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Test:

Since it is a fairly unique product we received for testing, we decided to carry out an expanded test which includes more than testing simple transfer speeds.

The factors we will examine are:
Shock protection
RFID encryption
Transfer speed

Shock protection

I will start by talking about the shock protection. We mounted a 2.5” 7200 RPM drive in the enclosure for the test. The manufacturer has tested a 2m free fall which it should be able to handle. We only went for a free fall of 1.5m (power off so the read/write arm does not break as easily) however, but there were no problems with the drive after 5 consecutive falls.

We are not saying you can actually drop it at 2m without it breaking, but the construction certainly affects how large a shock your drive can survive.

We made a small demo showing that it actually works after a 1.5m drop. It is not full HD quality, but should still give you an idea of what we put it through.

See the clip here

RFID encryption

First off, please note that this kind of RFID encryption does not protect your data to the extent that someone who takes the drive out of the enclosure and mounts it in a computer cannot access your data. So, it is not a solution for highly sensitive data, but more like an additional safety feature or a way to protect your data when you are away from the computer.

Secondly, we were unable to get the encryption working by reading the manual. It was not until we visited their Asian site and found an expanded manual for setting up the RFID encryption that we got it going. So, you can pretty much choose whether you want the encryption or not. The method itself for activating it is remarkably simple, especially if you are mounting a brand new drive.

We also did a quick test to see if the RFID encryption affects transfer speeds, and were able to conclude that it makes no difference.

Transfer speed

We have gone through a good deal of storage units in three identical benchmarks, and so have a basis for comparing the transfer speeds.

The test setup consists of:
IBM T61
CPU: Intel P8400 – 2.4GHz
Storage: G.Skill Falcon 128 GB SSD
Graphics: 128MB nVidia Quadro NVS 140M



Our first test program is Crystal diskmark.
We start out with a very impressive reading speed, regardless of file size, but switching over to writing gives a slightly disappointing result, although that may just be the hard drive. As such, it may not always be best to simply go for the higher RPM drive, not in the least because such tend to use more power.



After that we tested the reading and seeking speed in HD Tach. The seeking speed is slightly lower than that of 5400 RPM drives and also our 7200 RPM 3.5” drive. However, the reading speed is very impressive for a USB 2.0 unit at over 30 MB/s.



The most comprehensive test we decided to show is HD Tune Pro, which tests a number of factors.

Here it actually comes out on top, closely followed by the 5400 RPM drive from WD, which again makes me doubt the viability of 7200 RPM drives for external storage units. Anyway, the speed is tip top, so no problems there.