Review USB 3.0 has been with us for nearly two years now, not that you’d notice, as adoption and availability of peripherals has been somewhat slow. However, things are looking up now as more and more portable HDDs are coming to market featuring the not-so-new interface. Here at Reg Hardware, we’ve put together a round up of the current crop so you know whether to buy or walk on by. Each drive is rated bearing in mind cost, portability and speed with a CrystalDiskMark 3 performance comparison chart at the end.
1. Buffalo MiniStation HD-PCTU3
The MiniStation HD-PCTU3 is a pretty spartan unit with a design as inspiring as its name. You get a black (or white) plastic case and LED activity light bar containing your choice of a 500GB or 1TB 2.5in disk. A two-year warranty is included as well as Buffalo’s own backup utilities and something called TurboCopy, which is supposed to further improve transfer speeds. Read the rest of this entry »
Review We approve of the ongoing miniaturisation of external hard drives, but the process has its limits. Western Digital’s latest My Passport Essential is among the smallest drives of its class, but WD’s choice of a tiny connector could be the product’s downfall.
WD’s My Passport Essential: quirky, asymmetrical notebook design
Available in capacities ranging from 250GB to 640GB – we tested the 500GB model – the new MPE is comes in a glossy 110 x 83 x 15mm casing offered in five different colours. It’s just smaller than Samsung’s wee S2 Portable and similarly bus powered.
The casing is curiously asymmetric, WD having applied the broad characteristics of its Desktop My Book drive range to the smaller, portable offering. Three edges are flat, the fourth convex, giving it the look of a Moleskine notebook, though the WD is smaller. You can seen people carrying it cupped between fingers and palm.
The activity LED is located on the spine of the ‘book’. But this volume isn’t designed to be kept upright. The flat edges aren’t sufficiently level to allow the MPE to stand on its end. Knowing this, WD has equipped the drive’s base with four tiny rubber feet. Read the rest of this entry »
Review The portable media player market ranges from the cheapest, smallest screen players, aimed primarily for playing music, to palm-sized, PDA-style pads, more than suitable for watching films and time-shifted TV. The Cowon D2+ DAB is definitely at the smaller end of the scale, but still offers a good range of programme sources including, as you’ll have guessed from the name, DAB radio.
Cowon’s D2+ DAB
The D2+ DAB is intended as a pocketable player, which can provide audio and video output, although its relatively small, 320 x 240 pixel screen biases it towards audio. It’s flash based and comes in capacities of 4GB, 8GB and 16GB. Very similar in size and function to the D2+, which was itself a firmware revamp of the D2, the D2+ DAB is available in black or silver and is about the size of a compact GPS. The chamfered surround to the 63mm TFT display makes the screen look a little smaller than it is and the player’s 16mm thickness means it’s a chunky device.
A bar down the right-hand side of the case is there entirely for the slot in one end, to which you can tie the strange triangular stylus. Actually, the stylus isn’t that strange, when you realise it can be fitted into the same slot to act as a stand for viewing the D2+ DAB on a table or desk. When you then realise it can be slotted in two ways up, giving different viewing angles, it’s actually quite clever. Read the rest of this entry »
Review Here at Reg Hardware, we’ve been given to wonder if iRiver has rather lost the plot of late. Sure, the Lplayer was a decent enough bit of kit, but the E100 and Spinn? Writing, “could do better” on their end of term report cards would have been polite in the extreme. However, some of the devices on the iRiver booth at the 2009 CES gave us cause for optimism, in particular, the P7.
iRiver’s P7: its many refinements reveal learning from past mistakes
As a flash-based PMP with a 4.3in 480 x 272 pixel screen, the P7 can’t avoid going head-to-head with Cowon’s O2. In the first round – aesthetics – it has the Cowon well beaten. To start with at 173g and 112 x 73 x 13mm, it’s both smaller and lighter. It also has a smart brushed aluminium body that is very nice to the touch and which combines with the white highlights on its top and bottom to make it one of the most attractive PMPs we have come across. Read the rest of this entry »
Review Ever thought of climbing the Eiger with a USB hard drive dangling from your belt? Just in case you were, you might find the Freecom ToughDrive Sport is the missing link as you boulderly go. It even comes supplied with a carabiner hook and there’s a picture of some formidable peak on the packaging to tempt you.
Freecom’s ToughDrive Sport: designed for outdoor types
A pity then, that the Samsung HM251JI 2.5in Sata drive within, is only designed to operate at temperatures above 5°C but don’t let that put you off, bungee jumping is still an option. Read the rest of this entry »
