- PC World

« Return to: Ultimate Backup Guide

Task: Back up under 2GB

Street price 5/10/02)

Tested capacity¹

Media cost

Pieces of media
required for 10GB backup

Cost of
full 10GB
backup²

Internal or
external
drive/interface

Bootable drive

OS supported

Bundled software

Time to back up 10GB(hours:min)³

MB per minute(full backup)

Time to back up 500MB(min:sec)⁴

Service and support

Comments

Fujitsu DynaMO 1300U2

$299

1.3GB

$20

$459

External/USB 2.0

Windows 98, Me, 2000, XP

None

3:06

10:31

Lifetime toll-free phone support for 14 hours on weekdays and 8 hours on Saturdays; 1-year warranty

One of the slower drives reviewed; media is considered reliable and archivable, but it can be read only in a 3.5-inch magneto-optical drive.
(

)

Iomega Zip 250MB USB-Powered Drive

$149

250MB

250MB Zip, $15

⁵

n/a⁵

External/USB 1.1

Windows 9x, Me, NT, 2000, XP

Iomega QuikSync LE

n/a⁵

1-year toll-free support for 13 hours on weekdays; 1-year warranty

Has limited capacity and is very slow compared to other drives reviewed here; adequate for backing up a limited number of files.
(

)

Plextor PlexWriter 40/12/40A

$140

700MB (CD-R)

700MB CD-R, $0.50; 700MB CD-RW, $0.80

$147

Internal/IDE

Yes

Windows 98, Me, 2000, XP

Roxio Easy CD Creator 5.1 and DirectCD 5.1, Plextor Manager 2000

1:43

6:54

Unlimited toll-free support for 11 hours on weekdays; 1-year warranty

A fast, affordable drive that's best for smaller data backups with inexpensive media.
(

)

Task: Back up 2GB to 20GB

Street price (5/10/02)

Tested capacity¹

Media cost

Pieces of media required for 10GB backup

Cost of full 10GB backup²

Internal or external drive/interface

Bootable drive

OS supported

Bundled software

Time to back up 10GB (hours:min)³

MB per minute (full backup)

Time to back up 500MB (min:sec)⁴

Service and support

Comments

HP Dvd200i

$500

4.7GB (DVD+ RW)

4.7GB DVD+R, $6; 4.7GB DVD+RW, $10

$530

Internal/IDE

Yes

Windows 98, Me, NT, 2000, XP

Stomp RecordNow Max and DLA, HP Simple Backup

2:16

6:15

1-year support for 12 hours on weekdays (calls are not toll-free); 1-year warranty

Best choice for moderate backup tasks--it's fast and affordable, and the documentation is clearly written.
(

)

Iomega HDD 20GB Portable Hard Drive

$229

20GB

n/a

$229

External/FireWire

Yes

Windows 98 SE, Me, 2000, XP

Iomega Backup and QuikSync 3

1:23

111

1:03

1-year toll-free support for 13 hours on weekdays; 1-year warranty

Speedy portable drive backs up in the background or at scheduled times; can be used with USB 2.0 with optional module.
(

)

Pioneer DVR-A04

$460

4.7GB (DVD-RW)

DVD-R, $6; DVD-RW, $10

$480

Internal/IDE

Yes

Windows 98, Me, NT, 2000, XP

Stomp RecordNow DX and DLA, Sonic MyDVD 3, CyberLink PowerDVD XP 4

4:37

93:03

Lifetime toll-free support for 10.5 hours on weekdays; 1-year warranty

Depending on the software used,takes an hour or more to format media; however, it's the best drive for creating DVD-Video discs.
(

)

QPS DVDBurner

$380

9.4GB (DVD-RAM)

9.4GB DVD-RAM, $25; 4.7GB DVD-RAM, $15; 4.7GB DVD-R, $6

$422

Internal/IDE

Windows 98, Me, NT, 2000, XP

PowerDVD XP 4.0, MedioStream NeoDVD 3.0, VOB InstantWrite 2.5

3:06

7:32

1-year support for 8 hours on weekdays (calls are not toll-free); 1-year warranty

Uses 9.4GB DVD-RAM discs that other DVD-ROM-compatible drives can't read; can write to DVD-R and read CD-R and -RW media, but can't write CDs.
(

)

Task: Back up over 20GB

Street price (5/10/02)

Tested capacity¹

Media cost

Pieces of media required for 10GB backup

Cost of full 10GB backup²

Internal or external drive/interface

Bootable drive

OS supported

Bundled software

Time to back up 10GB (hours:min)³

MB per minute (full backup)

Time to back up 500MB (min:sec)⁴

Service and support

Comments

CMS Peripherals ABSplus for Desktops

$399

80GB

n/a

$399

External/USB 2.0

Yes

Windows 98, Me, 2000, XP

CMS Automatic Backup System

0:18

510

0:46

Lifetime support for 11 hours on weekdays (calls are not toll-free); 3-year warranty

Fastest product reviewed; preconfigured software automatically backs up PC; best for users who can't afford downtime.
(

)

Exabyte VXA-1 Tape Drive

$798⁶

33GB

33GB VXA-1 tape, $67

$798

External/Ultra2 SCSI

Depends on backup software

None

3:31

n/a

Lifetime toll-free support for 11 hours on weekdays; 3-year warranty

Solid and reliable, but also pricey and slow; good for regular large-scale automated backups.
(

)

Interactive Media 80GB KanguruDisk

$290⁷

80GB

80GB hard drive cartridge, $210

n/a

$290

Internal/IDE

Yes

Windows 9x, Me, NT, 2000, XP

NovaStor Disk-to-Disk Backup

0:42

225

1:25

Lifetime support for 8 hours on weekdays (calls are not toll-free); 3-year warranty

Ungainly, but this removable hard disk cartridge is flexible: It can also be used as a portable external drive via optional connectors.
(

)

Quantum Snap Server 1100

$849

80GB

n/a

$849

External/ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX

Yes

Windows 9x, Me, NT, 2000, XP

PowerQuest DataKeeper

2:51

2:41

Lifetime toll-free support for 12 hours on weekdays; 2-year warranty

Compact enough to carry with you, this server easily backs up multiple PCs on a small network; it can work remotely over a wide-area network.
(

)

n/a = Not applicable.
¹ Capacity of fixed media (not using compression) or of one piece of removable media.
² Based on price of drive and media (not using compression) to do full 10GB backup.
³ Total time to complete 10GB backup using the default settings of the software noted in chart. Actual backup size varied, depending on what software was used. Time includes 15 seconds per disc to account for disc swapping.
⁴ Time includes disc formatting, where necessary, to copy folder via Windows Explorer (rewritable DVD drives used Stomp's DLA drive-letter access software; CD-RW drive used Roxio's DirectCD 5.1).
⁵ Not tested by PC World Test Center.
⁶ Requires purchase of separate backup package to use the drive.
⁷ Includes NovaStor backup software and internal dock for PC.