4. 120 GB Via FireWire: Western Digital Firewire 120 GB

The accessories supplied with the WD hard drive are the same as with the Maxtor: a power supply, a short user guide, a data cable and a driver CD (not pictured).

Earlier this year, we tested the Western Digital FireWire drive. It mastered the test then, as it does now, and very convincingly. As with the Maxtor drive, the accessories supplied with this drive are limited to the bare necessities. Software for making convenient backups (for example, via data matching upon connecting the drive) is not included.

The Western Digital model is visually cooler and sleeker, but it attracts attention all the same, just as with the Maxtor model. Western Digital has had this model on its program for four months now, but with 60 GB and 80 GB. When Western Digital's first FireWire drive appeared, there was no other alternative to FireWire. However, we hope that a drive for USB 2.0 will soon follow.

As with its two rivals, the interfaces for the power and data cables are located in the rear.

Thanks to its two interfaces, this drive can be integrated into a daisy-chain of FireWire devices. The false notion that this device can be connected to two computers simultaneously is purely wishful thinking.

Compared to the 120 GB hard drive from Maxtor, Western Digital has integrated only the finest hard drive: here, a 1200 BB does its job in this FireWire drive. With 7200 rpm, however, it is also noticeably louder and warmer than the Maxtor model. On the other hand, the resulting performance with the Western Digital model is also higher (see the section, "Benchmark Results").