External Hard Drives

We are pretty sure that at least once in a while, you will struggle to find a file just because your external hard disks are too dis-organised.  You could just buy a JBOD or RAID capable external hard disk  drive array, but these desk bound disks are expensive and not very portable. And, that is exactly the issue that Freecom’s CLS drive system, which stands for “Collect, Label and Store” is designed to resolve. Technically, it cannot get even simpler.

Capacities:

The Freecom Mobile Drive CLS 2.5″ External Hard Drive come in exactly same range of sizes, from capacities of 250GB, 320GB, 500GB and 640GB. Indeed, you can even stick in a FreeCom Mobile Drive XXS drive into one of those CLS slots, however, the snugly shaped design does not allow you to use drives from any other manufacturer.

Interface and Speed:

Freecom’s powered CLS dock connects to the PC via a USB cable and offers you with three slots with mini USB connectors at the bottom of each that can take up to three 2.5in CLS drives. You can only dock three CLS drives at once, although there will be nothing stopping you from connecting additional drives through the standard mini USB cables. It is a simple but elegant solution that we can see coming in pretty useful in the right environment, providing that performance is up to scratch. It works very well and quickly represents any connected drives individually in Windows Explorer, although we did experience some issues when devices are mounted in quick succession. This can be solved by waiting for one to appear on your system before connecting another. There is nothing complicated here as they are just your standard USB 2 devices that offer the standard USB 2 levels of performance around 30 MB/sec when reading and writing large files, falling to around 20 MB/sec with small files.

Warranty:

The Freecom Mobile Drive CLS External Hard Drive comes with two years return to base warranty.

Freecom Mobile Drive CLS External Hard Drive (250GB/320GB/500GBb/640GB) – Technical Specification Table

As one of the biggest manufacturer in the world, of course after their acquisition of Maxtor, it is only natural that Seagate would have hand in the external hard drive backup market. This is a very lucrative market as it allows the hard drive companies such as Seagate to create value added products from hard drives that have essentially turned out to be commodity products. Among Seagate’s offerings is the Pushbutton Backup External Hard Drive.

Boring design:

The design of the drive casing is not quite up there with the aluminium clad external Maxtor drives, but the silver and black design is as boring as a plastic case can be. The drive can either sit on your desk horizontally on top of a rubber ring that attaches to its side or it can even be mounted vertically using a supplied stand. The Seagate Pushbutton Backup HDD is a boxy 7.125 inches deep by 6.5 inches wide by 2.25 inches high.  The drive has a power switch, two FireWire 400 ports, and a USB 2.0 port on its back panel. The power and data LED’s are blue and the push button backup button is surrounded by a yellow LED.

Seagate hard drives are safeguarded by built-in self-monitoring technology that continuously checks your hard drive for data safety and drive performance. SeaTools diagnostic software is included.

Interface:

Seagate circumvents the lack of an eSATA standard by equipping the drive with a built-in half-height, half-length PCI SATA II interface card manufactured by Promise Technology Inc. Thanks to its USB 2.0 and FireWire interface the drive can be used with both PCs and Macs right out of the box, with backup software for both systems supplied on the CD. However, you will have to reformat the drive if you have got a Mac. If you’re using an NTFS filing system and you have a few hours to spare, reformatting the drive to NTFS will make it more efficient.

The sleek, silver case with its rounded corners houses a 7,200-rpm drive with a 16MB cache. Seagate offers six capacities of the Pushbutton Backup drive: 200GB, 250GB, 300GB, 400GB, 500GB and 750GB.

Warranty and Support:

Seagate provides a one year limited warranty for parts and labour with the Pushbutton Backup drive, but toll-free phone support is available for the life of the product, although only from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays.

Seagate Pushbutton Backup External HDD – Technical Specification Table

Overview:

Pros:

• Sleek and clever design
• Versatility
• Reduces clutter
• Dual functionality

Cons:

• Lack of interaction between the devices
• Performance is not up to the mark
• Expensive
• The dock is USB only

Review:

One of the major issues with most of the cool portable gadgets on the market today is that, they tend to make a lot of desk clutter; especially if they are things you might want to take with you at all times, for instance a phone. For the sake of iPhone and iPod users, Buffalo technology has come up with the Dualie, which is a dock that combines both a charging dock for an iPhone or iPod along with a 500GB portable hard drive that can be popped out and taken anywhere.

Design:

You will be able to easily carry you iPhone in one pocket and the hard drive in the other. In order to donate activity, there is a stylishly curved blue LED at the top. As we just mentioned, you need just the USB cable to connect it to your system, however, there is also a power adaptor if you need to plug on. The tidiness of the dock cradle is very appealing and will serve the purpose of keeping your desk clutter to a minimum.

