Labs

Maxtor's OneTouch 4 Mini has a rubberised base to stop it sliding across your desk. As with Memorex's Ultra TravelDrive, a button launches its backup software, but, unlike the TravelDrive, the button can launch another program of your choice. The included software is among the best in the group. As well as backing up files incrementally and according to a schedule, it can clone your internal hard disk.

The OneTouch was the fastest portable disk at writing large files and was second only to the Buffalo MiniStation's TurboUSB mode when reading them. Its performance was less impressive when writing small files, where it was the second slowest portable disk at just 7.34MB/s. It fared better when reading small files, but it couldn't exceed 12MB/s as the Freecom and Iomega portable disks did.

The OneTouch isn't the fastest, but it's good value and has a five-year warranty and a powerful backup application. It's a Budget Buy.