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It seems to be called a ‘Photo Drive’ by the reseller but the box has no mention of such a name only Argosy, perhaps ‘Photo Drive’ is more descriptive as this can store a great deal of photographs as well as a huge amount of music files of what even description. It works with both PC and MAC.

The unit is 24x4x12cm (DxWxH) with cables inserted in the rear in place. This is a USB 2 unit but will work on systems that only have USB 1.1.

The stated capacity of the drive is 120GB but it is actually 114GB. Unlike internal drives this comes pre formatted so it is only a matter of connection to a USB port, wait about 30 seconds for Windows to decide what it is and then you have another drive letter in My Computer and you can drag and drop files to and from it. Attaching it to another PC just as easy & even huge video files can be moved quickly and easily.

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Unlike small capacity – few GB – drives this will not work without external power and the supplied adapter plugs into the rear of the unit under the USB lead. I liked the idea of the unit having an on/off switch so it only needs power when you want to use it. When powered on a blue light shows on the front of the unit, when being read or written this light flashes. In multiple user environments or where people may have ‘sticky fingers’ they is an anchor point for a ‘Kensington Lock’. The rear also has a switch to turn the card ports on or off.

The front of the unit has two slots for card ports, on the face of it a gimmick but this would allow quick one step transfer of photographs from a camera card to secure storage. Card slot 2 supports SD/MMC and Memory Stick and Memory Stick Pro. Card Slot 1 Compact Flash I and II and also Micro Drive. Also on the front are two further USB 2 ports, this feature is great especially for those who only have rear USB 2 ports as other items such as cameras and other storage devices can be quickly plugged and unplugged, certainly with Windows XP with no ceremony, I know removing extra drive letters from Windows 98SE and Windows ME can be a problem requiring careful use of the icon in the Windows tray or it can cause Windows to get in a huff or worse, Windows XP always seems to accept removal without a whimper.

The list of card types supported is not huge and should you use other types such as SmartMedia or the very popular XD then you will either need an adapter - I understand there are such items but the only one I have seen is SmartMedia to XD but I know Compact Flash to XD exists - or else you would need to use a USB lead from the camera and keep the card in place.

The build quality of the drive seems good and the aluminium case makes it robust. 114GB of USB storage, two USB ports and two card ports make this an interesting  unit. More details from The Upgrade Store who sell it post/packing free for £122.99.

Link http://www.theupgradestore.co.uk/product.aspx?intIID=18&intRID=12&intCID=13&intSID=21