The new age consumer hard drives are getting slimmer and faster with a spin rate of 7200 RPM and USB 3.0. Though USB 2.0 is still the most prevalent form of interface, USB 3.0 is increasingly gaining prominence. Seagate has a history of giving well-grounded hard drives and Seagate GoFlex Slim 320 GB goes in the same vein.

As the name suggests, GoFlex Slim is an ultra-slim hard drive, measuring just 9 mm with an overall length and breadth of 124 x 78 mm, which makes it a suitable pocket device. The build is delicate with black matte finish over it, and features a USB 3.0 adapter with a proprietary USB port. The USB 3.0 cable is 18 inches long and ensures negligible clutter on your desk. On connecting, the drive is detected in a flash, showing drivers and folders such as NTFS for MAC, data back-up and data sync software.

Seagate GoFlex Slim is one of the fastest hard drives with the highest spin rate of 7200 RPM. Owing to USB 3.0, data transfer is two times faster than a USB 2.0 drive, despite retaining backward compatibility with USB 2.0. However, the benefit of faster speed is available only with a USB 3.0 PC or laptop. In the speed tests, transferring a bulk file of 15 GB from the GoFlex Slim to a PC took around three minutes and moving the same amount from a PC to the hard drive took four minutes. Now if you carry out the same work on a USB 2.0 laptop, it will consume 9-10 minutes.

A hard drive is not just about data storage, but should also guarantee data back-up and security. Fortunately, GoFlex Slim with 320 GB memory features data backup option, which allows you to select crucial data on your PC and create a back-up file on the hard drive. GoFlex Slim comes with a USB 3.0 interface adapter, which can work with similar Seagate hard drives and is compatible with both Mac and Windows. Whether you have a PC or a Mac computer? or if you go back and forth between the two?you can access and save files on the same portable hard drive anytime without reformatting.

GoFlex Slim is a stunner with all the ingredients of a typical hard drive. At 4.5k, it is a little overpriced. Although it has USB 3.0, but so has Iomega eGo,which at 7k has 1TB data space. The purpose of carrying a hard drive is to store greater amount of video, audio and documents than what your PC would allow you. But, with merely 320 GB, you will end up wanting for more.

? CyberMedia www.LD2.in

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