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Hitachi G-Drive Mini (500GB) review: Hitachi G-Drive Mini (500GB)

The G-Drive Mini is impressive in its performance — doubly so, considering it's only a 500GB drive. Although it may be a tad expensive, it's worth every dollar.

Craig Simms Special to CNET News
Craig was sucked into the endless vortex of tech at an early age, only to be spat back out babbling things like "phase-locked-loop crystal oscillators!". Mostly this receives a pat on the head from the listener, followed closely by a question about what laptop they should buy.
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Craig Simms
2 min read

You've got to hand it to Hitachi; when it releases something called the G-Drive Mini, it makes a sincere effort to make it look exactly like the G-Drive, but smaller.

9.0

Hitachi G-Drive Mini (500GB)

The Good

Great performance and design. Carry pouch included. FireWire 800 and USB 2.0 capable. FireWire 800 > FireWire 400 cable included.

The Bad

Useless power jack is included despite it being bus powered.

The Bottom Line

The G-Drive Mini is impressive in its performance, doubly so considering it's only a 500GB drive. Although it may be a tad expensive, it's worth every dollar.

All that it's really missing is a Kensington lock and an eSATA port, and otherwise it's all intact: the heat sink under the bottom; the dual FireWire 800 ports; a USB 2.0 port; a power switch; and even a power jack. We're not exactly sure why the last is there, as the drive is entirely powered via USB or FireWire, and, as a result, Hitachi includes no adapter in the box.

It's targeted at Mac users, and it fits the aesthetic perfectly. It even comes with its own carry case, firstly to protect the drive, and secondly so that the aluminium-on-aluminium love within your laptop bag is kept to a minimum. It even has an elastic band around it, should you want to pretend that you're Batman by attaching it to your utility belt.

Performance

Choose a benchmark: Sequential data | 4K random data

Sequential data (MB/s)

  • Reads
  • Writes
  • 93.0093.00
    Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Ultra Portable (1.5TB, USB 3.0)
  • 83.3564.03
    Hitachi G-Drive Mini (500GB, FireWire 800)
  • 30.7625.57
    Hitachi G-Drive Mini (500GB, USB 2.0)
  • 19.3620.62
    Seagate FreeAgent (160GB, USB 2.0)
  • 20.3220.55
    Hitachi G-Drive Slim (500GB, USB 2.0)
  • 18.7919.57
    Samsung S2 (500GB, USB 2.0)

(Longer bars indicate better performance)


Conclusion

The G-Drive Mini is impressive in its performance — doubly so, considering it's only a 500GB drive. Although it may be a tad expensive, it's worth every dollar.