Storage World

There are several reasons for carrying large amounts of data around.Those who work or play with digital video,photos or music will soon find that a flash drive or USB key won’t do the business.

A portable hard disk,which works on the same plug-and-go principle,offers much more room and can still be compact. The snappily named PX-SP08U from
Plextor is even claimed to be shock proofed to withstand the occasional fall. The PX-SP08U is a 2.5in hard disk in a light alloy case.It comes with a silicon
rubber jacket that can be snapped onto it when it’s being carried.

There’s also a leather-like pouch in which to keep the whole thing.A separate power supply isn’t needed as it draws all it needs from a USB 2 socket. We timed some typical transfer speeds using a mixed ‘basket’ of files that totaled 1Gb in size.The Plextor drive transferred the lot in just over a minute.The PXSP08U isn’t blazingly fast,but it is quick enough to play video or music without lag or jitter.

It’s extremely simple to use;just plug it into a USB 2 port and Windows XP identifies it as an additional hard disk allowing you to copy files to and from it.
The PX-SP08Ucan be used for backup too,though disappointingly no application software is supplied.

The PX-SP08U claims to withstand a drop from 80cm,the height of most tables and desks.We dropped it onto carpet from this height,with no ill effects.The harddisk continued to work faultlessly.We hadn’t the heart to repeat the test on a hard floor,but it’s obviously pretty robust. If 80Gb isn’t enough space,Plextor offers the PX-SP12Uat 120Gb.