The box for the USB Station is fairly simple and straight to the point with “USB Station 2″ written boldly in the centre of the box. Below this, there are three icons; print, multimedia and download.

The back of the box shows what ways you could use the Synology USB Station 2 if you were looking to connect a whole array of devices to it.

Included with the USB Station is the wall charger, Ethernet cable, instructions and software CD, as well as two Synology pens that were bundled in for some reason.

The Synology USB Station 2 sports a grey and white design, nothing too flashy, but it looks fairly sleek and easy to use.

On the top we can see the Synology logo in the centre. On the front, three LED indicators sit in a row telling us whether the USB Station is powered on, connected to the LAN and whether there is a USB disk connected.

The underside of the Synology USB Station 2 features four rubber feet to stop the station from slipping. The USB Station also has two holes in the centre to attach the station to the wall if you so wish (just don’t move your PC to the other side of the room, otherwise you’ll have two random screws in your wall).

The rear of the USB station is where everything is plugged in. We have the power adapter port, Ethernet port and two USB ports. You’ll also notice a “Disconnect USB Disk” button on the left and the reset button next to the USB ports.

Plextor’s PX-PH500US is a sleek 500GB external hard drive that is truly portable in the sense that it can fit into most pockets; something many drives marketed as “portable” are unable to match. Besides its handy size, the unit offers the benefits of an eSATA connection alongside the hot pluggable USB option making the drive an attractive purchase for those of us on the move. Read on for a more detailed analysis.

For those that want speed and security from their hard drive, a solid state drive is your best option. The diskGenie 128gb is the mid ranged option out of iStorage’s current range. They also sell a 30gb, 64gb, 240gb and 256gb; all of are priced differently at £140, £209, £689 and £919, respectively. iStorage claim that the diskGenie SSD is the world’s most secure, smallest and affordable portable hard drive. With that in mind, let’s see how the diskGenie does in the review…

About iStorage

“iStorage Limited provides high performance and ultra secure portable data storage and security products to users who need to protect their data held on PC’s, MACs and portable data storage devices. The founders of iStorage are pioneers in the field of portable data storage and security devices, holding several patents, both granted and pending, on a range of related data storage and security products. With strong values in our belief that careful product selection and unrivalled customer service enables a company to attract and maintain customers, iStorage strives to uphold these standards.”

Features

Ultra-portable design – Ideal to take between home and the office or on trips

Integrated cable – Integrated USB 2.0 cable

Low powered design – Bus powered from standard USB port

Very rugged for the most demanding applications – Built in Solid State Drive (SSD) with a 16-point omni-directional shock mounting system

Hard Drive Capacities – 30GB*, 64GB*, 128GB*, 256GB*

Plug-n-Play and Compatible on any system – No need to power down, just plug and go

Secure storage – Excellent for notebook owners, road warriors, government, health care, insurance companies, financial institutions, HR departments and executives with sensitive data

Specifications

Easy to use keypad design – Unlock the drive with your own unique 6-16 digit PIN code

Real-time 128 or 256-bit AES Hardware Encryption – Encrypts 100% of your data in real-time (no speed degradation) and keeps your data safe even if the Solid State drive is removed from the enclosure

No software installation – No software required to setup or operate – making it perfect for corporate deployments

Administrator feature – Allows enrolment of up to ten unique user ID’s and one administrator, making it a useful business collaboration tool

Data Transfer Rates: USB 2.0 – Up to 480Mbps

Power Supply – 100% bus powered

Interface – Hi-Speed USB 2.0

Silent – Runs silent and cool with no moving mechanical parts

Reliable – Less likely to fail than a standard hard drive

Shock resistant – No moving parts so the SSD handles rougher conditions than a hard drive

Vibration (non operating) – 20 G Peak (10-2000Hz)

Vibration (operating) – 2.17 G Peak (7-800 Hz)

Storage temperatures – 40° C to 85° C

Operating temperatures – 0° C to 70° C

Life expectancy

- 1 million hours MTBF 64GB & 128GB
- 500,000 hours MTBF 30GB

Dimensions & weight – 19mm X 84.5mm X 120mm (0.75″ X 3.3″ X 4.7″) weight: 6.2 oz.

Warranty – 3 years parts and labour

Approvals -  CESG CCTM, FCC, CE, RoHS, WEEE

System Requirements

-  Hardware: PC compatible computer with Pentium CPU or similar, 32MB of RAM, CD-ROM or CD-RW, USB 1.2 or 2.0, Apple G3 or later

- Operating systems: Microsoft XP, Vista or Windows 7, Mac OS 10.2 or greater, Linux

Almost everyone owns a Flash Drive nowadays whether it is for work, college or to back up your important files so choosing the right one for you is important. Today we’re reviewing SanDisk’s Cruzer Micro U3 Drive. U3 technology is relatively new and provides portable software solutions that might not be available to you on the host computer. The Cruzer Micro should prove to be an all round great drive so let’s find out…

About SanDisk

Founded in 1988 by Dr. Eli Harari, an internationally recognized authority on non-volatile memory technology, SanDisk has grown to become the world’s largest supplier of innovative flash memory data storage products.

