AcomData E5 320GB External Desktop Storage: Slap on another
by Purav Sanghani on August 27, 2005 12:48 PM EST- Posted in
- Storage
Final Thoughts
Our first look at an external drive was not disappointing at all. AcomData's E5 proved to be a worthy product to include in our desktops for added storage space. The E5 looks great next to our brushed aluminum cases and is extremely quiet, since there are no fans to produce any sound at all.Performance Results
The overall performance of the E5 cannot be gauged just yet, since it is the first external drive that we have tested, but it seems that for an external drive, the performance is acceptable. With an average transfer rate in the upper 30MB region, the E5 is great for archiving files. The Retrospect software is capable of creating schedules, which allow us to back up any or every file that we want, when we want, even at the touch of a button with the PushButton Backup feature.
Though it seems like the real world performance of the E5 is a bit on the low end side, compared to desktop drives, the E5 performs almost as well when Zipping and Unzipping files. Multitasking performance was something to worry about here, and will probably be a downside to all external devices until a faster interface is introduced.
Thermal and Sound
The casing for the E5 is fanless which means zero sound emission. We could not even hear the sounds emitted from the hard disk drive because of the case's sealed nature so that was a plus making it ideal for add-on storage to home theater PC environments. And as for thermal readings, the E5's aluminum construction did not heat up a single bit.
Overall
Overall, the E5 is a device that will be of value for anyone looking for that extra, portable storage space and single button backup feature. The price tag on the E5, however, is a bit steep, around $270 at various online retailers. Looking around, we found Maxtor and Seagate external devices with 300GB capacities for about $35 less, which seem like a better deal. The Maxtor drive looks like it has the 16MB cache, though one would question whether it could come handy with a USB interface limiting data throughput anyway.
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Andyvan - Saturday, August 27, 2005 - link
That is exactly what I've been envisioning for several years.-- Andyvan
Ecmaster76 - Saturday, August 27, 2005 - link
With standardized external SATA devices on the horizon, I would advise wiating to buy unless you really need external storage right now.Any of you cool dudes at Anandtech know how soon we can expect a wide selection of external SATA?
psychobriggsy - Saturday, August 27, 2005 - link
You can already buy external SATA enclosures. When I was looking for mine, I saw SATA versions of the IcyBox for example, and the price was pretty much the same in fact.UltraWide - Saturday, August 27, 2005 - link
I got a 320GB version on firewire through my audigy2 and it's excellent. it's fast, quiet and runs very cool.psychobriggsy - Saturday, August 27, 2005 - link
Earlier this month I bought a 200GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 (the silent IDE version) and an IcyBox external Firewire/USB2 enclosure (the one with the blue lighting). That worked out a lot cheaper than buying something pre-made like this. It too has a Firewire passthrough.The price? £80 in total. Which is around $125 after you take tax off the UK price.
It's been coupled with my iBook, which only has a 40GB 4200 RPM hard drive. It's a handy backup solution, and I store all my media file on it as well. I plan to get a Mac Mini at some point in the future to which it will be permanently attached. The combination can then serve music to a SqueezeBox2 or similar, once I get one of those.
ElFenix - Monday, August 29, 2005 - link
i've had hit or miss experiences using do it yourself external drive kits. i *think* that the premade ones tend to have better chipsets inside. and the diy stuff doesn't come with the software. and sometimes the premade stuff is about the same cost (after rebates and sales) as diy.formulav8 - Saturday, August 27, 2005 - link
I wish I could talk my wife into letting me get that for her laptop. Her slow 60gb 4200 rpm drive is almost full. Oh well, she won't let that happen with that much money.Jason
Olaf van der Spek - Saturday, August 27, 2005 - link
> and the results of CPU load for the FireWire 400 interface surprised us even more, since it is pier-to-pier.What's a pier?
TheInvincibleMustard - Saturday, August 27, 2005 - link
Arr, matey ... that be when ye be shipping pirated medias between your two drives ... yar-har-harrrrrr.:-D