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Mega Storage to GoThere's a new removable storage option for every job, from key chain-size USB drives to humongous external hard disks. We examine 15 portable, affordable contenders.
When picking a storage device, you'll want to balance several factors, including capacity, portability, and cost. Which one you choose will depend on how you intend to use your storage. For example, you may want to transport files on a flash memory drive that you can put in your pocket and attach to any computer that has a USB port. Perhaps you want to burn data to cheap discs that most CD or DVD drives can read. Or maybe you want to transfer gigabytes of files to a hard drive. To address these different storage situations, we separated the products in this review into three categories: "Put It in Your Pocket," "Make Multiple Copies," and "Really Pack It Away." After all, you wouldn't rely on a comparatively slow optical or cartridge drive with removable media to back up your entire hard disk-- not when the external hard drives we tested were far faster and could complete the task in one step. And you wouldn't reach for a hard drive if you had a pocket-size flash memory drive to tote your presentation from desktop to laptop. We tested 15 products in the PC World Test Center; our Best Buy picks in each category--SanDisk's pocket-size Cruzer, Sony's DRU-510A DVD burner, and Maxtor's Personal Storage 5000DV external hard drive--offered the best mix we could find of capacity, portability, and price. One factor behind the recent expansion in storage options is widespread support for USB 2.0 on new desktop and notebook PCs. At 480 megabits (60 megabytes) per second, USB 2.0 is fast enough that it doesn't slow down external drive performance, as USB 1.1 does. And since neither USB 2.0 nor the less common FireWire 400 requires you to install drivers or special software, connecting drives using these interfaces is painless, and the drives will work almost instantly under Windows Millennium Edition, 2000, or XP. The same is true of the new FireWire 800 interface, also known as IEEE 1394b, which doubles the maximum speed to 800 mbps (100 MBps). In light of the convenience of these fast interfaces, it's no wonder that external drives are becoming so popular. Storage Your WayThere's practically a different device for every storage need. Depending on the task at hand, you may want a small, pocket-size drive like the SanDisk Cruzer, a removable-media drive like the Sony DRU-510A DVD burner, or an external hard drive like Maxtor's Personal Storage 5000DV. We've identified five common tasks and picked the best bet for each.
Put It in Your Pocket
Easily the most convenient way to transport files from place to place, featherweight, key chain-size devices come in capacities as large as 2GB in solid-state (no moving parts) memory systems that are not much bigger than one or two packs of gum. Most are reasonably sturdy and effortless to use--just plug them in, wait a few seconds for a driver to load, and they're ready to take your files. These pocketable drives are most appropriate if your capacity requirements top out at 512MB. They can hold important documents, hundreds of digital photos, or hours of MP3s. If you need more space, though, these devices get prohibitively expensive: Prices for the models we looked at range from a modest $80 for a 128MB drive to $165 for a 256MB unit; but a key chain-size 2GB flash memory drive costs $1300, more than four times the cost of a 512MB model. That high cost alone is reason enough not to spring for a 2GB device--which you could lose as easily as you might misplace your keys. Three products we tested, from Kanguru Solutions, M-Systems, and TrekStor USA, use on-board flash memory. But the other two models we evaluated rely solely on removable flash media cards: Our Best Buy, the SanDisk Cruzer, handles MultiMediaCard and Secure Digital, and the Lexar Media JumpDrive Trio supports Memory Stick, MMC, and SD. Removable flash media has several advantages. You can share the cards with a compatible digital camera or PDA, and you can easily supplement your capacity with new cards as needed, at about half what you'd pay for an additional, solid-state memory drive of comparable capacity. On the other hand, you have to take care not to misplace the tiny media cards. The Cruzer, priced at $85 and equipped with a 256MB SD card, is one of the best values in this roundup despite being slightly larger than the other devices we tested. (It measures about 0.75 inch across, so it may not fit in the space allotted for USB ports on some desktop systems, in which case you'll have to use the included USB 1.1 extension cable to connect the drive to your PC.) Unlike other devices, which cover their USB connectors with an easy-to-misplace cap, the Cruzer has a nifty retractable