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Plextor Shock-proof Portable Hard Drive review: Plextor Shock-proof Portable Hard Drive

The Plextor Shock-Proof Hard Drive is a great addition to your laptop bag: the drive is rugged and speedy and doesn't require a separate power cable. The only thing it's lacking is backup software.

Dong Ngo SF Labs Manager, Editor / Reviews
CNET editor Dong Ngo has been involved with technology since 2000, starting with testing gadgets and writing code for CNET Labs' benchmarks. He now manages CNET San Francisco Labs, reviews 3D printers, networking/storage devices, and also writes about other topics from online security to new gadgets and how technology impacts the life of people around the world.
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Dong Ngo
2 min read
The Plextor Shock-Proof Portable Hard Drive is a small and simple external hard drive that has everything a drive of its kind has to offer and more. The drive is housed in a rugged yet elegant aluminum case protected by a silicon bumper that absorbs the shock in case of high-impact drops. We were also very impressed with its performance throughout the tests. The only thing missing from this portable hard drive is backup software. That simple addition would've made this product a knockout.

7.8

Plextor Shock-proof Portable Hard Drive

The Good

The Plextor Shock-Proof Hard Drive is lightweight yet rugged, comes with a silicon bumper guard to protect the drive, is bus-powered, and performs admirably.

The Bad

The Plextor Shock-Proof Hard Drive doesn't come with any backup software, which would make this drive a complete portable backup and storage device.

The Bottom Line

The Plextor Shock-Proof Hard Drive is a great addition to your laptop bag: the drive is rugged and speedy and doesn't require a separate power cable. The only thing it's lacking is backup software.
  • Drive type: Portable hard disk drive
  • Capacity: 80GB; 120GB (5,400rpm)
  • Capacity of test unit: 80GB (PX-SP08U)
  • Cache: 8MB
  • Dimension: 3.33 by 0.74 by 5.51 inches (WHD); 0.47 pounds
  • Notable design features: silicon bumper that protects the drive from high-impact drops
  • Connection options: USB 2.0/1.1
  • OSs supported: Windows 98 SE/Me/2000/XP and Mac OS X 10.2.8+
  • Software included (on drive): None
  • Service/support: Two-year warranty; Toll-free phone support available 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. PT on weekdays; e-mail to tech support available; Web site provides downloads, FAQs, compatibility information, a trouble-shooting guide, and links to additional resources.

On CNET Labs' test bench, the 80GB Plextor Shock-Proof Portable Hard Drive took only 16 minutes to write our 5GB test folder of mixed file types. For a 5,200rpm low-profile hard drive, this score is very impressive. But there's more: the Plextor took only 8.2 minutes to read back that same folder, about 2 minutes faster than many of the 7,200rpm hard drives we've tested. The Plextor Shock-Proof Portable Hard Drive exceeded our expectations for a drive of its size and specs.

Apart from the silicon and aluminum casing, we also really like the fact that the Plextor drive uses only one cable. The low-profile, standard USB cable is used both to transfer data and to draw power from the computer. This makes the device truly portable. It also requires no drivers for setup, making it simple to begin using. Plextor acknowledges that the drive is incompatible with some laptop computers and lists the incompatible products right on its site.

7.8

Plextor Shock-proof Portable Hard Drive

Score Breakdown

Design 8Features 7Performance 9Support 7