Well, Sony does not need any introduction whatsoever, unless you are an 18 month old. The HD-PG5 is the company’s flagship external hard drive. It is not just another external hard drive, as you can expect from the giants, this device has the capability to record live TV shows to it directly, transfer videos directly from Sony Handycams and last but not the least, even watch videos and images through PS3.

Design:

The Sony HD-PG5 external hard drive is available in two shades of black and white. Being a portable hard drive, the drive fits the current good-looking stereotype by being sleek and slender measuring (H x W x D) 126 x 80 x 16mm, weighing just 180g. As an added advantage, it has a scratch resistant paint layer to make sure that it is able to maintain the good looks for a longer period.

Features:

For the hardcore Sony adorers out there, who have everything ‘Sony’ in their house such as, a Sony Bravia telly, Sony Blu-ray player, Handycam etc, and all of the other newest Sony technology, the HD-PG5 portable hard drive will simply put all of those technology quite well.

Capacity and Interface:

The Sony HD-PG5 portable external hard drive has a storage capacity of 500GB, which is quite adequate for you to record content directly from the Bravia Tv, only if it is a Bravia. The device has USB as interface.

Security and back-up:

The Sony HD-PG5 Portable Hard Drive does come with a security and back-up software. The Password Protection Manager, using the very potent AES 256-bit data encryption is the kind of security you get. The Backup Manager Software protects all your files and data making regular automated schedule backups. The FAT32 formatter software feature lets you re-format the drive from NTFS to provide support to the Direct Copy feature in the handycam.

TV- recording:

With the USB interface, the HD-PG5 will be able to extract content not only from the telly’s tuner, but also from a set top box. You do get set boxes sporting a record function of their own, however, by having the recording in this portable hard drive, you get to take it wherever you want.

Direct from Handycam:

Having a Handycam camcorder, you will be able to transfer the content off it without having to connect it to a PC, with this storage toy. This is made possible with the supplied USB adaptor as well as the Sony Handycams that possess the Direct Copy functionality, such as the latest DCR SR21 and DCR SX21E models.

Connect to your PS3:

As we mentioned in the introduction, the HD-PG5 also connects to your PS3, which allows you to look at your AVCHD movies and images through the Filmy app, which can again be done without the need for a computer.

A normal external hard drive too:

With all this bells and whistles, you might be wondering if at all the Sony HD-PG5 can ever be employed as a normal external hard drive, well yes. Sony has included USB3.0 support to offer you some lightning speed data transfers, and those who only have USB 2.0 will have the advantage of the included Data Transfer Accelerator software that will fetch you twice the transfer rate.

Warranty:

Sony offers its first external portable hard drive, HD-PG5 three years limited warranty for parts and labour.

Verdict:

The Sony HD-PG5 Portable Hard Drive just sounds like a perfect gift for the dad who keeps missing his shows. Another biggest advantage of the device is that, it does not have any sort of a steep learning curve. Yes, it is gets a ‘recommended’ from us, externalharddrives.org.uk.

Sony HD-PG5 External Hard Drive – Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer Sony
Model Name Sony HD-PG5 Portable Hard Drive
Model numbers HD-PGB – Black
HD-PGW – White
Colours available Black and White
Dimensions (H x W x D) 126 x 80 x 16mm
Weight 180g
Interface USB 3.0 and USB 2.0
Capacity 500GB
Disk size 2.5″
File system NTFS
Data transfer rate (max) Max. 5Gbps (USB 3.0), Max. 480Mbps (USB2.0)
Compatible operating systems Windows PC, Macintosh
Security Password Protection Manager
PC Software Data Transfer Accelerator, Backup Manager,
Password Protection Manager, FAT32 Formatter
Box Content Sony HD-PG5 Portable Hard Drive
USB 3.0 Standard-A to USB 3.0 Micro-B cable (60cm)
Warranty Three years

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