connector. Although Lexar Media's JumpDrive Trio ($80 with a 128MB Memory Stick, $20 without memory) has a more tapered form than the SanDisk Cruzer and supports three media types, we liked it the least of the five products we tested. For one, you have to open a flimsy, poorly designed flap to insert your media into the JumpDrive Trio, and then close the flap behind the card. Furthermore, the device was the slowest writer we tested, though it finished third in reading among the models in its category. Kanguru Solutions' KanguruMicro Drive+ ($130) sports an SD slot in addition to its 256MB of integrated memory. With an SD card inserted, the Kanguru displays two logical drives within Windows, one for the built-in memory and one for the card. This USB 1.1 device was about 12 percent slower than the Cruzer at writing our 120MB test file, though, and it was slowest at reading that same file. The dedicated flash memory drives we evaluated--M-Systems' DiskOnKey Classic 2.0 and TrekStor USA's ThumbDrive 2 Smart--have a few things in common. Both devices are bootable (if your BIOS supports booting from a USB device), and both offer free software that lets you add password-protected, resizable partitions. The DiskOnKey ($165 with 256MB of storage space) uses an on-board ARM7 CPU to accelerate transfers impressively: It took less than one-fourth as long as its closest competitor, the Cruzer, to complete our write test, and about one-third as long as the next-fastest drive, the ThumbDrive 2, to speed through our read test. By contrast, the tiny ThumbDrive 2 Smart ($100 for 128MB) took six and a half times longer than the DiskOnKey to complete our write tests. Despite being billed as a USB 2.0 device, the model we tested is merely a USB 1.1 drive that works--as all USB 1.1 devices do--under USB 2.0 at standard 1.1 speed. By early fall, TrekStor USA plans to release an updated ThumbDrive with enhanced electronics that should boost performance. TrekStor sells this ThumbDrive model directly; Memorex markets the same ThumbDrive as a USB 1.1 drive. Features Comparison: Handy Pocket-Size Drives (chart)
Make Multiple Copies
The five drives--from Addonics, Iomega, LG Electronics, Plextor, and Sony--that we evaluated in this category are a mixture of internal and external models that rely on removable media. This type of storage can be a tremendous advantage for such tasks as transporting large files and making copies of your data to share or archive as needed. An added benefit: The media for these drives is relatively inexpensive (except for Iomega's Zip 750 disks, which cost up to $15 each). To test each drive in this category, we used the appropriate rewritable media--CD-RW, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM, or Zip 750--and dragged and dropped a 500MB folder of files in Windows Explorer. For each of the four optical drives, we first installed the included packet-writing software to permit such drag-and-drop file transfers. The capacity of rewritable DVD gives it a clear edge in this category (see our most recent Top 10 DVD Drives chart for our picks). Our Best Buy is the $330 Sony DRU-510A, a speedy internal drive that supports DVD-RW and DVD+RW (and their corresponding-R and +R write-once formats). Using 4X DVD+RW media, it handily outpaced the competition, and was almost three times as fast as the next best drive, the Plextor, on our write tests. Its terrific software bundle includes ArcSoft ShowBiz, Sonic MyDVD, and Veritas Simple Backup. Though Sony makes an external version of the DRU-510A, Addonics' $440 Pocket DVD-R/RW is smaller and more portable. This slim-line USB 2.0 drive relies on a notebook DVD burner, which writes DVD-RW discs at 1X--far slower than most internal drives. The unit took 6 minutes, 17 seconds to write 500MB (compared with 1 minute, 56 seconds for the Sony), but it was still faster (by over a minute) than LG's $220 Super-Multi DVD-Writer GMA 4020B. We tested the multiformat LG using 2X DVD-RAM media; its write performance was the slowest among the drives in this category. CD media remains the most widely compatible, which is why dedicated CD burners continue to thrive. Basic drives average about $70 (head to our most recent Top 10 CD-RW Drives chart for a selection), but Plextor's $120 PlexWriter Premium adds a few interesting features. For one, Plextor says the drive will soon support 32X CD-RW via a firmware upgrade (we tested the drive with 24X media). It also includes the inelegant PlexTools applet, which lets you cram 1GB of data onto a 700MB CD-R and password-protect the disc. The PlexWriter took nearly three times as long as the Sony DVD drive to write our 500MB folder of files; still, at just about a third of the cost of the Sony, it's a strong value. The lone nonoptical drive in this category, Iomega's $180 Zip 750, offers a durable, cartridge-based alternative. This USB 2.0 drive has a slick-looking design, includes useful Iomega backup utilities, and proved surprisingly quick in our tests, trailing the PlexWriter Premium by only 7 percent. The drive can read from 100MB cartridges, and it can read from and write (rather slowly) to 250MB cartridges. However, unlike CDs, you can share Zip 750 disks only with other Zip 750 drive users, since the media is not backward compatible with older Zip drives. Features Comparison: Flexible Removable Media Drives (chart)
