Plextor PX-PH160US Mobile HDD Mobile storage with 160 GB Capacity

Author: Jouni 'Jipa' Vasama Published: 07.12.2007 Manufacturer: Plextor Product Group: Storage In English Suomeksi

Performance

USB

When connected using the provided USB-cable the disk is barely faster than the Super Talent Pico flash memory we tested earlier. The transfer speed kept pretty steadily at 28 MB/s, which leads to expect that the performance is hindered by the USB and not the disk itself.

eSATA

Changing the cable to eSATA had a huge impact on the transfer speed. When the USB no longer limited the transfer speed, the next limiting factor is the disk itself. You can see how the speed steadily drops over time, this is common with hard disks and is a result of the reading speed growing towards the edge of the plate.

Also it's worth noticing that this time the CPU usage is over 10% less than when using the USB. Access time is also 1 ms shorter, though that's not a significant difference. The difference in transfer speed is so clear I really suggest everyone e-SATA External Hard Drive owner out there to use that connection when ever possible. Even if it means searching for the needed cable around the city or the online stores.

Conclusion PROS  Small size Quiet operation Performance over eSATA CONS  e-SATA cable not included No rubber feet Plextor has made a nice looking external harddrive with no real drawbacks. The Samsung HDD they've used offers nice performance and the aluminum housing gives a nice quality touch to the product. As it is, it's a great partner for a laptop when you need some extra space, but if Plextor really wants to aim at the desktop markets, I think they should add the e-sata cable to the bundle.

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Additional Information

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