Interface:

Leaving the novelty aside, the Buffalo Dualie comes with a 500GB dual interface hard drive which includes FireWire 800 and USB2.0. It is a 2.5″ SATA drive with a spindle speed of 5400rpm. Buffalo makes use of Western Digital, Seagate, Hitachi or Samsung drive mechanisms in its drive enclosures. The Dualie’s drive can be reformatted to work with Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7, giving PC users the same one-cable convenience.  While these on-screen instructions are comprehensive with appropriate illustrations, they do require a certain amount of switching to and fro with the formatting settings window.  Novice users could easily become confused when the instructions mention selecting “Delete Volume” yet this option was greyed out and unobtainable when we attempted this action.  Experienced users should have no problems.

The dual functionality:

While it is true that the Buffalo Dualie HD-PA500IBU2D hard drive recharges the iPhone and also connects both the phone and external hard drive to your computer, there is actually no interaction between the two hardware devices. You will not be able to backup your iPhone or iPod with the Dualie or drag files to and fro. But of course, you could always put the files you want on your phone from your system and back them up on the drive. However, the lack of interaction might disappoint a lot of the consumers, just as it did us. In a gist, the Buffalo Dualie effectively accomplishes both the tasks without any enhancement in either of them and so, do not expect it to enhance your overall experience in any way in either device.

Performance:

In the performance matters, the Buffalo Dualie 500GB portable hard drive offers decent speed scores. It is possible to connect the Dualie to a FireWire 400 port, although the appropriate FireWire 800-to-400 adapter cable is not included in the box. The Dualie’s USB and FireWire 400 times are also slightly behind the Elite-AL Pro Mini. The duplication results are also quite similar. The 46 seconds score of the Dualie’s FireWire 800 could not compete with the Elite-AL Pro Mini’s score of 40 seconds. The latter’s FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 scores are also marginally better than that of the Dualie’s.

While the device produces copy and duplication scores that are comparable to the desktop drives, their bus powered mechanisms ultimately struggle with some of the low photoshop tasks. This does not come in as a surprise as the desktop drives are designed for doing the heavy lifting jobs, but the degree of difference might be surprising. While a typical desktop hard drive takes a little a over a minute to complete the low memory photo shop tasks with USB 2.0, the Dualie took about 4 minutes and 10 seconds. The difference between the two portable drives becomes quite evident when each use their FireWire 800 connection types and the Dualie was able to do the job in just two minutes and fifty one seconds, which is a far superior score.

It is quite obvious that the Dualie is designed for the casual user, rather than the graphics professional who needs to transfer large files using external hard drives.

Price tag examined:

When you consider the price per gigabyte of the Buffalo Dualie Portable, it is extremely high for a portable external hard drive, but of course what you are paying is not just for the hard drive, but of course, you are not paying just for the drive, but a docking station too. Some might think that it is worth shelling out the few extra bucks for a dock station to clean up the desk while some might be turned off by the price wonder why they have to chuck so much for a slow hard drive coupled with an iPod dock when their USB cord works just fine.

Warranty:

The Buffalo Dualie Portable Drive comes with two years return to base warranty.

Verdict:

The Buffalo Dualie Portable Drive 500GB Capacity has respectable speed, very portable and is a versatile unit too. Yet, if it were not for the included dock, the nondescript hard drive would have hardly made any waves. Whether or not you will find the reduction in chords and stylish dock worth your time and money is up to you. When it comes to performance, the Buffalo Dualie is decent but by no means is speedy. The Dualie is appealing if you want to reduce desk clutter and it actually costs a few pounds less than buying Apple’s universal iPod dock and a LaCie FireWire 800 500GB portable disk separately. However, if you do not need FireWire then you can save around £20 by buying a USB-only disk instead although you don’t get the one-cable convenience of the Dualie.

Buffalo Dualie 500GB 2.5″ Portable Drive – Technical Specification Table

Memorex, a portfolio brand of the Imation Corp, is one of the trusted and recognised consumer brands in the modern marketing history. They now have a new series of portable hard drives created for the masses; the Essential Travel Drive. A handy external hard drive is a must have for people who likes travelling a lot. Having an ergonomic design and employed with the standard USB interface, the drive also features the TotalMedia Backup and synchronisation software for the PC and Mac users. Is it the one you were looking for? Read on to find out more.

Design:

The Memorex Essential TravelDrive relatively slim, sleek and light; which makes it an excellent device to expand the storage need of your netbooks and laptops without having to replace the hard disk. The budget price of the drive does not mean that it has sacrificed in any way at the quality of its construction to achieve a lower price tag. The grey and charcoal plastic with some curves does not seem to be in touch with the fashion world, but it does feel very durable and its matt finish is sure to withstand any scratch and smudge. It also has a flashing blue LED data transfer indicator. The cool silver is just one of the six nature inspired colour finishes the drive is available in, and the others include tropical green, spring blossom, Caribbean blue and the two other shades which will be released soon.

