Transcend StoreJet Portable review

The 320GB StoreJet, from Taiwanese manufacturer Transcend, should be the drive of choice for users who want to ensure their data is protected from any knocks and scrapes. According to the company's marketing claims it even meets US military drop-test standards.

The drive features floating protection, where the disk is suspended inside its chassis. As a result, the case deflects a little when you squeeze it. This is disconcerting at first, but it should do a better job of protecting the drive from the odd drop than the Freecom's insubstantial rubber jacket.

And the interesting features don't end there. Aside from the standard mini-USB port (there's no eSATA or DC input here), you also get a button to activate the device's onboard backup system.

This feature is unique to the Transcend this month and a decent addition to the drive. Once the included StoreJet elite software is installed on your PC or laptop, you simply select the files and folders you want backed up, and a simple click of the button does the rest automatically. Pressing the button after this updates the backup with any alterations, rather than copying the whole lot again. Handy.

The emphasis on rugged protection didn't hinder the Transcend in any of our tests, either. It was quicker than the fastest portable overall (the Western Digital) when reading and writing our single 50MB file, taking 1.5 seconds and 1.7 seconds respectively. And it handled our 650MB file and 100MB file collection in similarly impressive times.

Added to this, a middling cost per gigabyte of 23.4p contributes to a decent set of scores. If you need something more rugged than the average, it's certainly worth considering.

Author: Mike Jennings