Though the OneTouch III offers RAID 1 mirroring, where the same data is written to both drives simultaneously (which reduces the devices' capacity by half), we tested it in its default RAID 0 mode, where data is split across both drives for better performance. And better it was. Connected via USB 2.0, the drive wrote our 10GB folder of data at 15.9MB per second and read it back at 20.2MB per second--besting the Iomega Triple Interface external hard drive on both counts.
Service and support for the Maxtor OneTouch III Turbo Edition is about as good as it gets for external hard drives. Maxtor provides a standard one-year warranty, but the setup and support docs are excellent. There's a ton of online help available in the form of drivers, manuals, FAQs, troubleshooting resources, and an online support form, though the simplicity of the product should render most of it unnecessary. If you do need to talk to someone, toll-free telephone support is available weekdays from 8 a.m. till 5 p.m. MT.
- See more CNET content tagged:
- Maxtor,
- external hard drive,
- Seagate Technology,
- FireWire,
- backup
%20Hard%20Drive%20reviews%20-%20CNET%20Reviews&srcUrl=http://reviews.cnet.com/hard-drives/maxtor-onetouch-iii-turbo/4505-3186_7-31593898-2.html){kind=small}