With flash memory’s capability for storing large amounts of data in a compact, removable or embedded format, SanDisk’s products have helped drive the exponential growth in sales of digital cameras, multi-function mobile phones, USB flash drives, digital audio/video players, and other digital consumer devices.

Features

• Up to 8GB storage capacity – that’s 8,000MB
• Retractable USB connector
• Enhanced for ReadyBoost
• Brilliant amber LED
• U3 smart enabled – CruzerSync synchronization software, SignupShield password manager, Skype, AVAST-U3 anti-virus software

Specifications

The average computer nowadays has about two USB ports and some audio ports. To be honest this is nowhere near enough with the growing amount of input devices a typical computer user has, such as digital cameras, MP3 players and webcams. Today we are reviewing the Master Panel II from Vizo; a product that will make connecting your devices to the PC, much easier. Let’s see how it does in the review…

About Vizo

VIZO Technology Corporation is a leading global manufacturer and designer of computer peripheral products serving customers around the world. Established in Taiwan in 1992, VIZO has expanded and now operates in the market completely reorganized and prepared to meet the demand for high quality products which are “Made in Taiwan”.

Features

• For 5.25″ bay
• USB 2.0 internal card reader (4 memory slots available so you can copy data between different memory cards at the same time)
• Dual fan speed control knobs (4v-12V)
• Multi I/O transfer function (USB*2 / 1394 / eSATA / RCA / audio*3)
• Support hot plug and hot swappable (Must be attached to hot swappable compliant host to enable hot swappable function)
• Not need to go to the back, do it in the front
• Support Win 98SE / ME / 2000 / XP / Vista
• Support Mac OS 9.X / X or above

Specifications

In recent years network attached storage devices have gained in popularity as the number of computers per household rises. Once upon a time designed for the business segment of the market, NAS devices now offer households shared file storage and an easy backup solution. Synology’s DS110J is aimed directly at this market. However, not simply offering the basic tasks we’d expect from a cost-effective NAS, the DS110J also packs advance features we’d expect to find in more pricey network storage devices.

Features

• FTP Server
• Web Station
• Surveillance Station 4
• Photo Station 4
• Download Station 2
• Audio Station 2
• DLNA/UPnP Media Server
• iTunes Server
• Printer Server
• Synology Packages
  – SqueezeCenter
  – Mail Station
  – Webalizer
  – phpMyAdmin
• iPhone Applications
  – DS photo
  – DS audio
  – DS cam

Specifications

• CPU Frequency: 800MHz
• Hardware Encryption Engine
• Memory Bus: 16bit@DDR800
• Memory: 128MB
• Internal HDD: 3.5" SATA(II) X1 or 2.5" SATA/SSD X1
• Max Internal Capacity: 2TB
  Size (HxWxD): 160mm X 63mm X 218mm
• External HDD Interface: USB 2.0 port X3
• Weight: 0.81kg
• LAN: Gigabit X1
• Wireless Support

Introduction

The Tsunami Ultimate II is a dual hard drive enclosure which is JBOD/BIG capable. This enables it to be used as two independent drives or combining the capacity of two hard drives. Unlike many dual hard drive enclosures, the Tsunami Ultimate II 3500 is priced at only £22. Does this cheap price impact in poor performance and quality? Time to find out…

About Tsunami

“Tsunami was founded in 1994 with one simple vision: Make technology delightful, enjoyable, and life- inspired. We have established manufacturing plants in emerging markets e.g. China and Brazil. Along the years, Tsunami has successfully developed itself as a main player in supplying innovative and high quality products globally. In 2007, based on its extensive experience, Tsunami Group has decided to extend their arms into the UK market.”

