Get a FREE fully-working copy of Steganos Security Suite 7 (worth £49.99) when you sign up to the Practical PC Newsletter. Review: Maxtor 3000LE USB 2.0 external drive
Don Bradbury likes this 40GB USB 2.0 external drive
| Product | 3000LE USB 2.0 external drive |
|---|---|
| Company | Maxtor |
| Web | www.maxtor.com |
| Price | £206.80 incl VAT |
| We like | Easy installation. Fast. |
| We don't like | Its size and weight. |
| Rating | 9/10 |
| Requirements |
External hard disks are a convenient way of either holding or backing up your files. They generally transfer data slower than an IDE or SCSI drive, however, but if you use a USB 2.0 device you can very largely overcome that limitation. Maxtor's 3000LE is one such device that you might consider.
USB 1.0 was relatively slow, so despite simple installation and easy connectivity, the protocol was not particularly popular for disk drives. USB 2.0 promises to be the saviour of the genre, and while not exactly jacket-pocket gear, this unit could be just what you've been looking for if you have USB 2.0 installed.
Backwards compatibility with USB 1.0 means that legacy hardware can make use of USB 2.0 peripherals; you just won't see the massive speed gains, of course.
The 3000LE is a 5,400 rpm (despite what it may say on the outer box about being 7,200 rpm), 40GB hard drive that connects via a USB 2.0-to-ATA33 interface, and it requires a supplied external power source. There is no power switch, however, so unplugging is the only way to stop it from spinning.
You should right click on the Taskbar icon you'll see to 'eject' it before disconnecting. The translucent plastic case is rather large, and the combination weighs nearly a Kilogram, so it's not really for lugging around in a briefcase.
Installation
Installation is a breeze under Windows ME. You just plug in the power supply, and the USB 2.0 cable, and Windows loads the drivers automatically. Reboot, and thereafter you'll see two entries for the disk in Device Manager; one under USB and the other under disk drives. Maxtor point out that the former may have a question mark against it (mine did), but functionality is not affected.
Preformatted under FAT32 to 40GB, the disk is immediately ready for action. I copied a large number of graphic files to the Maxtor from a Deskstar main drive, and the timed rate was about 7MB/sec. I'd expect that to be increased by a large factor if the Maxtor was plugged into a USB 1.0 port, so this really is fast data transfer at last.
At 40GB capacity, the device could back up most hard drives in home PCs without a problem. And as for transportability of data between two (or several) machines, once the Maxtor has been installed on each, accessibility is a breeze.
You'll need Windows ME or later, or for Mac users , MacOS 9.0 or later; a free USB 2.0 port. And if your drive comes packaged like mine, you'll also need a power lead to the PSU. Mine came with a US style lead. Fortunately, most home PC users will have accumulated a selection of standard PC power leads to draw on and they are the correct fit, but I fancy mine was a review unit imported for the purpose from the States. The PSU, like most these days, will accept voltages from 100V to 240V, auto-switching, and frequencies from 50-60Hz.
In conclusion
Maxtor's Personal Storage 3000LE is not a diddy device, but it's one of the fastest add-on hard drives thanks to USB 2.0. It's backwards compatible with USB 1.0, so most users of modern PCs could add it to their armoury. It offers good capacity storage, but being so big it's possibly optimally used as a backup or perhaps a second desktop drive for the PC.
