Verbatim Quad-Interface External HDD

I don’t know how many times I’ve needed to back up my hard drive for a reinstall of my OS and been left wanting because I didn’t have any place to put all my pictures and data.  I’ve had to rewrite several articles and reviews do to exactly such a scenario.  It’s a sad fact, but if you store your most valuable data on your main HDD, there’s a good chance you’ll lose it.  My only problem with external HDD space is that even with USB 2.0, it’s still slow as Hell when it comes to large file transfers.  Ever had to move 50 Gig of video files over a USB connection?  It’s like dial-up, man.  But Verbatim has stepped up to the plate and served a little more than a homerun.  Try four of them.

The Verbatim Quad-Interface Pro.  500GB of storage space set in a beautiful enclosure and topped with a tasty array of ports for all your speeds and pleasures.  This baby supports USB 2.0, eSATA, Firewire 400 and Firewire 800.  If that’s not enough to get your data moving and your arm hairs tingling, then get yourself a little flash drive and check out anime, you losers.  Here’s some info on this nasty machine:

When performance counts, Verbatim’s Professional Quad-Interface Hard Drive now offers a desktop drive with multiple interfaces including eSATA ll, FireWire 800, FireWire 400, and USB 2.0. Blazing at data transfer rates up to 3000Mb/s through the most demanding applications allowing you to work more and wait less. Each drive is constructed of a durable aluminum casing and silent cooling fan for heat dissipation.

The external hard drive includes Nero BackItUp Essentials software that allows you to automatically back up your personal content. Nero BackItUp incorporates scheduling, backup sets and encryption of your files with password control.

• USB / FW400 / FW800 / eSATA combination drive
• eSATA II connection provides data transfer rate of 3000 Mb/s (max)
• Easy-to-use backup software included *
• Store thousands of photos, videos, and MP3s
• 3-Year Limited Warranty
• External Power – 120VAC
• Interface – One USB 2.0 port, One eSATA port, One FireWire 400 port, Two Firewire 800 port
• Data Transfer Rate – eSATA: 3000 Mb/s (max), USB 2.0: 480 Mb/s (max), FW400: 400 Mb/s (max), FW800: 800 Mb/s (max)
• Unit Dimensions – 8.7 in. X 5.9 in. X 1.5 in.
• Unit Weight – 3.3 lbs

ou see what I’m saying?  This thing was built for storage.  They also come in 1-Terabyte versions as well, if 500GB isn’t enough for you.  So what are we waiting for?  Let’s get retarded and test out the speed on this bad boy.  Here’s what I’m working with on this test run:

• 320GB Seagate HDD
• 2GB Samsung 800Mhz DDR2 RAM
• 750watt Corsair PSU
• Firewire 400 & 800
• eSATA
• Finlandia

Now you know my setup.  It’s my usual gaming machine as well as where I handle most of my work-related computing, so I depend on it to be fast enough to get the job done.  With that out of the way, here’s what came in the box.  First out was the HDD itself.  It has a mirrored front which was covered by a thin film to protect the surface.  The blue ring LED is the only feature the front has.  There is no power button on the front, only the on/off switch on the back under the power supply port.  Next out of the box is the instruction manual, a host of cables for all four connections, and the power supply cord.  Now it’s time to check out the speeds this thing is capable of.  Using HDTach, I’m going to run speed tests on the various connections available to see how they differ in comparison.  Before I do that, I’m going to use a 1GB padded file I created to test transfer time in an everyday situations on all four connections, results as follows:

I expected much better times from the Firewire 400 compared to the USB, but that just goes to show you the transfer burst speeds of USB can many times overcome the solid transfer speed of Firewire.  Now, to test the HDD speeds using HDTach.  Here are the results from that test:

	Interface Time to transfer 1GB transfer rate USB 2.0 55 seconds 17.8 MB/s Firewire 400 46 seconds 22.4 MB/s Firewire 800 38 seconds 28.8 MB/s eSATA 35 seconds 31.0 MB/s

I know these numbers are like a slap in the face for all you USB 2.0 fans, but as I have said before, USB 2.0 is only capable of “bursting” to 480 MB/s, and then it drops back down.  eSATA and Firewire were built specifically for data transfer and not for handling a million different hot-swappable peripherals.  While the USB is more versatile than either of the latter, it is not faster except in short sprints.

To wrap this review up, I was a little disappointed that it didn’t include the newest fad to hit external HDD’s, Bluetooth.  Other than that, I couldn’t find anything to complain about.  The speeds were fast, the unit didn’t overheat, and it was very versatile.  Overall, I’m happy with how the Verbatim Q-I performed and I look forward to trying out their next external HDD in the future.

	REPORT CARD : Verbatim Quad-Interface eHDD category rating comments Quality 5 Studily built, thick metal body and not bad to look at. Innovation 4 It’s all about the wireless these days, and that’s the only thing that kept this product from getting a full-blown 5 Reliability 5 No heat problems and consistent speeds, would last a long time. Green Factor 5 Eco-friendly HDD means less pollution and more money for you. Value 3 The price of the HDD along with the cost of the enclosure is just about right. FINAL VERDICT: 4 out of 5 stars