Capacity and Compatibility:

This Essential TravelDrive will take in only 2.5 inch external hard drives and can work with either Mac or Windows platforms. The drive is available in three capacities of 160GB, 250GB and 320GB, so you can choose the capacity you will need.

Backup:

The Memorex Essential TravelDrive 2.5″ Portable Hard Drive, includes a copy of Arcsoft’s TotalMedia Backup software; we remember that this software was the one that was included in the Imation Apollo Portable hard drive. The software is quite simple to install and provides you with heaps of customisable back up and restoration features. When the drive is plugged in for the first time, you will find two folders, the ArcSoft backup software for Windows and Mac. This backup software provides one time and planned backups, which can be either incremental or complete. The wizard style interface is useful for novices. Make sure that you have a backup of the installation files if you wish to format the disc. Since the drive is at standard FAT32 file system, formatting is required only with the Windows XP or Vista.

The 250GB storage space is ample too, and should be enough for a couple of backups with spare space.

Read and Write speeds:

When it comes to the read and write tests, the Memorex Essential was not very consistent: it takes 5.4secs to read a collection of 1000 files which comes to 100MB; while writing those files back to the drive took 20.5 seconds. So, the read speed fantastic for a USB-based portable device and the write speed seem to be quite below the average. A single 50MB test file takes 2.1secs to read and 1.8secs to write, which is certainly highly regarded.

Price and Package:

The 250GB Essential TravelDrive costs approximately £52 exc VAT, and the resulting 20.8p per gigabyte is about as cheap as portable external drives get. The package of the drive is quite small with just the drive, a USB cable, the software CD and a small manual.

Warranty:

The Memorex Essential TravelDrive external hard drive comes with one year warranty for parts and labour and you can increase it to two years with a few extra pounds.

Verdict:

Despite the mixed performance in the read write speeds, there is not too much wrong with the slim and sleek Memorex Essential TravelDrive external hard drive. Its price tag is quite on the very affordable range, its build quality is vigorous and even though performance is not the fastest, in real world applications you would not notice it. And they are also a handy way to back up critical files and documents quickly. On the other hand, if you are looking for a portable USB drive on a small budget, the TravelDrive is an excellent buy with quite a low cost per GB of 21p, but if you will be able to stretch your budget more, Freecom’s Mobile Drive Classic is also quite a god value at just 18p per GB.

Check other Portable External Hard Drive Reviews in this website.

Memorex Essential TravelDrive (160GB, 250GB, 320GB)  – Technical Specification Table

ioSafe has been a leader in disaster proof technology since long. It stuck to its word and shelled out a hard drive that would defy all odds. ioSafe has produced nothing short of a wonder with its IoSafe Solo external hard drive. The demo that the company carried out had people frozen on the spot in awe. The ioSafe Solo has its hard drive beneath a hard armoured case which is near impenetrable. With the IoSafe solo, it became the first to market a disaster protected external hard drive. Read on to find out more.

Design:

Simple and Intutive:

The ioSafe Solo has its single hard drive encased in metal measuring (H x W x D) 11 x 7.1 x 5 inches.  Weighing at around fifteen pounds, it is not what you would exactly call portable. The design is pretty simple; two U shaped sheets of metal blend together and the fascia of the device has the manufacturer logo and ‘Solo’ written on it with blue LEDs that are in the form of a cone above and below the manufacturer’s name. The backside of the device has an extension with a punch hole that can be used to fasten it to a flat surface or secure with a cable preventing theft. The power switch, USB port, air opening for cooling, a DC power port and the serial number of the product are available on the rear. The IoSafe Solo comes with the company’s own patented technology, i.e. the Flosafe vent and Datacast technology along with the Hydrosafe barrier technology.

Interface:

The ioSafe Solo Desktop Hard Drive comes with a single interface, i.e. the USB 2.0 port located on the rear. The ‘2.0’ refers to the version of the USB interface. The USB is a plug and play interface meaning it can be plugged in without altering your operation. Once plugged in, it will simply display the files in the device plugged to the other end of the USB cable. The USB 2.0 is backwards compatible with the previous versions. It covers three speeds with 480 megabits per second being the standard USB 2.0 rate. Almost every peripheral comes equipped with the USB 2.0. The USB ranks last in speed when compared to eSATA and Firewire technology; but it is universal and will satisfy the consumer as it houses more than enough for most device types. Moreover, the purpose of the ioSafe Solo lies in protection, to which it does complete justice and so, this can be overlooked.

Capacities available:

The ioSafe Solo drive is available in capacities of 500GB, 1TB, 1.5TB and 2TB. This is one of the rare few external hard drives offering capacities that extend up to 2TB.

