Ultra-portable Hard Drive
Written: Aug 02 '06
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Size, speed, dosn't need a plug
Cons: Cumbersome Cable
The Bottom Line: It has the advantages of small size and speed. This is perfect if you are frequently on the move with large files and speed is important.
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| dandino's Full Review: SimpleTech (STI-USB25/40) 40 GB USB 2.0 Hard Drive |
To start off with, I have a different usage for this than most would. I needed to quickly transfer excessively large files and run them. I work on 3-D microscopy with files exceeding 1GB. I needed to be able to move my data quickly from the microsope computer to my laptop so others can use the scope. I couldn't believe how nicely this little critter worked. I'm used to a large delay in opening files from a DVD, however this opened them fairly quickly (compared to the 7200 on my laptop and 9600 on the microscope computer). The slightly longer opening times (compared to an external drive that needed to be plugged into an outlet running at 7200RPM) was quickly forgotten when accounting for its portability and freedom from external power.
DESCRIPTION
It is a small, thin silver case with a stumpy little USB. If you are using your laptop, you can take the 2" cable and plug it in, but you'll likely need the cable. It is small enough to fit into your pocket. Even better, I have a 3.5" floppy storage area in my laptop case, this thing fits right in.
SPEED
The only reason I chose Simpletech was because of the RPMs, 5400 compared to 4.xK for the competitors. When working with large amounts of data continuously being transfered, this was a huge advantage. I can fill the 40GB drive in 12-15 minutes. I recently uploaded half as much onto my wife's iPod and it took almost a half hour.
CONNECTION/CABLE
This is where it looses a star. Apparantly, Apples don't run enough current through their USB's to power this guy. So it has a 3 headed USB. 1 for the drive, and 2 for the computer. My Dell has plenty of juice, so the 3rd cable is just left flapping in the breeze. But you can use any high-speed cable, as I've done. I purchased a 40GB and 80GB, the cable that came with the 80GB didn't support high speeds, but the drive was fine on other cables.
POWER
If you havn't picked up on it yet, this is a USB powered drive which has 2 major conveniences 1)no crawling under your desk for outlets 2)Goes with and is powered by your laptop.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
dandino
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Location: Long Island, NY
Reviews written: 49
Trusted by: 7 members
About Me:
I like tools and electronic gizmos.
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