6. Random Access Time

Conclusion

Iomega's Mini Hard Drive 40 GB USB delivers the sort of performance you would expect from a USB 2.0 drive of this size. At $280, however, the price tag is a little steep. For around $30 less, Archos and Apricorn offer the Arcdisk 40 GB and the EZ Bus-Mini 40 GB external drives powered via the USB bus. They are a tad on the small side, but come with a first-rate software package.

So Iomega's Mini Hard Drive 40 GB may be a cool product, but it doesn't exactly stand out from the crowd. It is eminently suitable for transporting large quantities of data from A to B, though. When used with backup software, the drive also makes a very good solution for mobile users.

Although the Arcdisk 4 GB HD USB Key has rather modest transfer rates in comparison with USB Flash drives like the Pocket Rocket , its price of $150 makes it much more affordable than the latter, which continues to sell for a premium of US$100 for each gigabyte of storage space. And what does it matter if maximum read/write transfer rates are a measly 5.0/2.2 MB/s - that's more than enough to play an MPEG2 file without jumping. This drive is thus not only an interesting gadget, but also a useful one - it combines fun, functionality, size and price per gigabyte in a well-balanced package.