HDD / External Storage

Category >> HDD / External Storage

Vantec NexStar Hard Drive Dock 05-11-2008

The problem with all earlier forms of removable media is capacity. Even a 16 or 32 gig flash drive can be a little small for some uses, and they are pretty expensive. Think about it, you can pick up a 500 gig HDD for the price of a 16 gig thumb drive, or a 750 gig for the price of a 32 gig thumb drive. For that matter, you could get a RaptorX for the price of the 32 gig flash drive. Today, we will be taking a look at the Vantec NexStar Hard Drive Dock, an external solution for simple swapping of hard drives.

Sans Digital MobileSTOR MS2UTN+ 04-19-2008

Today I have one of Sans Digital's newer enclosures for review, the MobileSTOR MS2UTN+. Utilizing the SIL 5744 chipset, the MobileSTOR offers the typical dual drive configurations such as JBOD, Spanning (BIG), RAID0 and RAID1, but also something I haven't seen before, SAFE33 and SAFE50.

Thermaltake Muse R-Duo Enclosure 03-25-2008

There are a number of devices Thermaltake offers that you might not be aware of. For example, last month we reviewed a unique data retrieval product from them, the BlacX hard drive dock, which allows users to easily hot-swap SATA drives from a convenient desktop base unit. Today I have another of Thermaltake's newer storage solutions for review, the Muse R-Duo RAID.

Icy Box NAS 4220 Enclosure 03-23-2008

Today I have for review an Icy Box multi-drive NAS device, the IB-NAS4220-B. NAS is short for Network Attached Storage, and unlike a typical external hard drive enclosure which must be connected directly to a host computer in order to access, a NAS device uses a network client to allow access across a shared medium, like Ethernet.

OCZ Rally2 Turbo 8GB Flash Drive 03-03-2008

There are so many thumb drives out there, some fast and some slow, some high capacity and some smaller than a quarter, that it’s really easy to brush them aside and think that those differences don’t really matter. OCZ wants to discourage this kind of a mentality and it shows from their diverse lineup of USB flash drives, from durable to speedy to high capacity. Today we’re going to have a look at the OCZ Rally2 Turbo 8GB USB flash drive, which promises to provide impressive speeds (up to 35MB/s read) while maintaining high capacity (available in 4GB and 8GB modules).

Rosewill RX353-S BLK USB eSATA HDD Enclosure 02-15-2008

The Rosewill RX353-S BLK is a SATA drive enclosure that offers both USB 2.0 and the latest eSATA interfaces. The aluminum case accepts any single 3½" SATA drive, either SATA150 or 300, with support for NCQ and up to 1TB of capacity. With the USB 2.0 connection, transfer rates of up to 60MB/s are possible and 300MB/s with eSATA, depending on the drive used.

Thermaltake BlacX USB Hard Drive Docking Station 02-08-2008

Thermaltake took note of this and created a product that really stood out at the show, a hard drive docking station known as the BlacX. The idea behind this product is so simple and yet, so ingenious that I am shocked that nobody else has thought of it yet. Simply put, the BlacX is a USB 2.0 hot-swappable 2.5" and 3.5" SATA docking station that accepts all hard drives up to 1TB in size.

Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB 01-12-2008

With drives as large as 1TB (that’s a terabyte, you know… 1024GB) available in mainstream technology, the once considered monstrous 500 giggers now seem like pocket change and are the budget user’s choice buy. Today we’re going to have a look at Western Digital’s 500GB Caviar SE16 (WD5000AAKS) drive, one of the most popular drive for system builders lately.

Rosewill RX81US-HT-35A-BLK USB eSATA HDD Enclosure 12-17-2007

For those of you familiar with shopping at New Egg you've undoubtedly heard of Rosewill. There are literally hundreds of products sold through the Egg under the Rosewill brand and compared to pricing on some of the name brand products, the Rosewill gear is usually quite inexpensive. But do these house brands have the same quality as traditional 3rd party manufacturers?

Kingwin Z1 Series SATA Hard Drive Enclosure 11-16-2007

But, like many other "base" products... take the ATX computer case as a good example, there are so many different creative spins being implemented that it keeps things fresh. Today we will be taking a look at the latest external 3.5" hard drive enclosure from Kingwin in the Z1 Series 3.5" External Hard Drive Enclosure.

