The most recent articles from Personal Computer World

Review: Hypertec 1GB Datasafe Rugged

Simon Crisp — 2008-01-18T00:00:00.000Z

Simon Crisp, Personal Computer World, Friday 18 January 2008 at 00:00:00

Define public and private data sections

The Datasafe range of USB2 flash drives from Hypertec offers 256-bit AES hardware encryption and have both private and public data sections, the size of which can be user-defined.

The encrypted data section uses a failsafe password for extra protection, so even if the drive were tampered with and the flash chips removed, the data will still be inaccessible without the password.

For even greater protection this Rugged version of the Datasafe comes in a rubberised, shock-proof and water-resistant outer casing.

Capacities for the Datasafe rugged run from 512MB up to 4GB, but if itís encryption youíre after, Truecrypt (www.truecrypt.org) is a free app that can be loaded onto any USB key.

Review: Crucial Ballistix PC3-12800 2GB kit

Simon Crisp — 2008-01-17T00:00:00.000Z

Simon Crisp, Personal Computer World, Thursday 17 January 2008 at 00:00:00

Still early days for DDR3

Crucial has been quite late to market with its DDR3 memory modules, which is perhaps understandable as the demand for DDR3 is still in its early days and the price is still pretty restrictive.

There are two speeds: PC3-8500 (1,066MHz) in the standard range, and PC3-12800 (1,600MHz) in the performance Ballistix product line.

At present the PC3-8500 is available from single 512MB modules up to 4GB kits, while the faster PC3-12800 is available only as 1GB modules or 2GB kits. The memory runs with a latency of 8-8-8-24 at 1.8V as standard. If you must have DDR3 memory this 2GB kit performs well, but is also expensive.

Review: HP Media Vault mv2020 network hard drive

Karl Foster — 2006-12-21T00:00:00.000Z

Karl Foster, Personal Computer World, Thursday 21 December 2006 at 00:00:00

If you’re sinking in a sea of data, HP offers a lifeline via Ethernet cable

The demand for domestic data storage is ever on the rise. As householders acquire digital cameras, camcorders, music files and video downloads, finding room for all the data involved becomes a problem, as does sharing it efficiently between machines.

The elegant solution is to hook a large hard drive to the router and make it available to all the users on the network, which is what HP’s new Media Vault mv2020 is about.

Available in both 300GB and 500GB versions, the vault connects to a DHCP router via a supplied Ethernet cable and, after about a minute of initialisation, its folders can be seen under the default Mshome network.

As shipped, the Media Vault is configured with three top-level share folders: MediaShare, FileShare and Backup, all of which can be mapped to drive letters with a bundled, Windows-only drive-management utility. The software package also features NTI Shadow and NTI Drive Backup 4 by which to back up selected files or the entire system. A bootable restore disc is supplied should things go awry.

The vault is well-made, if rather sizeable for a 500GB enclosure, but it does host an empty bay into which you can insert an extra 3.5in drive, taking capacity up to a maximum 1.2TB. It’s also possible to configure the expanded vault as a mirrored Raid 1 array to ensure backups are that much more secure.

Naturally, because the vault is attached to the router, any other device on the network, be it via wired or wireless connection, can use it for file sharing, including Linux, OS X and Windows boxes. Only the latter, however, is catered for by the supplied backup software.

In use, the vault is no slouch - 10MB worth of data reads and writes in approximately nine seconds, which is sprightly enough.

Aside from the presence of three USB ports for hooking up extra devices, that’s about it. The Media Vault is just a big, fast, Ethernet-equipped hard drive, albeit one that is set up for media streaming via UPnP if required.

The suggested price is on the high side for the capacity offered, but will doubtless be discounted at retail. The drive looks designed to last and, provided DHCP is enabled on your router, is a breeze to set up and use.

Also consider:

Packard Bell Store & Play

Packard Bell's media savvy external hard disk drive for your PC and TV

Iomega Storcenter

Always on storage for your home network

All hard drive reviews