test. Even though the WD MyBook is well ahead of its competitors it still really needs to brush up on it’s reading and writing speeds in order to win.

Miscellaneous:
The Western Digital MyBook Premium Edition USB 2.0 external hard drive sports an IEEE 1394 FIREWIRE based interface with enhanced hi-Speed USB support.  The MyBook external hard drive also comes with an expansion connectivity interface with 2.0 x IEEE 1394 (FireWire) ports. It also includes 4 pin USB Type B and 1.0 x Hi-Speed USB - 6 pin FireWire port. It also has a Buffer memory of 16MB and an operating frequency of a maximum of 50Hz. This device can also work very fine at a temperature of -10 degree Celsius to 60 degrees of Celsius. And with a disk speed of 7200 rpm, it just gets better. It has a rechargeable lithium ion battery but also works on AC 210/230 Voltage and is fully RoHS compliant. Other than this it also adds some fun software like Google Earth, Google Picassa and Google Desktop. The 500 GB also comes with 2 free full version games by EA and also includes the latest Britannica.

Package Contents:

The Western Digital MyBook Premium Edition package comes with an included software installation CD, a battery adaptor and charger, an AC adaptor, a protective case, getting started manual and a quick start user guide apart from customer registration form to be processed online. And also included in the package is mini booklet of other WD devices and gadgets.

Service and Support:

The Western Digital goods are famed for their after sales service and support and the MyBook Premium Edition is no such exception. The MyBook comes with 2 years warranty and toll-free call support from 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM from Monday to Friday and 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM on Saturdays. There is also an entire page dedicated to MyBook where user can submit their queries through an online form look at FAQs and search on related topics. The MyBook dedicated webpage also provides softwares and device drivers for free download to ensure the device does not become obsolete in this fast changing world of technology. With such superb after sales support this device should really make head turn. But we must also remember “all that glitters is not gold” and definitely only its performance will determine whether the device lives up to its much hyped image and delivers the power packed wining punch.

Verdict:

After going through all these data, the extensive reviews its pros and cons, now it is time for the big question. Is the device worth the money? Yes it is! True that the device has its own share of problems and issues but after all, it’s a device we are talking about. It is slow but it is sturdy. It is resource hungry but it is solid. It can also provide a very strong data protection and anti-theft solutions to prevent data from falling into the wrong hands. And with so many devices out there trying to make their presence felt, this one really has done something. Taking features, performance and speed per GB into consideration, Western Digital’s MyBook is the winner. It is true that it has loads of features, interface, connectivity options and even pre-loaded software but what is disappointing is the fact that it can’t deliver the winning performance even though it has been designed with the help of latest cutting edge technology. What is really surprising is that this device is a mixed bag of pros, cons and features. Its compact design and flawless mechanism still have some loophole somewhere else it would have emerged as the undisputed winner. Interestingly, a famous tech website even claimed that the Western Digital MyBook Premium Edition External Hard Drive (160GB, 250GB, 320Gb, 400GB, 500GB) offers the most mixed performance of any hard drive ever tested.

Despite its somewhat sluggish performance the MyBook Premium Edition makes up for the lost ground by offering better features, looks and software support. True there are many devices to choose from in the external hard drive section but somehow, this device is different. It is finally the choice of the user whether he goes for the device or not. After all, it is a machine. So if it works wonders for one, definitely does not mean that it will do the same for others.

Check other Western Digital External Hard Drive Models, Reviews, Specs in this website.

WD MyBook Premium Edition External Hard Drive - Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	Western Digital
Model Name	WD Digital My Book Premium Edition External Hard Drive
Model Numbers	160GB - WDG1C1600E 250GB - WDG1C2500E 320GB - WDG1C3200E 400GB - WDG1C4000E 500GB - WDG1C5000E
Drive type	Portable External
Capacities Available	160GB, 250GB, 320GB, 400GB and 500GB
Dimensions (W x D x H)	2.2” x 5.6” x 6.8”
Weight	2.06Kg
Colours available	Carbon Black
Interface Type	Hi-Speed USB2.0 and FireWire 400
Capacities available	160GB, 250GB, 320GB, 400GB and 500GB
Data Transfer Speed	480 mbps
Read seek time	8.9ms
Spindle speed	7200 RPM
OS Compatibility	Windows® XP, Windows Vista®, Windows 7, Mac® OS® 10.4®, 10.5 ® or 10.6®
Source	AC adapter
Software included	WD Backup Google
Features	WD Backup Google Dual Interface Capacity Guage Intelligent Drive Management Smart Design
Package	External hard drive FireWire cable USB cable AC adapter Quick Install Guide
Compliant Standards	RoHS
Warranty	2 years

There have been heaps of ruggedised storage devices in the current market and the Hitachi Simple Tough is one of them. The most popular ones in the current market include the Iomega eGo Camo and Transcend StoreJet and there is not much to differentiate this Hitachi drive from the other rugged drives except for the fact that it does not look quite as bricklike as the alternatives. While the Iomega eGo Camo and Transcend StoreJet 25 Mobile hard drives offer a protective exterior that is designed to survive drops and physical abuse, we would gladly like to say you that Simple Tough seems to be the toughest of them all with the ability to resist drops of up to 3m.

