Storage Toolkit

Maxtor OneTouch 160GB review

7.8

Editors' Rating

Felisa Yang CNET

Published: 13 Sep 2004

Maxtor's OneTouch external hard drive is more than a safe place to store all manner of digital files: capable of backing up a computer at the push of a single button, it's an essential piece equipment if your hard drive is filling up at an alarming rate.

Inside the large anodised aluminium case is a 3.5in. Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 hard drive that spins at 7,200rpm, includes 2MB of hardware cache and has a rated seek time of 9.3 milliseconds. This Ultra-ATA/133 drive with a USB 2.0 interface is capable of delivering a sustained transfer rate of 34MB per second (272Mbps).

To show that it's ready for data, the silver switch has a blue LED that throbs hypnotically. The kit comes with a USB cable, an AC adapter, a stand, a start-up guide and a CD with a manual, a backup application and drivers. Maxtor sells USB 2.0 OneTouch drives (for PCs, with 2MB of cache) in 80GB, 120GB, 160GB, 200GB and 250GB capacities; FireWire drives (for Macs, with 8MB of cache) in 160GB, 200GB, and 250GB capacities; and combo FireWire and USB drives that work with either PCs or Macs in 160GB, 200GB, 250GB and 300GB capacities.

Once the drive is set up and the included Dantz Retrospect Express program is configured, OneTouch lives up to its name, delivering the easiest data backups you can imagine. Tap the illuminated blue button on the front, and the computer copies, compresses and sends its files to the drive. Restoring a computer in the case of a system crash requires you to go through Retrospect's interface, but it's straightforward.

The OneTouch is fast: we clocked transfer speeds of between 98.4Mbps and 138.7Mbps when moving a range of digital audio and video files onto and off of the drive, and it performed an initial backup of our notebook's 11.5GB in just over 32 minutes. We're happy to note that regardless of whether it was churning through data or idle, the drive was pleasantly silent.

The OneTouch comes with a one-year warranty, which is on a par with the competition. If anything goes wrong, Maxtor has an excellent Web site, with software downloads, general help and a product-specific troubleshooting section. Maxtor's site also includes a top-notch online forum.

With a street price of around £130 (inc. VAT), the 160GB OneTouch costs about the same as Western Digital's 120GB USB 2.0 drive. But the one-touch feature along with the included backup software makes this a very reasonably priced storage solution.