Buffalo MiniStation TurboUSB 80 GB Review

Buffalo MiniStation TurboUSB 80 GB detailed review

Portability With God Speed



The Buffalo MiniStation TurboUSB 80 GB portable hard drive is in a new class of high-performance external hard drives featuring the TurboUSB function that claims to increase speed. It’s a laptop SATA hard drive housed in a tough black plastic casing surrounded by cushioning material that absorbs shock. One of its major drawbacks is that it requires an extra USB cable for power.

TurboUSB dramatically increases the drive’s speed; by default, this is disabled, but you can enable it using the accompanying software. It took 56 seconds to write 1 GB of assorted files to the drive in the normal mode; it could achieve the same in TurboUSB mode in just 43 seconds flat—an increase of 23 per cent! TurboUSB isn’t a drive “mode” as such—it’s a software implementation, so you need to install the utility and enable this feature on any PC that you wish to use this drive with, to get the extra performance.

The bundled SecureLockWare software uses the powerful AES encryption algorithm to safeguard your data from prying eyes. It can not only encrypt files and folders, but also has an option that lets you encrypt the entire drive, making it virtually impossible to access the contents without entering the password. Memeo Backup is yet another useful tool that comes with the drive—it lets you take automatic and manual backups of your data on the drive.

The Buffalo MiniStation TurboUSB 80 GB impresses with its performance, costs Rs 3,960, and comes with a two-year warranty. For just a little more, you can get a portable drive with twice that capacity and a year more of warranty—that’s what stops us from recommending this drive.

Specifications
80 GB 5400 rpm SATA; Interface: USB 2.0 High-speed; Dimensions: 12.7 (W) x 2 (D) x 8.4 (H) cm; Weight: 190 gm

Contact : Advent Infotech Pvt Ltd
Phone : 91-011-41436751
E-mail : anjan@adventelectronics.com
Web site : www.buffalo-asia.com
Price : Rs 3,960