Posts tagged external
PogoPlug – A Tech Review
Jul 27th
After seeing various reviews littered about the web and watching video’s of people using and unboxing a pogoplug, there was not enough detailed write up about how it works on a day to day unit rather than just something to shares your files across the internet. I had spotted this device in a local store for £79, the retail price was £99, so a saving of £20 to be had. Was this a cheap NAS box that could suit my needs or would it turn out to be something slow and unusable.
Multi Computer organisation
Feb 23rd
I am going to try and explain what I have learned over the many years of using many computers – to try and present what I feel is a good layout for your media so that you stop loosing important files by silly mistakes. While this is not the be all and end all of how to use a computer, it will help you stop having duplicates, needing to keep backing up multiple times and pay for services online.
Icy Box Docking Station SATA HDD
Feb 17th
One of my recent purchases was this Icy Box Docking Station for 2.3” + 3.5” HDD which features a SATA + USB Interface. I bought this one from Aria UK for £18. I already own a 3.5” SATA Drive bay which features USB & eSATA but did not have the eSATA Lead and there is no way I was going to spend loads on postage just for a cheap lead. Having a handful of loose 2.5” SATA Drives hanging about as well as some 3.5” Models plus the Dell I own having eSATA built in as standard – I was good to go.
eSATA – The 3rd interface
Jan 10th
External Hard Drives normally comes with USB, sometimes Fire wire but on the rare occasion something called eSATA. Basically it goes like this in terms of speed:
USB 1.1 –> USB2 -> Firewire 400 –> Firewire 800 and finally eSATA which is the same speed as connecting the drive internally. I have not seen many FireWire 800 cases around and even FW400 commands a premium. Of course for the Mac User you have little choice, Apple have not got any eSATA connectors on any of there machines.
IOMEGA 500GIG External Drive
Oct 16th
IOMEGA 500GIG USB2 Drive
Some time ago, I was looking around for a 500GIG Drive which I could plug into my iMac – I Was not that bothered about the colour as such but I wanted a Quiet Drive, one that never went to Sleep (and slowed down the machine when it had to spin up again) plus has 500GIG of Space to match my Internal Drive of the Mac. The price was right on the IOMEGA and at about £50 (which at the time was cheaper then online) and it was Silver so it matched the iMac.
Around the Back
The Drive is pure USB2 only, has a Power Switch and a small external power supply. The Drive can be placed flat or using the supplied holder – be placed vertically so it takes up the least amount of desktop space. The case is made of Aluminium which aids with the cooling so this keeps the drive quite – this saves having a noisy fan on the back (though it does have a fan in there).
Lights and thoughts
As you can see from the photo – it has a Blue LED which does light up the room if it is dark – this is where the handy on/off switch comes into play. The Drive does not go to sleep or if it does, it spins up pretty fast. The Interface inside is SATA and the drive itself is pretty slim compared to some model’s I have seen. I have not tested the speed but its not as fast as an internal of course as it’s limited by the USB2 interface. I would have bought a Firewire one but the cost of these for some reason is a lot more. I rate this drive over the other’s I have (320GIG Model) and would buy the same make again.