Rugged design:

We know just exactly what you are thinking. It seems to be a rule of thumb with the ruggedised drives that tougher the device is, uglier it looks. The Hitachi SimpleTough walks on a fine line between unforgivable hideousness and beefed-up durability. The drive’s exterior is wrapped in carbon black rubberised weave with a smooth texture which has a surprising amount of grip. Any of the concerns that we ever had about the drive’s backbone was immediately shut down by its large rubberised shock bumpers that protects the drive on both sides. All these barriers seem to be sturdy enough to protect all your precious data from 3 meter drops and pressure of up to a tonne, which is twice higher than what the eGo Camo could survive. Pulling apart the SimpleTough Rugged Hard Drive gave us a better idea on why it is so rugged; with the rubber walls removed and hard plastic casing taken apart, we found two large rubber sleeves wrapped around the Hitachi Travelstar hard drive.

The drive was very light, weighing just 267 grams and measured just (H x W x D) 15cm x 10cm x 3cm. Given the durability features, the dimensions seem to be very reasonable.

Interface:

The Hitachi SimpleTough comes with only USB interface to connect it with the PCs and we wish it also had FireWire for the Mac users. The drive comes with a very convenient built-in chord that wraps around neatly and hooks itself underneath the chassis. But we were really annoyed with how clumsy and difficult it was to reattach the cable to the enclosure. This is a more user friendly and practical design compared to the other rugged drives. Even the chord is wrapped in hard plastic which will also last as much as the body itself. Since the drive is USB powered, there is no need of any external power source.

Capacity and Compatibility:

The Hitachi SimpleTough is available in three capacities of 250GB, 350GB and 500GB. All three of the drives feature a 2.5” form factor and USB2.0 interface. The Hitachi external hard drive is preformatted with the FAT32 file system, so it is compatible with both Macs and PCs.

Two-tiered Protection:

Not only does Hitachi offer physical protection to your data, it also gives two tiered solution in order to prevent data loss due to other circumstances. First solution is that, the local backup software allows you to set-up automatic backups to host system, Acronis TotalMedia Backup, which is easy to use and provides comprehensive backup and synchronisation options. Backups can be scheduled or initiated based on folders or file types, with presets for regularly used file formats. Unlike the WD SmartWare software that accompanies Western Digital’s My Passport Essential SE, advanced users will be able to add their own file formats to be backed up.  The other is Ultimate Backup Software offers you 2GB of free online storage via Hitachi’s off-site servers. The company also offers you a freebie; a copy of Joggle which is Hitachi’s media organisational tool that allows you to view and arrange photos, videos and music without going through the hassle to clicking through the multiple menu levels and websites. Additionally, the software also makes it easy for you share content via social networks and personal web pages.

Performance:

Read write speeds:
As always, we did some tests to compare Hitachi SimpleTough with three other external drives in a similar price range: the Iomega eGo Portable, Fujitsu HandyDrive and Trancend StoreJet 25F. On the tests, SimpleTough managed to come second next to Iomega eGo Portable with its read and write speed of 28.6MBps and 22.3MBps to do operations on a 6GB folder of mixed file types. But the differences in speed between the drives were very minor that you will not even notice it unless you are planning on transferring a 10GB folder.

Ruggedness:
How can we ever leave an external hard drive that claims to be shock resistant and spill proof without testing its ruggedness. After abusing it for a few days, the Hitachi SimpleTough certainly lived up to all our expectations and came out with flying colours, surviving multiple drops from a height of 4 meters and being showered with some water and no damage was done to the data whatsoever. But we found user complaints that bending the ribbed USB cable damaged it to a point that the drive refused to work unless it was on a certain angle. There were even complaints that some of them ran into issue within days of using the drive under normal conditions. So, we punished the chord in every possible way we possibly could, but time and again, it had no issues whatsoever. So, this comes to two conclusions: either the design flaw had been corrected silently or there was just one defective batch that went on the shelves.

Cost effectiveness:
The cost per gigabyte of SimpleTough USB External Hard Drive comes at exactly the average for an external hard drive. Though some other drives like the Seagate Black Armour costs a bit more, the one we have in our hands is certainly not the cheapest in the market. As far as budget is concerned, the winner is Fujitsu HandyDrive.

Warranty and Support:

Hitachi offers SimpleTough portable external drive a warranty of three years, which is certainly appreciable.  A comprehensive list of FAQs, user guides, and drivers are all available on the Hitachi Technical Support Web site, and telephone support is available 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Verdict:

Hitachi SimpleTough sure does impress us a lot with its ultra-durable design, a very handy software and convenient integrated USB cable. That said, carrying a hard-wearing portable hard drive like the Hitachi SimpleTough will ensure that if things get a little rough, you will not have to go though the inconvenience of data loss. After testing the drive thoroughly, we could not find any fault with it. It would have been nice to get eSATA support, as this interface provides significant performance improvements over USB2.0. Considering most competing products also lack it, we cannot give Hitachi too much grief for overlooking the technology, but it would have certainly given them an edge. It is certainly great value for money. Combined with a conveniently integrated USB cable and a comprehensive three year warranty, the Hitachi SimpleTough is the ideal carry-along for the traveller who needs more space and an ultra-durable design.


Hitachi Simple Tough Hard Drive - Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	Hitachi
Model Name	Hitachi SimpleTough External Hard Drive
Model Numbers	250GB: ST/250GB-EMEA 320GB: ST/320GB-EMEA 500GB: ST/500GB-EMEA
Drive type	Portable drive
Form factor	2.5″
Dimensions (H x W x D)	15cm x 10cm x 3cm
Weight	267 grams
Colours available	Carbon Black
Interface	Hi-Speed USB2.0
Capacities available	250GB, 320GB and 500GB
Hard disk type	Mechanical
Compatible OS	Windows® XP, Windows Vista®, Windows 7, Mac® OS® X Tiger® or Leopard®
Data transfer rate	480 Mb/s
Microsoft Certifications	Compatible with Windows 7
Software included	Hitachi Local Backup , Joggle digital content manager
Compliant Standards	RoHS
Power Source	USB bus
Package contents	USB 2.0 portable hard drive USB cable Quick Install Guide
Warranty	3 years

CBA Digital is a company that does not need any introduction. With over 20 years experience in the market place of digital storage, they are the only company that assembles, support and supply their range of products in UK. The products are assuredly of high quality and are covered with UK based service and support. This time the focus is on their CBA Digital 100GB 2.5″ portable hard drive.  The 2.5 inch hard drive is housed in a fantastic and durable enclosure with a black rubberized surround for extra protection. Like all other CBA drives, the 100GB drive features One Touch capability for PCs.  Compatible with both PC and Mac, the drive is focused at users who want a basic storage device minus any sort of frills.  Does it deliver? We tested it and let us see what it has to offer and whether this really suits your needs.

Design:

Simple and Sleek:
The CBA Digital is not really a particularly eye-catching design. Do not get us wrong, it is not very bad. It is simple, small and comes in a rubberized black surrounding that offers protection from a lot of accidental drops. The centre of the drive has a glossy finishing and is bland. The company name and their specialization are embossed on it. Perhaps, they were trying to keep things simple and give it a high tech look. The black enclosure not only is for protecting the device but also is designed to reduce the temperature of the drive even after hours of usage.  The device is also available in a white enclosure.

Compact and Portable:
The 100GB CBA Digital External Hard drive is designed in mind keeping the portability factor.  With dimensions of  (H x W x D) 13 x 8 x 1.5cm, it is relatively small and can fit into a pocket without a problem.  At the bottom of the device is present an LED that glows when the device is in use (that is during transfer/back up or copying of files). On the right of the LED is present the One Touch button that activates the One Touch Storage- the USP of the device. On the left is present the USB port to which one can connect the cord and plug in to the computer.

Features:

Compatibility:
The CBA Digital 100GB USB Hard drive is compatible with both PCs and Mac as well.  In the Windows range, the drive works with all versions of Windows 7 (Ultimate, Professional and Home Edition), Windows Vista and Windows XP.  It works with Mac OS X as well. For Mac users, in order to get their drive working, they need to reformat their drive as it comes preformatted for a PC.  Mac users should also note that though the drive is compatible with both Windows and Mac, the One Touch feature software is capable of working only on PCs and not on Macs. The drive functions as a standalone external hard drive on Mac and this incompatibility will disappoint many Mac users.

