Product Reviews

Hard disks

SmartDisk Firefly [MacUser]
COMPANY: SmartDisk	PRICE: Ł141 (Ł120 ex VAT)
RATING:	ISSUE: 20 19 DATE: Sep 04

Verdict: The SmartDisk Firefly is a stylish and compact 20GB pocket drive, but this USB device so isn't as fast or capacious as FireWire models.

This SmartDisk Firefly drive isn't the first miniature hard disk from the company of the same name, but it's a very different device to its 2002 predecessor. In fact, it has more in common with the Unibrain ME2 than the last Firefly.

The Firefly's styling is similar to SmartDisk's other external hard drives, the Crossfire and Firelite, but



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looks better. It's a USB 2 device and ships with a USB-mini-to-USB cable. At 103 x 63 x 13mm, it slips easily into a pocket and only weighs 93g. In our tests, file transfer clocked in at around 1MB/sec connected to a USB 1.1 interface, compared with 12.2MB/sec when using USB 2.

The Firefly has a capacity of 20GB, making it ideal for mobile backups or as a way of transferring large files. We were more impressed with the SmartDisk Firefly than with Unibrain's ME2. Although it's the same capacity and a similar size and weight, the Firefly is Ł60 cheaper than the Unibrain and is far more attractive. Its lower price makes it a more viable option for anyone who needs a tiny storage solution, and it's a no-brainer for anyone considering investing in a 256MB thumb drive. However, despite its attractions, we still reckon you'd be better sacrificing the size and weight for the extra capacity and performance of a FireWire pocket drive.

By Kenny Hemphill