Really Pack It Away
Flash memory is optimal for quick, small file transfers, and optical storage is ideal for midsize tasks. But if you need to back up a hard drive or transport really large files, an external hard drive is your best option for the job. The $300 SmartDisk FireLite Portable FireWire Hard Drive and the $260 Storix Fusion 40GB HDD are lightweight and will fit in your hand. Other models, such as the $340 LaCie D2 U&I Hard Drive, are about the size of a hardcover novel. Regardless of their physical size, the five units we scrutinized are simply internal hard drives in a fancy shell. And although those shells usually contain some sort of shock protection, one jarring drop could spell doom for your data. Still, if handled with proper care, these drives are great for backing up gigabytes of files: Two units we looked at--from Maxtor and Storix--even include Dantz's Retrospect Express software to facilitate backups. For tasks that require high-end performance, you'll want a model that contains a faster, higher-capacity, 3.5-inch desktop drive--such as the LaCie, the Maxtor Personal Storage 5000DV (our Best Buy), or the WiebeTech UltraGB-120HS. Pocket-size external hard disks typically use 2.5-inch notebook drives, as the SmartDisk and Storix models do. Accordingly, these drives have a lower capacity (topping out at 60GB) and run at a slower rate (measured in revolutions per minute) than their desktop siblings. Our test results reflect this: The Storix trailed the leader in this category, the LaCie, by about 40 percent in our write test; the SmartDisk trailed the LaCie by about 65 percent, making it the slowest drive at writing data. The smaller drives cost more, too: For example, the svelte, dual-interface Storix costs only $40 less than the Maxtor, but the latter has four times the capacity. Maxtor's $300 5000DV comes preformatted, and supports both FireWire 400 and USB 2.0. A solid performer (it ranked second on our write test), its greatest asset is its one-step approach to backup: Simply push a button on the front bezel of the drive to launch the included backup utility. Getting Retrospect Express running properly takes a bit of fiddling; but once you've fine-tuned it, the 5000DV is terrific for backups or everyday storage needs. LaCie's D2 U&I is a big 200GB drive; it was the heaviest external model we reviewed. Though the D2 supports FireWire 800 and was easily the fastest drive in this category, we didn't see a dramatic performance boost in our tests between FireWire 400 and 800--the drive was just 35 seconds (5 percent) faster on our write test using FireWire 800. The minor performance difference is attributable to the fact that current hard drives can't feed data through the FireWire 800 interface swiftly enough to produce a significant improvement. The drive comes unformatted, and installation is awkward: Windows 98 users must install an included third-party application; XP and 2000 users are directed to the arcana of the Administrative Tools control panel. The $330 WiebeTech UltraGB-120HS requires similar hoop-jumping to configure. We obtained mixed results when trying to format the 120GB disk: One drive we tested worked flawlessly the first time through, while another required three tries. The inadequate manual was of little help in resolving our issues. However, depending upon your PC's configuration, the drive can run from the system's bus power when connected to the FireWire 400 port, eliminating the need for a power adapter. Though this feature is common with lower-power 2.5-inch drives such as the Storix and SmartDisk, it is unusual with 3.5-inch models. Features Comparison: Roomy External Hard Drives (chart)
Lab Notes: File Transfers With a TwistWe tested the read and write capabilities of drives in this review by using Windows XP Professional's Explorer to transfer a folder of files to the device, and then to copy that folder back to our hard drive. For the "Put It in Your Pocket" category, we used 120MB of files; for "Make Multiple Copies," 500MB (and rewritable media); and for "Really Pack It Away," 10GB. The results in each category reflect performance across a range of drive and media types for the tested file sample. Throughput per megabyte will vary, though, depending on such factors as the amount and size of the files you're writing; the area of access on the hard drive, or on the DVD or CD media; and the speed rating of the CD or DVD media. Storage Tools to Keep Your Data Organized
