Buffalo MiniStation 80GB:Portable Harddisk

Buffalo has established the DriveStation series as a robust backup solution in the SOHO (Small Office – Home Office) segment.The MiniStation is available in four sizes – 80GB, 120GB, 160GB and 250GB. The storage media inside is a 5400 rpm SATA drive and is enclosed in a shock absorbent case.Memeo AutoBackup Software is included with the drive. This USB based device can operate without needing an external supply. To make it compatible with older systems and laptops that don't deliver sufficient power over a single USB port, a Y-cable is included to connect to a second port for additional power.Buffalo claims a speed increase of up to 60 percent with the use of its Turbo USB technology. To avail of any speed increase, you need to install the supplied driver. Without the additional driver installed, we got speeds equal to other drives - about 26MBps in Everest's linear write test. With the driver installed on our test machine, the figure jumped to 31 MBps, a 20 percent increase.Random and linear read speeds hovered around 40 MBps, as compared to 33 MBps without enabling the Turbo USB. When copying large amounts of data, this 20 percent increase can be very beneficial. Sure, you can buy a 2.5 inch laptop hard disk and a casing to assemble your own external storage, but what you get with the MiniStation is a shock absorbent casing (in important consideration for hard drives), higher speeds and warranty for the entire unit, not just the hard disk.