Compatibility:

The IoSafe Solo external hard drive with its USB 2.0 interface is compatible with Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Mac Operating system of 8.6 or greater. The drive is usable with a Mac after a reformat; it ships formatted in the NTFS file system.

Features:

The security feature that the IoSafe offers exclusively is its Disaster Protection Technology which includes a range of them. Let us get acquainted further with them.

Flosafe vent Technology:

The main concern of electronic devices is their cooling. Faster speeds and the increased spinning will lead to more heat generation which is unfavourable. Flosafe regulates airflow to prevent exposure to extreme heat. The vents stay open and allow airflow as long as the room temperature is below 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Upon detection of harmful heat levels, the vents automatically close to protect the data from it. This requires no electricity and is triggered mechanically.

Datacast Technology:

This technology cleverly makes use of trapped water molecules to regulate temperatures within, maintaining them just above 200 degrees Fahrenheit, even as the temperature outside rises. IoSafe has explained in its site that Datacast is actually a gypsum based compound which reacts to temperatures above 160 degrees Fahrenheit by forming a chemical bond with the water molecules and releasing water vapour to limit internal temperature. The Datacast has several channels with plastic tubing which melt during a fire to block and prevent damage to data.

The Flosafe Vent technology and Datacast technology take care of making the device totally fireproof. Now, let us check out how it stays waterproof, which is done with the help of the Hydrosafe barrier technology.

Hydrosafe Barrier:

Hydrosafe Barrier promises protection from freshwater and saltwater damage even upon full immersion. This is pretty cool, as we all know that water is not exactly good for anything that is electronic. It also allows heat during normal operating to disperse. The hard drive is encased in waterproof metal apart from the gypsum.

So, you can rest assured that your data is in very reliable hands.

Performance:

Well, its performance would be based on how it keeps it promise of braving the worst of Mother Nature and man’s follies which lead to accidents like fires or floods. We will give you several examples on how fine it has managed to stick to its word. The various fire tests that the IoSafe has been put through include being barbecued, surviving a half hour of 1200 degrees Fahrenheit fire ,being left in a burning car for about 15 minutes and put in a propane fire pit which reached temperatures above 1500 degrees Fahrenheit . In all cases, the data remained intact.

What about its waterproof guarantee? The drive had been immersed fully up to about ten feet in water and kept there for three days. And as expected, after disassembling and opening up the waterproof protective cover, the data remained untouched.

Last but not the least, it is also shockproof and the drive mechanism continues to function even after being dropped from three to four feet. It boasts data protection after being dropped from a height of even fifteen feet or so.

If you are the ‘see it and then believe it’ type of person, go ahead and check out the company’s video of their demo and we assure you it will be very interesting.

Package Contents:

The ioSafe Solo package comes with the External Hard Drive itself, USB cable, power cable and instructions. And, the System requirements include Intel Pentium II 350 MHz compatible ,Mac G3 processor and greater, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, USB supporting system and USB 2.0 specifications to support USB speeds.

Warranty:

IoSafe is all about quality and care. Their dedication and honesty towards their products and customers can be vouched for. It has a unique policy and assured commitment towards customer satisfaction. For starters, all three capacities come with a three year warranty and one year data protection coverage. This can be extended up to five years with the expense of a few pounds.

Data Recovery Service:

The data recovery service offered for the Solo External Desktop hard drive by ioSafe is as follows,

• The company will assist you in recovering data by yourself if you are up to it by providing help through email or over the phone.
• The company will pay for the damaged product to be shipped back to their headquarters where they will undertake data recovery. If they are successful, the recovered data will be loaded into a replacement product and shipped back to the owner.
• If their data recovery efforts are unfruitful, they will pay upto one thousand dollars for a third party of their choice to try and recover the data. The data recovered will be loaded onto a replacement product and shipped back to its owner.

Not many companies offer such free data recovery service after the occurrence of disasters.

Verdict:

The ioSafe Solo Fireproof/Waterproof hard drive is priced moderately and we would assure you that the ioSafe Solo is worth every penny. Many external hard drives are priced in the same range without offering the type of protection it does. The data recovery is really impressive. You can kick back and relax whenever you leave home knowing all your most important, personal and volume of information has been given the best possible protection. The few cons include the connectivity features that the hard drive lacks in but seeing as the USB is quite universal, it does not pose that big a problem and the typical USB speeds will suffice.

The other drawback is the fact that the ioSafe Solo accommodates a single drive without a second drive to back it up. This means that if your drive fails internally, then your data is lost. The chances of that happening too, remain slim though. Still, it would have been better and made the best in that case. However, the unrivalled disaster protection being offered proposes no debate whatsoever. The excellent warranty that comes with it adds to its pros. It is one of the most highly recommended back up external hard drives.

ioSafe Solo External Hard Drive – Technical Specification Table