Verbatim 12GB Store’n’Go HDD

These features are all well and good, but I’m interested to see how this unit performs, as Verbatim’s 4B Store ‘n’ Go HDD was less than stellar. The performance was so bad that I have been using a 2GB flash drive over the 4GB Store’n’Go.

All units were tested on a Dell Inspiron 8500 Laptop Computer, which has a Pentium 4 2.5GHz processor, 1GB DDR RAM, GeForce 4 Go video card, and 60GB Hitachi HDD running Windows XP Service Pack 2. We tested the new Store’n’Go against its sibling, the Verbatim U3 Store’n’Go 2GB drive, which is a true NAND flash memory unit and has excellent performance. We also tested against the laptop’s internal hard drive just to compare throughput.

Verbatim’s new 12GB unit can achieve higher burst speeds than other flash-based devices, and higher average read performance than all but the fastest flash units. The random access speed is reasonably fast: almost as fast as the laptop’s own hard drive.

	Verbatim Store’n’Go 12GB USB HDD Drive Random Access (ms) CPU % Avg. Read (MB) Verbatim Store’n’Go 12GB HDD 28.1 12% 10.2 Verbatim Store’n’Go 2GB Flash 1.1 10% 11.4 Verbatim Store’n’Go 4B HDD 37.4 8% 7.6 Sandisk Cruzer 1GB Flash 20.2 4% 10.0 Hitachi 60GB HDD 20.4 4% 23.1

Conclusion
I was surprised that the new Verbatim Store’n’Go 12GB HDD unit performs about the same as well as a flash memory unit. This is probably due to the higher data density of the Cornice storage medium, which is able to achieve and surpass the throughput of flash-based units. The random access speed is a slight factor, however, as portable applications feel slower than the 2GB flash unit, but still very usable. The throughput varies slightly, but is just as just as fast, and sometimes faster, than other flash-based devices. You get 12GB of portable storage for less than the price of a 8GB flash drive without really compromising performance.

This 12GB device is sure to cause Flash Envy among your friends.

	REPORT CARD : Verbatim Store’n’Go 12GB USB HDD category rating comments Quality 4 The technology of the Cornice drive is excellent, and the data is very reliable. The shiny plastic shell feels sturdy, but not bullet-proof Innovation 5 Verbatim finally got it right: a flip-out USB port and small package. The Cornice 12GB drive offers more space than other flash units Performance 4 Although it has a slower random access speed compared to flash-based units, it can seek nearly as fast as a hard drive. It is able to sustain and surpass the throughput of other flash-based devices. Write performance seems a little slower, though. Installation 5 Installation is extremely simple. Plug it in and go. Only one drive letter, and the Ceedo launcher makes using portable apps easy to install and load. Value 5 This unit is able to achieve the same speed as a flash-based unit, but is faster, larger, and cheaper than 8GB flash drives. FINAL VERDICT: 5 out of 5 stars