Maxtor BlackArmor Review

Another Maxtor product to review this week, today we have our hands on the new Maxtor BlackArmor 320 GB external portable hard drive. While the Maxtor One Touch Plus we reviewed earlier was a desktop based backup solution, the Maxtor Black Armor is a external portable storage solution. It is very compact and can easily fit in your trouser pockets. It is also light and has good features like encryption, sync and backup software, which make it a good option if you are looking for a portable hard drive to keep your data safe.

Maxtor BlackArmor Specs:

• Dimensions: 5.2 x 3.3 x 0.7 inches
• Weight: 182 grams
• Capacity: 160 GB / 320 GB
• Speed: 5400 RPM
• Read / Write Speed: 22 MBps / 18 MBps
• Port(s): USB 2.0
• Price: $90 (320 GB)

Review:

The Maxtor Black Armor has a very sleek futuristic design; it looks straight out from a sci-fi movie. It should appeal to one and all – casual and business users. It has dimensions of 5.2 x 3.3 x 0.7 inches which is very compact. It can easily be inserted into your trouser pockets making it handy to carry anywhere you wish. It has a brushed metal finish which sport a black and silver-grayish look. The build quality is also pretty good. It should easily last for a couple of years if handled properly.

The drive works flawlessly with Windows PCs but not with Macs. On the first use, it asks you to create a password with which you can access the encrypted files later. The bundled Maxtor Manager software also allows you to sync files with different PCs and automatically backup selected files. It also comes with a power saving mode to conserve power – it stops drawing power after some predefined interval of inactivity.

The read speed of the Maxtor Black Armor is about 22 MBps; it was able to read a 2 GB file in about 1 min and 35 seconds. The write speed is about 18 MBps; it was able to write the same file back in about 1 min and 56 secs. The write speeds are pretty impressive compared to other drives in its range.

Pros:

• Nice Design
• Maxtor Manager
• Superb Encryption

Cons:

• Incompatible with Macs

Our Rating: 4 / 5.