Storage space, my gran used to say, is something you can never have too much of. If that’s true in the physical world, it’s doubly true in the digital domain where photos, e-mail attachments and other e-clutter can accumulate at an alarming rate.
The advantage of digital storage is that it takes up a lot less space than filing cabinets, steamer trunks or storerooms.
In a recent column I covered some of the best cloud – or internet-based – storage options available. I also warned that cloud providers can change their conditions of service, including their fees, at the drop of a hat or even go out of business. I strongly advise that you also keep a physical back-up of your important data.
In the old days – that’s more than five years ago in tech time – this meant backing up to CDs. In ancient times there were floppy disks.
Today, many new laptop PCs don’t even come with an optical drive and the local storage solution of choice is a portable hard drive – or direct attached storage (DAS) to use industry jargon.
I recently had the chance to try out two such options. Here’s my verdict…
WD My Passport Pro
Go into most big electronics retailers in South Africa, head for the DAS section and you’ll almost certainly be greeted with a wide range of Western Digital (WD for short) products.
I tested the My Passport Pro, a handsome, if rather hefty aluminium-clad gizmo designed for use with Apple Mac PCs and laptops.
While the weight (716g) may be a bit off-putting for ultralight travel wonks, there’s plenty to appeal to the average business user and even power home user.
The Thunderbolt cable used to plug it into your Mac is permanently attached to the drive, slotting cleverly into a groove around the outside, so you’ll never have to worry about losing it.
It also powers the device from your Mac, so no need to lug along a separate power supply.
I tested the 2TB model, but there’s also a 4TB version – more than enough storage for most individuals.
If you’ve ever tried to copy a large file like a HD movie onto a drive via a USB 2 cable you’ll know how frustratingly slow that can be. With the My Passport Pro, by contrast, they zipped across at lighting – or to be more precise, Thunderbolt – speed.
Another benefit for business users is that it comprises two separate hard drives and is Raid 1 capable. Translated into English that means you can easily set it up so that one half stores your data and the other half maintains a duplicate copy, doubling your data safety.
Starting at around R4 300 it’s not exactly cheap but, then, what price would you put on your precious data?
LaCie Fuel
I’ve long been a fan of French drive-maker LaCie which manages to consistently turn out devices that combine solid performance with Gallic design flair. The Fuel drive is a perfect example.
As the name suggests, this funky looking gizmo manages to incorporate a battery – good for up to 10 hours’ use between charges – as well as a 1TB hard drive. A 2TB model is also available.
It’s the company’s first mobile, wireless hard drive and also happens to be the first product collaboration between Seagate and LaCie since California-based Seagate acquired LaCie in 2013.
And by wireless drive I don’t just mean you can use it sans a power cable. This clever gadget also creates its own wi-fi network, allowing users to back-up from or stream movies, images and other content to up to five devices at a time, including smart TVs.
This is great news for those of us with storage-challenged smartphones and tablets. Now you can save your content on the Fuel Drive and stream it to your small screen whenever you want to.
I found it a breeze to set up and had it up and running, connected to my laptop and smartphone via wi-fi, within 15 minutes, including the time it took to download and install the mobile app – available for free in both the Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store.
You can also connect it with a cable to your PC or laptop’s USB port and transfer data at impressively brisk USB 3 speeds.
Like most LaCie products, it’s an attractive piece of kit, with the hard drive enclosed in a solid feeling shell of dark grey plastic moulded to resemble a miniature jerrycan.
On one of the corners there’s an orange loop. I’m not sure exactly what it’s for but it looked sporty so I attached it to a carabiner in my backpack to discourage the light-fingered from making off with it.
If you don’t routinely carry around a backpack, the LaCie Fuel Drive is small and light enough to slip into a handbag or (biggish) pocket so you you won’t find it a burden to take it with you to work, lectures or a mate’s house to watch a movie.
Prices start at around R3 800.
Follow Alan Cooper on Twitter @alanqcooper.