OCZ Technology ATV Turbo USB 2.0 Flash Drive 10-05-2007

Aside from the general design, this drive is anything but classic. It boasts some pretty spiffy features and even makes some bold claims, such as being 100% weatherproof and fully submersible in water. Water, eh... well then, let's just see if the OCZ ATV Turbo drive can back up these claims in both frozen and boiling states!

Vantec NexStar SX SATA & IDE External 2.5-Inch HDD Enclosures 09-25-2007

The packaging for each enclosure is nearly identical, with a photo of the drive on the front of the box as well as a few key features. The back of the box goes into further detail of the enclosure. Upon opening the box, we find a screwdriver, a set of screws, driver + installation disc, USB cable and the enclosure itself, tucked away securely in a leather carrying case.

Vantec EZ-Swap EX 2.5 Inch HDD Enclosure 09-16-2007

Today I will be looking at my second 2.5" HDD enclosure in as many months, in the Vantec EZ-Swap EX 2.5" drive enclosure. This enclosure offers a different mix of features, which may prove to be more useful that those on the Icy Box.

Icy Box IB-266StUS-B External HDD Enclosure 08-23-2007

Laptop hard drives are now being used in external enclosures instead of traditional 3.5" drives for a number of reasons. These drives are much smaller and generate less heat and noise than 3.5" drives. Write speed and capacity limitations were once a point of concern for laptop drives, but that is now a thing of the past. Today I will be looking at the Tagan Icy Box IB-266StUS-B, an external 2.5" drive enclosure that offers a variety of connection configurations and flexibility.

Cirago 10GB External HDD 07-29-2007

There are a variety of ways to carry data with you. You could buy a notebook computer and schlep it with you everywhere. That can be helpful if you need processing power or internet access on the move. Not everyone, however, has the extra cash for another computer, or the shoulder muscle to tote around a heavy laptop.

OCZ Secure Digital HC 8GB Card 06-25-2007

I will be testing the SDHC card using my laptop (HP Pavilion tx1119us) and digital camera (Nikon D80 DSLR). I will be using HD Tune and SiSoft Sandra to measure read / write, access times and such.

Galaxy TVisto Multimedia External HD Case 04-08-2007

One of my favorite features of the TVisto is the ability to play .ISO files directly. This means that you can rip a DVD and have the TVisto play the .ISO file as if it were the actual DVD, complete with menus, special features, etc. This is a great way to back up your DVD collection and take it with you anywhere you go.

Western Digital 320GB USB/FireWire My Book 04-03-2007

Right away it's clear to see where the name of the product comes from - it looks like a book! The front of the My Book has two clear rings. The inner ring is lit with a blue LED to show the remaining free space on the drive. The outer ring also has a blue LED and acts as an activity light, flashing when data is copied to or from the My Book.

Vizo Technology Luxon 3.5 Inch HDD Enclosure 12-23-2006

Now, let's consider power. I don't particularly care for getting power by USB, and that isn't an option here if you are using SATA interface. An internal power supply causes a few problems. It adds to the size and weight of the enclosure, plus adds heat. Vizo decided on an external AC adapter, and was kind enough not to use a "wall wort" style.

OCZ 8GB Mega-Kart USB2 Drive 11-18-2006

I tried two different approaches, the first using a single large (700MB) ISO file, followed by a collection of around 500 smaller JPG files (250MB) and recorded the amount of time it took to copy these to the drive (Write) and from the drive (Read) separately. Transfer rates were calculated from these times and the Read and Write speeds were averaged to compare to results from HD Tach and HD Tune.

OCZ Technology 2 GB Secure Digital Dual Memory Card 09-21-2006

OCZ began to diversify their offerings in 2004 with the release of power supplies aimed specifically at gamers. Since that point, OCZ has continued to expand their horizons, now offering cooling solutions to go along with their already wide array of products. Today we will be taking a look at yet another one of their new innovative products in the 2 GB Secure Digital Dual Memory Card.

OCZ Ultra-Slim Mini-Kart USB 2.0 Flash Drive 07-25-2006

After getting the Mini-Kart out of the packaging, you find that it has it's own clear plastic carrying/storage case. This storage case does come in pretty handy really and will help you keep track of the drive. If you have any sort of clutter at all on your desk, you stand a good chance of losing track of the drive; it's that small. Trust me, it happened to me more than a few times.

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