USB 1.1 and 2.0 Compatible:
Like many other drives in the market, the CBA digital Portable hard drive is a USB based drive and hence eliminates all sorts of wires and other hassles. All you need to do is plug in the device to use it or power it without any additional power. Once you plug it, you can use it for transferring backing up of files and copying of data without any need to install new software irrespective of whether you are using a Mac or a PC. The unit is compatible with USB1.1 and USB 2.0 as well.

Capacities Available:
The CBA Drive we tested is available in capacities of 40GB, 80GB, 160GB, 250GB, 500GB and 640GB.  CBA Digital is offering an extra storage space of 20 GB with any drive you buy. Choose a 40 GB one and you can get a 60GB and choose the 100 GB one and get 120 GB for the cost of the 100 GB one. The offer is limited to a maximum of 2 units per customer and is valid till stocks last.

One Touch Capability:
The single biggest selling point of the CBA Digital 100 GB external hard drive is the One Touch feature.  The One Touch features is a function that allows you to select some specific data that you would want a backup of and all you need to do to back them up is select the button and you are ready. The action of pressing that one button will immediately backup all the data. One has the choice to activate using the free software provided along.  If you decide not to use this feature, you need to drag and copy all the files into the drive to back them up.

Internal Drive Details:
The Drive uses a 2.5 inch Hard Drive mechanism and has a storage capacity of 100GB. 100GB will approximately be able to hold about 1700 hours of music, 35000 digital photos and 100 hours of digital video and thousands of business files.  Mind you, this is a rough estimate and one can have variances here.  CBA has employed the usage of SATA drives in their One Touch portable range that allows for faster data transfer than the older PATA and is more energy efficient.

Performance:

Thanks to the SATA technology used on the drives, transferring of files from your computer to the PC is much faster than PATA. The theoretical limit is about 480 mbps and smaller files such as photos and Word documents took literally no time and the bigger files were transferred at a pretty decent rate. We noticed that the bigger the size of the file being copied, the faster the speeds were.

Heat and Noise:

In spite of using the device for hours together, the drive was still cool thanks to the rubberized coating.  File transfer was noise-less. Huge files were copied without any sort of indication that the drive was working at full speed.

What’s in the Box?

All CBA drives are assembled supplied and supported in the UK and are tested rigorously before dispatch. The 100GB drive is fully formatted and is ready to be used right out of the box. Along with the drive, a USB cable, a carrying case and a software CD is provided. The USB cable is of a reasonable length and the case provided is to ensure the drive is protected while on the go. The software CD provided has the One Touch capability software and the installation of the software is at user’s discretion.

Power:

Being a plug in and play drive, there arises no need to power the drive. In order to use it, one needs to connect it to the PC using the USB cable.  No power adapter hassles here!

Warranty:

The CBA Digital 100 GB external hard drive comes with one year limited warranty. The higher capacity ones such as 250 GB, 500 GB and the 640 GB come with a warranty period of 3 years.

Verdict:

CBA Digital has yet again launched a no frills simple drive. They have focused on what users want from their drive: Storage without hassles. The drive looks pretty decent, is portable, reliable and durable as well. 100 GB is a huge space and thanks to SATA and USB 2.0 interfaces, data transfer was pretty fast. However, the main highlight of the device was the One Touch Software. It worked without any problems and is extremely easy to use. It also eliminates the tedious task of dragging and copying files for backup. However, the fact that this software is incompatible with Mac is a huge negative.  With a reasonable price tag, the drive is perfect for PC users with small storage needs. Mac Users have better choices than this in the same segment

Check out the other portable hard drive reviews,  other CBA Digital Hard Drive Reviews, Specs in our website.

CBA Digital 100GB Portable Hard Drive - Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	CBA Digital
Model Name	CBA Digital 100GB Portable 2.5 Inch External Hard Drive
Device type	Portable hard drive
Form factor	2.5 inch
Enclosure colours available	Black and White
Hard disk drive capacity	100GB
Other capacities available	40GB, 80GB, 120 GB160GB, 250GB, 320GB and 500GB
Buffer Size	16MB
Hard disk interface	Serial ATA
Hard disk rotational speed	5400 rpm
Data Transfer Rate	480 mbps
Standard Compliance	USB 2.0 and USB 1.1
Connector Types	1 x USB 2.0
Software	One Touch Software
Number of Ports	One
OS Support	Windows Vista , Windows XP/2000 & MAC OS X
Package Contents	CBA Digital 100GB Portable Hard drive, a USB Cable, Software and a Carry case
Warranty	1 year