Mobile and Attractive: External Hard Disks from Maxtor and Seagate

Maxtor OneTouch 250 GB, Continued

The connections are at the rear of the case, with two for FireWire so that you can plug other devices into the OneTouch. Maxtor has provided ventilation slots to the left of these - a sensible precaution for a 7,200 rpm drive. Vertical operation will provide the optimum transfer of heat from the drive through the ventilation slots. The metal casing also acts as a heatsink.

The measured performance of the OneTouch is consistently good, even though Seagate and Western Digital do offer slightly better transfer rates and shorter access times.

Maxtor provides interlocking moldings to allow Several OneTouch drives to be stacked easily (see above). The rear view shows the USB port (left), both FireWire ports, the power connection, and on/off switch.