MINI TESTS
ADATA HD830 HDD £74.15/$90.15 adata.com
Adata’s HD830 hard drive looks like the sort of thing a futuristic supervillain would use to keep his plans for world domination safe. It has a sturdy aluminium casing, finned to dissipate heat, with a shock- absorbing inner layer to cradle the drive itself. There are also bouncy, blue silicone bumpers around the edges to protect against drops. It’s waterproof, dust proof and shockproof, has passed the US military’s standard 1.22m drop test, and can be safely submerged in water for two hours. That’s as long as the rubber door that covers the USB 3.1 port is closed, obviously. It has even won a Red Dot Design Award. If you think all that would come at a steep cost, think again. The 2TB version we tried starts at a paltry £74.15/$90.15, while a 4TB big boy is £110.22/$129.75. Bargain. The reason it’s so affordable is that it doesn’t use the faster and more compact SSD drives that can be used with Thunderbolt or USB-C cables, but has a conventional HDD inside. This has a 5400rpm spinning mechanical drive, and the connection is the slower USB 3.2. That works fine with most PCs or Mac computers, but you may require a different cable or adapter. We used a USB to Thunderbolt adapter on a MacBook Pro and it worked, although slower than an SSD.
“The drive is ideal for safely storing data on location, rather than being used as a speedy scratch disk”
Our tests involve dragging a 50GB folder of video files onto the drive, and seeing how long it takes to copy them – plus the time to transfer the 50GB from the drive back to the computer. In both cases, it was around seven minutes, which is reasonably quick for a 5400rpm drive. If speed is of the essence, then nothing beats SSD. The fastest SSD we have used takes around one minute for the same transfer. The drive is ideal for safely storing data on location, rather than being used as a speedy scratch disk or to render project files for video editing. For that, you need to spend more and buy an SSD. Most SSDs are just plug-and-play on a modern Mac, but we needed Disk Utility in order to format the Adata before use. After this, it was flawless and quiet. The only possible complaint is that it’s a bit heavy, but that’s what makes it so strong. Plus, the door covering the USB socket feels rather precarious, but worked perfectly during our tests. PROMOVIEMAKER RATING: 7/10 Rugged, but heavy hard drive that won’t break the bank Pros: Inexpensive and very durable Cons: Not the fastest transfer rates
HARDCORE The Adata drive not only looks tough, but has been tested to US military standards
SPECIFICATIONS Type: HDD Capacity: 2TB, 4TB, 5TB Interface: USB 3.2 Hard disk speed: 5400rpm Speed: 80MB/s write Pressure resistance: 3000kg Waterproof rating: IP68 Systems supported: MacOSX 10.6, Windows 10/7/8, Android 4.4 Dimensions (wxhxd): 96.2x140x33mm/3.8x5.5x1.3in Weight: 510g/1.12lbwithout cable
COVER UP The USB 3.2 connection is behind this protective door. It does feel a tad flimsy, though
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