Put 1 TB in Your Pocket with the Buffalo Technology MiniStation

This MiniStation with Data Encryption is Buffalo Technology's first 2.5-inch hard drive to offer a 1 TB storage capacity.

Buffalo's MiniStation hard drives have been available for a while in 320 GB and 500 GB capacities, but with the 1 TB version you can now pack even more files into this compact, pocket-sized HDD. The only real downside is that it just has a USB 2.0 interface, whereas newer external hard drives seem to be moving towards USB 3.0. That means it'll take around eight hours to read or write the entire disk capacity at 35 MBps, which is the average speed recorded in our product tests. In other words, you'll need a lot of patience, but thankfully, the Turbo PC and Turbo Copy software supplied by Buffalo does speed things up a bit (even if only by around 10%).

This MiniStation has an integrated hardware encryption system to help keep all your files safe. There are three different security levels to choose from, with total encryption (Windows only), partial encryption or encryption off.

Note that the spec sheet shows a weight of 370 g, which is pretty heavy considering most other portable hard drives rarely exceed 200 g. Even the bulky LaCie Rugged only weighs 270 g. Hopefully we'll receive a 1 TB MiniStation to test soon so we can check that out for ourselves.

The MiniStation 1 TB with Data Encryption is out now for around £100 and comes with a two-year manufacturer's warranty.

> Product Survey: External Hard Drives