Conclusion

This test session has proved again that modern external storage devices based on 2.5” HDDs are not satisfied with the bandwidth provided by the USB interface. If you need a really high speed, you should consider devices with an eSATA interface in the first place. If this interface doesn’t suit you for some reason (for example, your PC doesn’t have it and you don’t want to buy an appropriate expansion card), look for models with a FireWire port.

The interface is important, yet not everything. The characteristics of the HDD installed in the external storage device are important, too. The HDD’s firmware algorithms affect performance greatly as you could see with Teac’s products: the USB model would occasionally overtake the eSATA one.

As for the specific drives I have tested today, both models from Teac have performed well, especially the eSATA-interfaced HD-15 PUS. The simpler HD-15 PUK-B was always among the fastest USB-interfaced models.

The ZIV Pro must be pointed out, too. Of course, FireWire is slower than eSATA, but it is more widespread, especially in notebooks. It usually ensures a much higher speed than the USB interface.

The Seagate Portable External Hard Drive and the Maxtor OneTouch II disappointed us this time. The slow performance of these models seems to be caused by the HDD installed in them. The drives from Toshiba and Transcend would often find themselves in last places, too.

We’ll be informing you about new external drives with larger capacities and, hopefully, with faster interfaces – USB 3.0 is expected to bring about a tenfold performance boost!