What is this?
This compact bus-powered USB hard drive stores a whopping 5GB, and fits easily in your pocket with the minimalist circular housing, while the 4-inch USB cable retracts snugly inside the case. It also comes loaded with software to easily create partitions and a boot disk.
Seagate 5GB USB 2.0 Pocket Hard Drive ReviewDecember 28th, 2004
Pros: Inexpensive relative to multi-gigabyte flash drives.
Cons: Lack of accessories and file synchronization software; somewhat fragile; triple the physical size of an average flash drive.
Verdict: The Seagate 5GB USB 2.0 Pocket Hard Drive is a cost effective alternative to multi-gigabyte flash drives, but the nature of the drive may benefit from a more solid build and feature-rich productivity software.
Seagate 5GB ST1 heats up the already competitive market of miniature hard drives as its internal sibling lands on trendy electronics like the Creative Zen Micro and Rio Carbon. And now USB version of the ST1 - 5GB USB 2.0 Pocket Hard Drive - answers the call for miniature multi-gigabyte storage that requires both affordability and portability.
Package Content - Seagate 5GB USB 2.0 Pocket Hard Drive
- Quick Start Guide
- 1 documentation, software CD
5GB in a Make-up Kit The minimalist circular design of the Seagate 5GB USB 2.0 Pocket Hard Drive does resemble somewhat to one of Christian Dior's pressed powder kits except it opens up to a mirror and golden-toned particles while the former can only be swiveled to reveal a rolled-up 4-inch USB cable. (And a message to those who just won't give up trying, the USB model doesn't ship with the ST1 5GB with FlexATA, but the CompactFlash version.)
Physically, the Seagate 5GB USB 2.0 Pocket's flimsy plastic housing may seem too vulnerable to drops, but the drive core does feature a G-force protection system that handles shocks quite well. Seagate's standard one-year warranty is typical for its product category, but there are better offerings. Underneath the transparent plastic at the center of the hard drive is an activity light that glows in blue when connected to a USB port and that flashes during data transfers.
Toolkit Matters The Seagate 5GB USB 2.0 Pocket Hard Drive measures just 2.7 inches in diameter and weighs a mere 2.3 oz. It does away power adapter, making it exclusively USB bus-powered. In the language of USB, the hard drive won't work on any un-powered USB hubs or USB keyboards. Much of the documentations reside on the CD, from which you'll also find a copy of FreeDOS, driver for Windows 98 SE and duplicate of the drive toolkit.
The drive toolkit, also stored on the drive, allows you to adjust the size of the private and public partition; to format drive and revert it back to factory default; to write protect the drive; and lastly, to make the Seagate a bootable USB disc. The toolkit itself is a memory resident program that appears in the Windows status bar whenever it recognizes the drive. One caveat with the security program is that you do not have concurrent access to both public and private areas. You will need to log in and out to toggle between the partitions. All these applications have more to do with the maintenance of the drive than to boost productivity. If Seagate could throw in something like a backup program or file synchronization, the drive would appeal to more people.
Flash Drive Challenger
As a contender to multi-gigabyte USB flash drives, the Seagate's 3600-rpm 5GB USB 2.0 Pocket Hard Drive does quite well in terms of performance. While it doesn't outpace leaders like the DiskOnKey-powered flash drives, its average reading and writing speeds at 8.7MB/s and 4.4MB/s recorded by SiSoftware Sandra are respectable. In our informal real-world tests, copying 408MB of assorted 10MB MP3s took about 73s to the private partition and 68s to the public partition, yielding 5.6MB/s and 6MB/s respectively. Lastly, CPU usage ranged from 5% to 8%.
Benchmark Data
SiSoftware Sandra Benchmark Results
Combined Index : 320 operation(s)/min
Endurance Factor : 13.0
512B Files Test : 353 operation(s)/min
32kB Files Test : 321 operation(s)/min
256kB Files Test : 387 operation(s)/min
2MB Files Test : 98 operation(s)/min
64MB Files Test : 7 operation(s)/min
Performance Test Status
Run ID : YOUR-EF77GZTJ0E on Tuesday, 28 December, 2004 at 12:51:15
SMP Test : No
Total Test Threads : 1
SMT Test : No
Dynamic MP/MT Load Balance : No
Processor Affinity : No
Drive
Total Size : 4.6GB
Free Space : 4.6GB, 100%
Cluster Size : 4kB
Where to buy Seagate 5GB USB 2.0 Pocket Hard Drive?
User Review(s)
"I love this drive!" I purchased the 2.5Gb version of the Seagate USB 2.0 Pocket Hard Drive this Winter. I often carry it around with me to transport programs (utilities, diag., etc.), large media files and other odds and ends. This drive allows me to carry everything without worrying about if I'll bump the storage limits. I really like the retractable USB cable. It makes carrying it around less troublesome (No forgotten cables, adapters, etc). I HIGHLY RECOMEND IT!
BTW - As of Mar. 19th, the price of the 2.5GB & 5.0GB drives droped in price at Best Buy ($119.99/$139.99) making it a *&%@ of a buy!
Mike From Mike, March 19, 2005
We're currently upgrading our user review system; so we won't be accepting new reviews for now. 5GB USB 2.0 Pocket Hard Drive Specs
Windows 98 SE, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows XP, MacOS 10.3.x, MacOS 10.2.x, MacOS 10.1.x
Capacity
5GB
Rotation speed
3600 rpm
Average transfer rate
8MB/s
Seek time
--
Buffer size
2MB
Software
Encrypted partition, FreeDOS, WriteProtect
Internal drive type
Seagate 1"
Integrated battery
No
Extra?
--
Dimensions
3.4" x 2.9" x 0.5"
Weight
3.5 oz.
Power source
Bus-powered
Warranty
One year
Extras Lost a USB cable? Get a replacement USB cable.
Running out of USB ports? Get an extra USB hub.
You may need a new USB card to achieve Hi-Speed USB speeds.
Confirm with our USB 2.0 FAQ if you have Hi-Speed USB on your PC.
The minimalist circular design of the Seagate 5GB USB 2.0 Pocket Hard Drive does resemble somewhat to one of Christian Dior's pressed powder kits except it opens up to a mirror and golden-toned particles while the former can only be swiveled to reveal a rolled-up 4-inch USB cable. (And a message to those who just won't give up trying, the USB model doesn't ship with the ST1 5GB with FlexATA, but the CompactFlash version.)
The drive toolkit, also stored on the drive, allows you to adjust the size of the private and public partition; to format drive and revert it back to factory default; to write protect the drive; and lastly, to make the Seagate a bootable USB disc. The toolkit itself is a memory resident program that appears in the Windows status bar whenever it recognizes the drive. One caveat with the security program is that you do not have concurrent access to both public and private areas. You will need to log in and out to toggle between the partitions. All these applications have more to do with the maintenance of the drive than to boost productivity. If Seagate could throw in something like a backup program or file synchronization, the drive would appeal to more people.
