ShareThisBy MIKE BERMAN
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Plextor and Iomega are battling for space in your notebook case.
The Plextor PX-SPO8U ($169) and the Iomega USB/Firewire Portable Hard Drive ($149) can hold up to 80GB of data, weigh less than half a pound and are shockproof, but that's where the similarities end.
The Plextor is a bus-powered USB 2.0 drive that comes with a silicon bumper (for extra protection), but there's no backup software. The Iomega, which is also bus-powered, offers you a choice between using USB 2.0 or the slightly slower firewire technology. It also comes with what it calls "touch-free" backup software from Retrospect. There's also a switch on the back of the unit that allows you to use it with an external AC power supply.
Both claim they can take a licking and keep on ticking, although I'd have to give an edge to the Plextor drive because of the additional silicon case. Other than that, as far as speed and other tech specs, it's really a toss-up as to which is better.
Both companies make higher-capacity drives if you absolutely, positively need to carry more than 80GB of data around with you. Check out www.plextor.com and www.iomega.com for more details.
Another item you may want to consider is the External Slot Loading DVD Writer from LiteOn ($99.95).
Weighing only 12 ounces, this mini-marvel can write to all formats of CDs and DVDs, including dual layer (DVD+RL) discs. It's also bus-powered through your notebook's USB 2.0 port, although it seems to run more efficiently when using an external AC power supply.
The discs are loaded through a slot in the front of the drive, reducing the amount of space required when being used. I use it as a second drive for copying data from disc to disc, but it can obviously be a perfect addition for those notebooks that didn't come with DVD writers.
Although the manufacturer lists the drive's DVD writing speeds at 8X and CD speeds at 24X, I found it to be a bit slower, but not enough to outweigh the convenience of its portability.
Additional features include:
_ A 2MB cache and Smart-Burn technology to eliminate those dreaded buffer underruns.
_ A Smart-X feature automatically adjusts the drive's speed to accommodate CD-DA/VCD/DVD data extraction according to the data request rate and the quality of the discs.
_ It comes with Nero's OEM Suite and CyberLink's Power DVD Software.
More information is available at www.liteon.com.
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Note: Either deteriorating brain cells or increasing senility led to an error in last week's TechTalk. AMD has been working with Alienware and Dell to develop media centers, not Alienware and Gateway.
