Big is not always good (Freecom Mobile Drive XXS 250 GB)

Member Name: marcellep

Product:	Freecom Mobile Drive XXS 250 GB
Date:	04/04/09 (347 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Size, Cost, Design

Disadvantages: Small USB

Having over 5000 pictures on my laptop I am always worried that should by laptop breakdown or be stolen then I will lose all those cherished moments for ever. So I done what any man would do and added to my Santa list "Dear Santa.... As well as all the rest, can you also get me some form of external memory please. To my surprise my wife done some research and ordered me an external hard drive.

This review is made up of personal user experience (myself) and information from the purchaser (My wife)

Why this model

I knew nothing about these items until I googled them, all I knew is that I did not want to spend a fortune on one and I wanted it delivered in time for Christmas 2008. I had spent a few days looking at pen type memory sticks but they just seem to be able to get lost so easily.

I then came across a site called E-Buyer who had an offer on several models of external hard drives, ranging from basic 129GB mammoth size to the king of all 250GB Freecom smallest in the world.

So here are the reasons I choose this one:
It was in stock
It was small
Looks the part
Cheap

So that's it ordered and now it was in the hands of Royal Mail

Actual name - Freecom hard drive XXS 250GB

Current Price and Availability

Ebuyer - £57.98 and free delivery

Amazon - £64.00 and Free Delivery

Pix Mania - £53.50 and £4.60 Delivery

Ebay - £57.98 and £9.99 Delivery

So as you can see it's definitely worth while shopping around to save a few pennies or should I say pounds. Also worth adding that if you do by any memory from Ebay make sure it's brand new in packaging as I know of people that have had poor quality fakes sent to them, especially from abroad.

It's here, so what does it really offer

I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the packaging and it revealed the smallest external drive I have ever seen; now who say's small things aint good.

Just to add the packaging that the product came in was minimum, all could also be recycled which I thought was excellent too.

Smallest in the world - The company claim that this is the smallest external hard drive available worldwide, I have since searched the internet and to date I am now able to find anyone smaller. Its compact size makes it ideal to carry around from home to office and it takes up very little room in a brief case or a bag. (Actual sizes are below)

Weight- Now that I have covered the size of this item, I was delighted to learn the item was very light, in fact it was not any heavier than my mobile phone. For comparison my current mobile is LG Viewty. (Actual weight is below)

Rubber coating - Within the packaging you will find a rubber sleeve, the hard drive fits very neatly in to this and it gives it additional protection in the event of any fall. I also thought this was brilliant as the hard drive does not slide anywhere too as the rubber acts as a stopper.

Power Cable - When I first received this item, I was searching for the power cable as I thought I would have to plug it in to the mains to allow me to transfer the files to and from the hard drive. Well once again I was delighted to learn that the USB actually powers the hard drive, so no need for any additional cables.

Usb cable- Unlike many other USB cables I have seen this has to be the smallest cable available, But to be honest it's a pain in the back side sometimes as I often need to leave my hard drive on the floor at work as the USB point is so low down. Now I often fear that this may be stood on. But when I am using my laptop it's ideal.

Noise - Now there is no noise at all from this model as it does not have a internal fan, now not being a computer expert I am unable to comment if this will cause me problems in the future.


Adding files to the hard drive

Plugging the USB cable in to your PC will allow your PC/Laptop to recognise that there is an external hard drive available. I simply have to click on to my computer which shows me all my hard drives but amazingly it now has a new hard drive "Freecom 250" available for me to use. When I double click on the Freecom icon it will open this file, now what I have done inside there is created many different files.

Now it's time for me to transfer files from my laptop drive on to the Freecom 250, it was so simple, Ok it taken me along time. I simply copy and paste or even easier was just to drag and drop. I was amazed just how easy it was.

The transfer rate is 480Mbps

I have added all sorts of things on to my hard drive including: Picture's, Letter's, Programme's, Movie's and mega music.

Specification

You get a one year's manufacturer's warranty and unlimited technical support via telephone or email; I have never had to contact them as I have been delighted with this product.

There are some requirements in order to use this product.
You need to have Apple MacOS X 10.3 or later, Microsoft Windows Vista, 2000 or XP

So what is the actual size of this little beauty - W 7.95cm - D 10.98cm - H 1.35cm
Actual Weight - 155G
Minimum operating temperature - 10oC
Maximum Operation Temperature - 35oC
Available space - 250GB

More information is available from - http://www.freecom.com/default.asp?submit1=9_2
Technical supports email address is - supportuk@freecom.com
Telephone Number - 01463 704 715

Finally! Would I recommend this product

I would have no problem with recommending this product to anyone that requires an external hard drive; I truly believe its compact size sells it alone. Not to forget its realistic price. Its performance has never let me down from the day I started to use it. Albeit was slow transferring all my files over to it for the first time, but what does one expect when your transferring thousands of files.

I hope you have enjoyed this review and should you require your first or indeed you need to replace your hard drive you will consider this one.

Thanks for reading

Marcellep Dooyoo - April 2009

Summary: See Review

Processing/Quality:
Reliability:
Noise: