Quantcast
Subscribe to magazine

External Drives for the Office and the Road

Maxtor's OneTouch is fast and easy to use. Among ultraportables, IOGear's 2.5-Inch Ion Drive offers the most for the money.

Sean Captain

Compare ProductsCheck boxes to
Maxtor OneTouch PCW Rating: 4.0PCW Rating: 4.0PCW Rating: 4.0

Last Rated:

1. Maxtor OneTouch

250GB, USB 2.0 and FireWire interface, 4 pounds, 0.2 ounces, 7200 rpm, 8MB buffer, Price when ranked: $350,

Bottom Line: Coming in a tad short of second place overall in our speed tests, Maxtor's drive is a cinch to use. Other capacities: 80GB, 120GB, 160GB, 200GB, 250GB, 300GB.

Test Report • Check latest prices 		Check Latest Prices
Ximeta NetDisk PCW Rating: 3.5PCW Rating: 3.5PCW Rating: 3.5

Last Rated:

2. Ximeta NetDisk

160GB, USB 2.0 and ethernet interface, 2 pounds, 11.8 ounces, 7200 rpm, 2MB buffer, Price when ranked: $240,

Bottom Line: Second only to the CMS drive in speed, the NetDisk can serve a single PC or a network. A software upgrade is on the way. Other capacities: 80GB, 120GB, 250GB.

Test Report • Check latest prices 		Check Latest Prices
Seagate 160GB External Drive PCW Rating: 3.5PCW Rating: 3.5PCW Rating: 3.5

Last Rated:

3. Seagate 160GB External Drive

160GB, USB 2.0 and FireWire interface, 3 pounds, 13.6 ounces, 7200 rpm, 8MB buffer, Price when ranked: $250,

Bottom Line: Handsome drive provides one-button access to configurable backups. Available only in 160GB capacity.

Test Report • Check latest prices 		Check Latest Prices
AcomData RocketPod DrivePod PCW Rating: 3.5PCW Rating: 3.5PCW Rating: 3.5

Last Rated:

4. AcomData RocketPod DrivePod

160GB, USB 2.0 interface, 3 pounds, 12 ounces, 7200 rpm, 2MB buffer, Price when ranked: $229,

Bottom Line: Multiples of this unique stackable drive can share a single USB connection. No backup software included. Also available in 120GB capacity.

Test Report • Check latest prices 		Check Latest Prices
Western Digital Dual-Option Media Center PCW Rating: 3.5PCW Rating: 3.5PCW Rating: 3.5

Last Rated:

5. Western Digital Dual-Option Media Center

200GB, USB 2.0 and FireWire interface, 4 pounds, 5.2 ounces, 7200 rpm, 8MB buffer, Price when ranked: $400,

Bottom Line: Great all-in-one storage box includes a USB hub and a memory card reader, but drive performance is a bit slow. Other capacities: 160GB, 250GB.

Test Report • Check latest prices 		Check Latest Prices
CMS Products Velocity SATA Automatic Backup System PCW Rating: 3.0PCW Rating: 3.0PCW Rating: 3.0

Last Rated:

6. CMS Products Velocity SATA Automatic Backup System

120GB, Serial ATA interface, 3 pounds, 7.1 ounces, 7200 rpm, 8MB buffer, Price when ranked: $350,

Bottom Line: Pricey drive provides impressive performance. Backs up data lightning-fast and can serve as a bootable hard disk. Other capacities: 80GB, 200GB.

Test Report • Check latest prices 		Check Latest Prices
IOGear Combo 2.5-Inch Ion Drive PCW Rating: 3.0PCW Rating: 3.0PCW Rating: 3.0

Last Rated:

7. IOGear Combo 2.5-Inch Ion Drive

40GB, USB 2.0 and FireWire interface, 1 pound, 0.6 ounces, 4200 rpm, 2MB buffer, Price when ranked: $220,

Bottom Line: Nearly as fast as the Sony Giga Vault, the Ion is light, durable, and fairly compact. Other capacities: 20GB, 30GB, 60GB, 80GB.

Test Report • Check latest prices 		Check Latest Prices
Sony Giga Vault PCW Rating: 3.5PCW Rating: 3.5PCW Rating: 3.5

Last Rated:

8. Sony Giga Vault

40GB, USB 2.0 interface, 1 pound, 3.3 ounces, 5400 rpm, 2MB buffer, Price when ranked: $250,

Bottom Line: An unusually quick ultraportable drive, the Giga Vault accepts USB 2.0 and FireWire interface modules. Also available in 80GB capacity.

Test Report • Check latest prices 		Check Latest Prices
LaCie Data Bank PCW Rating: 4.0PCW Rating: 4.0PCW Rating: 4.0

Last Rated:

9. LaCie Data Bank

40GB, USB 2.0 and FireWire interface, 5.7 ounces, 4200 rpm, 0.5MB buffer, Price when ranked: $349,

Bottom Line: The fashionable Data Bank is superportable, but you pay for it in low performance and a high price. Also available in 20GB capacity.

Test Report • Check latest prices 		Check Latest Prices
  • Recommend this story?
  • 0 Yes
    0 No

Today's Special Offers

Name City
Address 1 State Zip
Address 2 E-mail (optional)