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Introduction
SimpleTech is no stranger to external storage, and our previous experience with them has been positive. Continuing their trend of fast drives in unusual enclosures, SimpleTech has brought us the [re]drive, a 3.5" external drive with an ecological focus. Housed in a mixture of aluminum and bamboo, this drive will certainly catch people's attention at a LAN party, though not for the usual "bling" reasons. Let's give this drive a spin, and see if it's time to knock on wood.
Features & Specifications
Here follows a list of features provided at SimpleTech's website, along with commentary:
Energy-efficient external hard drive uses less power |
An external drive will certainly reduce the load on your system's PSU; especially the 3.3v and 5v rails, which tend to get less juice than the 12v rails. |
Eco-friendly ingredients and packaging |
Translation: "We used cardboard instead of plastic." |
Automatically powers on or off with your computer |
A nice touch, though it doesn't quite excuse the lack of a manual power switch. |
Simple plug n play add-on storage |
Uses the USB Mass Storage driver by default, so there's no fumbling for a driver disc. |
Turbo USB 2.0* interface, up to 25% faster than USB 2.0 |
A bit of proprietary software included for the Windows side of things, we'll see if it makes a difference. |
Also compatible with USB 2.0, 1.1 |
Translation: "We followed the USB spec." Certainly better than the alternative, but hardly noteworthy. |
Award-winning Fabrik backup software, including 2GB free online backup |
"Award winning" is a weasel term, it's easy enough to give yourself awards. 2GB of online backup space seems a bit un-needed, given that you've just purchased 500gb of local backup. |
Friendly, free unlimited technical support |
Translation: "We won't charge you for support calls like Microsoft." |
PC and Mac compatible |
Again, par for the course. |
One-year warranty |
Nothing unusual here. |
A list of detailed specifications is curiously absent from SimpleTech's website; instead we get this under Product Details:
- Part number: R500U
- UPC: 705487176681
- Capacity: 500GB
- Warranty: 1 Year
Apparently, they don't want to overwhelm their customers with silly details like transfer rates, safe operating temperatures, or MTBF. No worries, we'll give you a look under the hood shortly with our test benchmarks and results.
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