Conclusion
The performance data shows that the performance of the Buffalo hard drive is about average for products in its segment. We measured a steady 21 ms average access time, and a lively 29 MB/s maximum read data transfer rate. The numbers go down a bit when writing, but this is normal for most magnetic media. Altogether, the performance is not ground-breaking, but solid enough for most applications. Remember of course that we are talking about a device whose primary goal is data mobility ; this cannot go hand in hand with the very highest performance.
The Power Booster is a tool designed to make this hard drive a truly portable storage product. Although USB’s 2.5 W maximum power is usually enough to operate a 2.5" hard drive, it is not necessarily enough to satisfy the spin up peak power demands of the hard drive spindle. The Power Booster helps to manage this in an effective way.
However, we have to wonder why Buffalo decided to offer the Power Booster functionality through the additional module. It is obvious that the hard drive itself can also be powered by a conventional PSU, and thus could be sold as a different product as well. Despite this, we would have preferred if the Power Booster was integrated with the hard drive enclosure. This would eliminate the need for an additional module, and reduce the weight and volume of the resulting product. And in the end, isn’t compactness what a highly mobile product should be about ?
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