StarTech.com Portable 3.5" IEEE-1394a FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 Combo IDE Drive Case

Advantages: Good Looking, Robust
Disadvantages: Scratch Easily, Heavy

...these can be deceptive, we'll take a look at the rear of the unit, the connection panel. It features a power switch, a power socket, two FireWire 400 ports, and a USB 2.0 port, nothing complicated, just the tools for the job. The second FireWire port is for daisy-chaining devices. This is super-handy, as many PCs and Macs have only 1 FireWire 400 port. Hook up the hard disk to the computer and plug your next FireWire device into the free port on the hard disk. Easy peasy! From many years of experience using PCs running Windows, and my last year becoming intimate with Mac OSX, I honestly don't have a favourite. It's difficult to choose as Windows does some things far better than OSX can, and OSX makes some tasks wonderfully easy where windows struggles. OSX makes using external drives a doddle. This drive was pre-formatted for OSX, so i simply... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: The Funky Coloured lights and simple plug-in access
Disadvantages: No Switch to turn lights off.

...This was a must i love all things that light up and this is just what i was looking for. I have a wireless router which allows me to connect a USB 2.0 Drive to it and use it as a SAN (or network work drive) because i have the router system on 24/7 i also have this drive pretty much on all the time as well for the on-demand access. The drive has a very quite operating noise really beacoming slightly louder when accessing the drive. The simplististy of the device is astronomical plug it in and wait a few seconds for Windows XP to detect the drive and hey presto their is a new drive in my computer drag and dropping files within explorer or other programs is a brezee. The whole ethos for this drive is that the consumer plugs it in either a usb compatable router or standard p.c. or laptop, and the device does the rest of the setup... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Build quality, good brand, lots of connection choices
Disadvantages: Medium speed

...Storage is all important, whether you need it for your day-to-day work, or for backing up those important files, you can never have enough of it. A lot of users are now turning to off-site storage solutions, such as Amazons S3 service. However, if you need something fast and reliable, then there is no other option that a desktop hard drive. Iomega have been in this game for a long time. I remember with a warm glow, the day when the original Zip Drive was released. Wow, all that data on a tiny little disk, the size of a fat 3.5-inch floppy. Well, they kindly sent me there Professional Series Desktop Hard Drive, with triple interface to review. Offering up 500GB of storage, with USB 2.0, FireWire 400 and two FireWire 800 ports lined up across the back panel. It is also nice to see an on/off switch on the back too (many drives don't come... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful