>>If you are in the market for a portable compact hard drive you should start looking for those that support USB 3.0 standard. I have here another easy choice for you. Hello, my name is Dong Ngo and this is the Buffalo MiniStation Cobalt 3.0. As a new USB 3.0 standard, it's fully [inaudible] compatible with USB 2.0. All drives that support the new standard work with the O standard perfectly leaving only one reason to consider, the price. And this is where the Cobalt fits in. At around $120 for 500GB is one of the most affordable compact portable USB 3.0 drives on the market. The drive also comes in a 640GB version that costs around $150. One of the reasons for the low price is the fact that the Cobalt doesn't come with a USB 3.0 adapter. This means you can only take advantage of eSATA speed if your computer already is a port the new standard. Other than that, this is a good looking device with slick surface and rounded corner. On top it has a round bluish LED light that shows the activities of the hard drive inside. There's also a Buffalo sign that lights up when the drive is blocked in. The drive comes with four tiny rubber feet on its bottom that helps you stay put on any surface but it's also light enough to be kind of dangling from the cable.
The MiniStation Cobalt comes with just one standard mini USB 3.0 port and then included cable that work with the port. The other end of the cable feed any USB port on your computer. However, it only works with USB 2.0 and 3.0 ports as only these ports can provide enough juice to power the drive. Notice the blue connector here. That means it supports the fastest speed of USB 3.0.
In our testing the Buffalo Cobalt offers a good performance, both good USB 2.0 and 3.0. Even if you computer doesn't have USB 3.0 yet, this is a good drive to have. It's affordable, fast and future proof. For more information on this check out the in depth review at CNET.com. Once again, my name is Dong Ngo and this has been the first look at the Buffalo MiniStation Cobalt 3.0 portable hard drive.