Features

• 2-bays 3.5” HDD enclosure
• Interface: SATA I, II to USB 2.0 (480mb/s).
• Support 2 X 3.5” SATA I, II Hard drives
• Support JBOD (2 Separated Disk) or BIG (1 Bunched Disk) mode
• External JBOD/BIG jumper switch
• 40 x 40 x 10mm Cooling Fan with great cooling efficiency
• Panel with air vent for better cooling effect
• OTB (one touch backup) function and software bundled
• Anti-skid rubber foot stand
• Dual colour LED display (Power and HDD access)
• Comes with 3 stylish changeable colour bezel
• Anti-shock design
• Hot swappable and truly Plug-n-Play
• Insulating designed PCB
• Soft-start for slow turn-on feature prevents high inrush currents
• Backward compatible with USB 1.1
• One year manufacturer’s limited warranty.
• Free unlimited online support

Specifications

• OS support: Windows Vista/XP/2000/Me/Windows98/SE, MAC OS (Drivers bundled)
• Power supply: AC100~240V,50~60Hz;DC5V/3A+DC12V/3A
• Case material: Aluminium (great heat dissipation)
• Size: L212 x W116.3 x H64(mm)
• Weight: 1.3 KG (GW)

]]> http://tech-reviews.co.uk/reviews/tsunami-ultimate-ii-3500-2xhdd-jbod-enclosure/feed/ 0 http://tech-reviews.co.uk/reviews/istorage-diskgenie-320gb-encrypted-portable-hard-drive/ http://tech-reviews.co.uk/reviews/istorage-diskgenie-320gb-encrypted-portable-hard-drive/#comments Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:06:36 +0000 Andrew http://tech-reviews.co.uk/?p=2581 Introduction

Data security is a very important issue for some people. For internal hard drives there are many solutions available to ensure your drive cannot be accessed. However, for portable hard drives, there really are very few working solutions. One such apparent  solution is iStorage’s diskGenie, a hardware encrypted portable hard drive which utilizes secure PIN code access. Let’s see how it performs…

About iStorage

“iStorage Limited provides high performance and ultra secure portable data storage and security products to users who need to protect their data held on PC’s, MACs and portable data storage devices.”

Features

• COMPLETE SECURITY with Real Time 256-bit AES Hardware Encryption and Pin Code Access
• EASY TO INSTALL and set up as no software needed
• CONVENIENCE via integrated USB2 so no extra cables or AC power needed
• ROBUST, PORTABLE compact design with shock mounting to protect from knocks
• ADMINISTRATION feature allowing up to 10 passkeys and passkey management
• COMPATIBILITY with any operating system incl. Windows, Mac, Linux
• GUARANTEED with 3 year warranty

Capacities Available

• 250GB
• 320GB
• 500GB

More information can be found here.

Introduction

Depending on what you need an external hard drive for, you’re either going to have a small pocket sized one or a larger one to sit on your desk.  The Consus is a great enclosure that fits in your pocket and has some great features.  Read on to see what those features are and how the Consus performs during testing.

About Eagle Tech

Eagle Tech Computers, Inc. is a trusted OEM supplier of power supply, rack mount chassis, network attached storage NAS (RAID, Gigabit LAN, Wireless 802.11a/b/g), external hard drive enclosures and other storage related products. Our extensive experience in designing, manufacturing and marketing high quality PC components that meet and exceed customer application requirements has enabled us to grow beyond manufacturing. Our core competence is in innovative external storage solutions. Recognizing the needs of modern computer users to store and share digital files across multiple platforms, Eagle Tech constantly monitors consumer needs to ensure timely development and introduction of innovative external storage products into the consumer market. We remain a high quality technology solutions provider dedicated to satisfying the demands of modern computer users – mainstream, enthusiasts and SOHO professionals. Eagle Tech understands the importance of your data and strives to provide customers with reliable and easy to use products that are backed with responsive technical support staff. If there is a more innovative way to store and access your important data, you can count on us to make it happen for you – at affordable prices, rugged constructions and stylish designs.

Features

• Ultra portable at only 0.4" thick
• Solid aluminium chassis
• Soft-glowing drive activity LED
• Integrated USB cable (no messy wires)
• USB powered (no bulky AC adapter)
• 3.0Gbps eSATA*
• Plug-n-Play ISB 2.0
• Usage: Easy add-on storage for mobile users

Specifications

Introduction

External Hard Drives are becoming more and more popular nowadays and with 3.5 Inch enclosures being more suitable for the home, this is where 2.5 Inch enclosures come in. The In Win AMMO Sata HDD Enclosure has many brilliant features that will appeal to many people among the general public but security is the main feature that has been taken into account while developing the AMMO, so lets see if their hard work has actually been worthwhile.

About In Win

“IN-WIN Development Inc., an ISO 9001 manufacturer of professional computer chassis, power supplies and digital storage devices, is the leading provider of enclosure solutions to system integrators worldwide. Founded in 1986, IN-WIN provides high quality chassis that conform to all safety regulations, as well as unsurpassed customer service.”

Features

• Supports 2.5" SATA HDD
• Unique Ammunition Cartridge Design
• Ultra strong protection with metal material
• Advanced Anti-vibration structure
• RFID Data Encryption
• Plug & Play and Hot Swap

Specifications