Digital Trends

TrekStor DataStation duo w.u. 1TB August 28th, 2007 | by Jason Tomczak

Features and Design

TrekStor's DataStation duo w.u. 1 terabyte USB 2.0 drive is a sleek, satin-black, monolithic external hard drive. It has a slightly trapezoidal shape — just slightly wider at the top than the bottom — and bears an accidental resemblance to a metal brick. The drive is, of course, made of aluminum, so it's sturdy and can dissipate heat quickly. On the front of the drive are two buttons: one for power and one for quick backup functions tied to the included software, Nero's "BACKitUP 2 Essentials." On the back side of the drive, you'll find the power input, a single USB 2.0 port, and the fan vent. Yes, a fan vent — this means that the DataStation duo w.u. dissipates heat through its aluminum body AND gains extra cooling from a built-in fan. Danke, TrekStor!

Packaging

A very important part of product marketing (aside from the quality and function of the product itself) is packaging. Apple and Nespresso, for example, are two companies that completely understand and excel at quality packaging. The TrekStor DataStation duo w.u. drive comes in a plastic-coated cardboard box (common to most external hard drive packaging); however, the coating process looks like it was done on the cheap, because the plastic was peeling away at every crease. Again, this is really only a cosmetic issue, but it's a slight letdown when packaging looks tattered and cheap. 

Power Supply

The DataStation duo w.u. has two Samsung 500GB hard drives inside, and therefore requires a solid dose of electricity to power everything up. Because of this, the external power brick is rather large, weighing 1.25 pounds. The cord length (from wall to drive) extends roughly 13 feet.

For reference, the drive itself weighs just under 5 pounds. When you hold it in your hands, you can really feel the weight of all those documents and photos stored on the drive! 

High Speed USB

The DataStation uses USB 2.0 for its conection to your computer(s). This is a positive selling point for most consumers, but for some folks — Mac-using audio/video specialists, for example — an external drive needs to have Firewire 400 or 800 connections to be considered 100% robust. If you rarely (or never) touch Firewire, then the DataStation duo w.u. will probably be an excellent choice for your voluminous storage needs. If Firewire is important, or if you think it's in your immediate future, you'll need to look for another drive.

The DataStation duo w.u. has a minimalistic look