Photo: Iomega

The slow, steady rollout of USB 3.0 devices continues with the Iomega eGo 500GB USB 3.0 external drive and while we’re all but ready to embrace faster transfer feeds, Iomega makes a silly omission that limits the full acceleration capabilities of the drive.

Specs

As the name suggests, the Iomega eGo has a drive capacity of 500GB and is USB 3.0 compliant. The bizarre design decision is that the drive spins at a limiting 5400rpm, which reduces the maximum transfer of data.

Design

Photo: Iomega

This external USB drive has a high gloss attractive finish. In many ways, it looks like a slightly miniaturised contemporary notebook, with its glossy black finish and counters. We would have preferred it were a smidgen smaller, bringing it in line with the Samsung G2 500GB external drive, but that’s just us nitpicking. Four rubber studs are added to the base of the drive so as to stop it from slipping off slippery surfaces, which is a neat touch. From a design point of view, there’s little not to like here, though we worry the glossy finish is crying to be scratched up through extended use.

Performance

The Iomega eGo 500GB external drive has very good but limited transfer speeds. When plugged into USB 2.0 slots, transfer speeds hover just below 30mb/s. When plugged into USB 3.0 slots, the average transfer rate is between 64mb/s and 65mb/s due to the favouring of a 5400rpm drive over a 7200rpm drive. While that may sound great, it’s slow when compared to the transfer speed on the equivalent Lacie Rugged 500GB USB 3.0 drive, which averaged over 80mb/s transfer rate.

The final say

We won’t lie and say we don’t like this 500GB external drive. It’s well built, and looks very elegant. Where the Iomega eGo 500GB USB 3.0 drive starts dropping the ball is in its unusual opting for the 5400rpm drive, which puts a limiter on the potential transfer speed on the drive. But the price is agreeable and Iomega is reputable.

Photo: LaCie

As fast data transfer becomes a growing concern, coupled with the increasing demand for more storage space, data storage manufacturers have had to come to terms with an interesting conundrum or two. The Lacie Rugged 500GB USB 3.0 external drive aims to solve these problems, while tackling an additional one – heavy use.

USB 3.0 is nearly here

The standout feature of this 500GB USB external drive is its USB 3.0 support running at 7200rpm and its super fast transfer speeds. In controlled tests, the drive’s transfer speeds exceeded 80mb/s on USB 3.0 and 29mb/s on USB 2.0. That’s a 1GB of data transferred in under 13 seconds, which is simply remarkable. The truth is the vast majority of computers do not support USB 3.0, so this remarkable speed boost will go unnoticed by most, but this is sure to change in the coming months.

Design

From a design build, as its name indicates, this Lacie 500GB USB external drive is meant to withstand the odd bump here and there. Lacie deliberately pitches the drive as being able to withstand much more damage than most, with a supposed 2m drop not having any affect on the drive at all. Furthermore, an immediately noticeable feature of the Lacie Rugged is the orange rubber buffer around it, which absorbs some of the shock of high drops, while also reducing the effects of long-term wear and tear.

As with anything that’s built to withstand shock, tear, and even bullets, we ill-advise actually putting the Lacie Rugged 500GB USB 3.0 drive through its paces just to see how it holds up. We did, however, accidentally drop the Lacie drive and were pleasantly surprised to find it did, as is true to its advertising, keep humming along.

Other considerations

Noise levels on this 500GB USB external drive were good, with the drive’s humming going unnoticed unless you listened for it. The drive never heated up beyond lukewarm even after hours of use, and performance degradation as you approach maximum capacity is unnoticeable.

The Lacie Rugged 500GB USB 3.0 drive is well worth it if spacious capacity, fast transfer speeds and the ability to withstand a rough and tumble life cycle are what you’re looking for in a USB external drive. Sure, it’s more expensive than other drives of similar capacity, but you’re paying for design quality and features other comparable drives simply do not have.