Label it: Never mind using a permanent marker; kits from Imation, Maxell, Memorex, and others let you design custom labels and print to disc-size templates; they also include an optical-disc label applicator. Avery even makes tiny labels for flash media and various media types, and offers free, downloadable Word templates that work with them. Or print your label directly on certain CDs or DVDs with Epson's Stylus Photo 900 ink jet printer. Open the Briefcase: Microsoft's Briefcase (built in to Windows) can be useful for keeping duplicate data on your primary PC and on a device such as a laptop or an external hard drive. Files updated at either location are replicated to the other device whenever you choose to synchronize files by clicking the Update All button. To give it a try, open the storage device in Windows XP's Explorer and select New, Briefcase, and then follow the wizard. Organize it all: Windows' Indexing may facilitate searching your hard disk; but inexpensive utilities such as Argentum's MyFiles, Elcomsoft's Advanced Disk Catalog, and 1Vision Software's 1Disk can index and organize your files across removable media as well. These apps can tell you on what disc you'll find a long-lost MP3--but it's still up to you to clean out the garage. Get a device that does more: Do you really need to cart 30GB of music around on your Apple IPod? There's no reason your ears can't spare a little space for your brain. Have your music player cede a few gigabytes of storage space to share with your PC. Some hard-drive audio players, such as the IPod and Creative's Nomad Jukebox Zen, can store data; likewise, some USB flash memory drives, such as the CenDyne Gruvstick, can play MP3 files. Later this year we'll see models that incorporate digital cameras, too. Tomorrow's StorageIf you feel undersupplied with storage capacity, just wait: Greater capacities--in various shapes and sizes--are on the horizon. Blue-laser DVD: In the next year, blue-laser DVD technology will boost the capacity of a single-sided DVD from 4.7GB (using a red laser) to double-digit gigabytes. But get ready for another format war, as well: Two competing consortia are working on incompatible blue-laser standards. Pioneer, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, and other parties are promoting "Blu-ray" technology, which will write up to 27GB per disc and will target high-end video applications for recording 2 hours of high-definition television on a disc. NEC and Toshiba, which jointly announced a blue-laser technology dubbed Advanced Optical Disc, lead the other consortium. This group claims that AOD media will hold up to 36GB of data and will be able to read and write existing red-laser DVDs. If you want blue-laser DVD, you may have to wait a while: The first stand-alone Blu-ray DVD recorder, from Sony, is available only in Japan, and it costs about $4000; blue-laser DVD drives from other makers are due in the United States in the first half of 2004. Hard drives: One anticipated application of Serial ATA is in the pending IVDR standard. This spec defines a removable-cartridge format for hard drives, so users will be able to tote removable cartridges from their PC to their home theater to their car audio system as they would a DVD or CD. Products aren't expected until 2004. Meanwhile, users will be able to share Ximeta's NetDisk, due later this summer, via a 10/100 Base-T ethernet network. The portable hard drive appears as a local drive to all of the computers on the network, but it doesn't require the overhead of users' having to configure the drive on a server.
Christopher Null is a freelance journalist and technology consultant in San Francisco. |
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Storage is like money: You can never have too much. And you need different denominations for different situations.
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Duplicate files, mounds of unlabeled media, and the pressing question of which disk has what archive: Do these common scenarios sound familiar? We offer some tips to help you through the herculean labor of organizing your data.
Miniature media: In the fall, Hitachi plans to upgrade the capacity of the Microdrive (originally developed by IBM, and almost as small as a CompactFlash card) from 1GB to 4GB. Hitachi says that the new Microdrives should be priced lower than a comparably sized CF card (which will cost $1000), and will find a home in high-end digital photography and digital video recording. However, CF cards will continue to drop in price and gain capacity. Flash media vendors expect CompactFlash to hit 8GB by the end of 2004. Secure Digital cards will reach 1GB by the end of 2003.All Topics | Email Article | |  |  |
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