Top five portable drives: Thunderbolt meets USB 3.0
For more than a year, Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 didn't mix. You'd have
to choose one type of connection or the other to use. Now that Thunderbolt is available to Windows PCs and Macs also support USB 3.0, that's no longer the case.
That said, you find more and more portable storage products that support both of these fast and superfast peripheral standards. On this top-five list this time, there are already two drives that fit this category.
Following are the top five external hard drives on the market now that collectively offer all the goodies of the external storage world: speed, storage space, data safety, portability, and, of course, sexiness. They are sorted in the order I reviewed them with the most recently reviewed on top.
(Credit:
Dong Ngo
)
LaCie Rugged USB 3.0 Thunderbolt
The LaCie Rugged USB 3.0 Thunderbolt is the third Thunderbolt portable on the market that's bus-powered, meaning you don't need a separate power adapter for it. It supports both Thunderbolt and USB 3.0, and comes in both solid-state drive (SSD) and hard-drive versions. Of the other two bus-powered Thunderbolt drives on the market, the Elgato Thunderbolt is SSD-only and the Buffalo MiniStation Thunderbolt is available only with a regular hard drive.
The best thing about the LaCie, however, is not this flexibility or its rugged shockproof design, nor its really fast performance in my testing, but its pricing. At $200 for the 120GB SSD version, this drive is one of the most affordable Thunderbolt drives out there. This is even truer considering that the drive comes with a Thunderbolt cable, which normally would cost another $50. The LaCie's hard-drive version offers 1TB of storage space and costs about $250. Read the full review of the LaCie Rugged USB 3.0 Thunderbolt.
(Credit:
Dong Ngo
)
WD My Passport Edge
The new WD My Passport Edge is the latest in WD's My Passport family of portable drives. The new drive is now much more compact and light, while still offering very good USB 3.0 performance. The drive is designed for Windows PCs (though can easily be reformatted for Macs) and comes with very useful backup software. With a single capacity of 500GB, it'll make a very good companion for mobile users. Read the full review of the WD My Passport Edge.
(Credit:
Dong Ngo/CNET
)
Buffalo MiniStation Thunderbolt
The Buffalo MiniStation Thunderbolt portable drive, which came out in July, was the first Thunderbolt storage device on the market to also support USB 3.0. And it was the first to come with a Thunderbolt cable included, setting a new precedent that has been followed by other drives, such as the LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt above. Available in 500GB and 1TB capacities, the hard-drive-based Buffalo performed well in my testing. It also looks great. It comes formatted for Macs but can be easily reformatted to work with Windows.
The only downside is the fact that it isn't available with an SSD. Still, it's a great portable storage device, especially for those who work with both Thunderbolt-enabled and legacy computers. Read the full review of the Buffalo MiniStation Thunderbolt.
(Credit:
Dong Ngo/CNET
)
Seagate Backup Plus
The Backup Plus (available in 500GB, 650GB, and 1TB capacities) is the latest portable hard drive from Seagate, replacing the company's popular GoFlex line, which was first introduced back in 2001 and is known for being extremely flexible. Though the name has changed, the new product family retains the flexibility of the previous design; in fact, new Backup Plus drives work with the old GoFlex adapters. However, they now offer a new, easy backup approach, not just for local storage but also for your social-media personal data.
The Backup Plus drives also come in many colors to fit your tastes. In fact, the color of the backup software's interface actually changes based on the color of the drive. This isn't a huge deal, but it's definitely fun and helps you know which drive you're working with. Read the full review of the Seagate Backup Plus.
(Credit:
Dong Ngo/CNET
)
WD My Passport
Western Digital's new My Passport is the first portable drive that offers up to 2TB of storage space. The USB 3.0 drive is compact and bus-powered, and offered very fast performance in my testing. It also comes with effective backup software and useful utilities for both Windows and Mac computers.
The new My Passport comes in 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB capacities and will make a great companion for those who want to carry a lot of data on the go. Read the full review of the 2TB WD My Passport.
Want to find out how these five drives stack up against one another? Compare these drives head-to-head.
That said, you find more and more portable storage products that support both of these fast and superfast peripheral standards. On this top-five list this time, there are already two drives that fit this category.
Following are the top five external hard drives on the market now that collectively offer all the goodies of the external storage world: speed, storage space, data safety, portability, and, of course, sexiness. They are sorted in the order I reviewed them with the most recently reviewed on top.
(Credit:
Dong Ngo
)
The LaCie Rugged USB 3.0 Thunderbolt is the third Thunderbolt portable on the market that's bus-powered, meaning you don't need a separate power adapter for it. It supports both Thunderbolt and USB 3.0, and comes in both solid-state drive (SSD) and hard-drive versions. Of the other two bus-powered Thunderbolt drives on the market, the Elgato Thunderbolt is SSD-only and the Buffalo MiniStation Thunderbolt is available only with a regular hard drive.
The best thing about the LaCie, however, is not this flexibility or its rugged shockproof design, nor its really fast performance in my testing, but its pricing. At $200 for the 120GB SSD version, this drive is one of the most affordable Thunderbolt drives out there. This is even truer considering that the drive comes with a Thunderbolt cable, which normally would cost another $50. The LaCie's hard-drive version offers 1TB of storage space and costs about $250. Read the full review of the LaCie Rugged USB 3.0 Thunderbolt.
(Credit:
Dong Ngo
)
The new WD My Passport Edge is the latest in WD's My Passport family of portable drives. The new drive is now much more compact and light, while still offering very good USB 3.0 performance. The drive is designed for Windows PCs (though can easily be reformatted for Macs) and comes with very useful backup software. With a single capacity of 500GB, it'll make a very good companion for mobile users. Read the full review of the WD My Passport Edge.
(Credit:
Dong Ngo/CNET
)
The Buffalo MiniStation Thunderbolt portable drive, which came out in July, was the first Thunderbolt storage device on the market to also support USB 3.0. And it was the first to come with a Thunderbolt cable included, setting a new precedent that has been followed by other drives, such as the LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt above. Available in 500GB and 1TB capacities, the hard-drive-based Buffalo performed well in my testing. It also looks great. It comes formatted for Macs but can be easily reformatted to work with Windows.
The only downside is the fact that it isn't available with an SSD. Still, it's a great portable storage device, especially for those who work with both Thunderbolt-enabled and legacy computers. Read the full review of the Buffalo MiniStation Thunderbolt.
(Credit:
Dong Ngo/CNET
)
The Backup Plus (available in 500GB, 650GB, and 1TB capacities) is the latest portable hard drive from Seagate, replacing the company's popular GoFlex line, which was first introduced back in 2001 and is known for being extremely flexible. Though the name has changed, the new product family retains the flexibility of the previous design; in fact, new Backup Plus drives work with the old GoFlex adapters. However, they now offer a new, easy backup approach, not just for local storage but also for your social-media personal data.
The Backup Plus drives also come in many colors to fit your tastes. In fact, the color of the backup software's interface actually changes based on the color of the drive. This isn't a huge deal, but it's definitely fun and helps you know which drive you're working with. Read the full review of the Seagate Backup Plus.
(Credit:
Dong Ngo/CNET
)
Western Digital's new My Passport is the first portable drive that offers up to 2TB of storage space. The USB 3.0 drive is compact and bus-powered, and offered very fast performance in my testing. It also comes with effective backup software and useful utilities for both Windows and Mac computers.
The new My Passport comes in 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB capacities and will make a great companion for those who want to carry a lot of data on the go. Read the full review of the 2TB WD My Passport.
Want to find out how these five drives stack up against one another? Compare these drives head-to-head.
Tags: Windows Tips
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