Buffalo DriveStation TurboUSB Review
By Josh Norem
October 29th, 2007
Summary
Every PC user needs a backup plan, and Buffalo is hoping you will choo-choo-choose them with its DriveStation TurboUSB. This is a drive that purports to offer turbo performance and great software. Though the software is decent, the turbo thing is questionable. And although the main software works wonderfully, the additional utilities are broken and worthless. Ignore them and you’ll have a great backup drive at a great price.
Full Review
Features and Design
Like any backup drive, the DriveStation TurboUSB is a 320GB 7200rpm hard drive inside an enclosure (It is also offered in 500GB, 750GB, and 1TB capacities). And, as we’ve said before, when it comes to backup drives, it’s not the drive that makes the product special, but the software that is included. With that stated, let’s take a look at the included software.
Memeo: The main backup program included with the drive is Memeo, which we’ve reviewed before. Instead of running on a pre-determined backup schedule, it instantly backs up any files added to pre-selected backup folders. For example, if you set it to backup your “My Documents,” as soon as you add one file to that folder it will be copied to the backup location on the drive.
TurboUSB: The drive includes a TurboUSB function that is claimed to boost data transfer rates by “up to 37 percent” over standard USB. How this is possible is a mystery, but Buffalo claims the drive can do it proudly on its box.
File Encryption: The drive ships with software named SecureLockWare that allows for 256-bit AES file encryption on any drive (and does not have to be used with the DriveStation, in other words).
Cool and Quiet: All versions of the drive that offer less than 1TB of capacity are fanless and totally silent. The 1TB version has a fan however, but since we did not test this unit we cannot say with any certainty what its sound profile is.
Image Courtesy of Buffalo Technology
Use and Testing
We freed the DriveStation from its box and plopped it down on our desk. We were immediately distraught at how short the included USB cable is. We’ve sampled a bevy of external drives in our day and this cord is by far the shortest we’ve ever seen, and looks to be about 30 inches long. It’s long enough to drop down behind our desk and plug into our PCs, so we’re not complaining too loudly, but if we wanted to move the drive to the upper deck of our Ikea Jerker desk, we’d be out of luck.
First we installed the Memeo software, which we also sampled with the Buffalo LinkStation. It works wonderfully for the most part. To recap, you specify a backup routine of “folder here is backed up to drive X,” and then every time you add a file to the location it’s automatically copied to the backup drive, which is superb. You can even enable Auto Delete, which will delete files from the backup location if you delete them from the source, which we also love. During testing, the software worked as we expected it, however, we found that after a two-day lull in testing and writing that the software had turned off (it runs in the system tray). When we restarted it, our backup routine was non-existent and we had to re-create it. This is potentially a major problem, as we had assumed our files were being backed up, but when we noticed the desktop alerts weren’t happening (a little box pops up from the system tray to alert you to a file backup occurring) we opened the application to find our backup routine deleted. We’re not sure why this happened, but once we re-created it we had no further issues.
Saving Power
Though we generally had a trouble-free experience with Memeo, the same cannot be said for some of the other bundled software. The first of which is the Power Saver utility, which can allow you to set a timer on the drive for it to shutoff due to inactivity. This helps preserve the drive’s life since its platters aren’t always spinning.
This tool lets you set up a power plan for the drive, at least in theory.
It’s a great idea, but we had difficulty getting it to work. When we told the software to turn the drive off after ten minutes it told us this.
When we tried to set up a power plan for our drive it wouldn’t let us do so.
We waited several minutes and tried again, but the drive was not having it. Whenever we put it into “power-saving mode” and tried to get it to accept the settings, it would tell us to wait and try again. We never got it to work successfully.
TurboUSB
Moving along, we then installed the TurboUSB utility, which activates turbo mode on the drive for improved performance. Why this is even an option, we have no idea. You can even disable it, but why would you? Buffalo should just build this into the drive somehow to make sure customers are getting the most from the drive, rather than making it a separate utility they have to install.
You can enable, or disable turbo mode, in case data transfers are too fast for your liking.
Regardless, we installed it and enabled it, then did some testing. As it turns out the turbo mode isn’t any different than the non-turbo mode, at least in our tests. Here are some numbers:
150MB Write
Non-turbo: 16.3 seconds
Turbo: 10.3 seconds
929MB Write
Non-turbo: 32.8 seconds
Turbo: 33.1 seconds
356MB Read
Non-Turbo: 1:37 seconds
Turbo: 1:12 seconds
When it comes to write speeds, there is virtually no difference between modes. We did see a difference in a read test, however, which is both surprising and pleasing at the same time.
Encryption
Next we installed the included encryption software, which is named SecureLockWare. Its operation is sublimely simple. It puts two icons on your desktop (or wherever you want them) that are labeled “unlock file” and “lock file.” When you click “lock file” a small box appears for you to drag the file or folder into it to encrypt it. You then type in a password (which is a bit confusing, since you would think you’d set this up beforehand) and it encrypts the file and places it on your desktop in an encrypted format. You then click “open file” and drag the encrypted file into the box, type the password and it opens it up, putting it in a folder on your desktop. We had no issues with the encryption software and like it very much.
Drag-and-Drop file encryption works very well and is easy to use.
Built-in NAS?
After we had installed all the software, we clicked “Start,” and then “All Programs” to see what we could find in the “Buffalo” directory and there was a strange link to a program called NAS Navigator. We saw this same link in our review of the Buffalo NAS drive but this is not a NAS drive, so what is it doing? We then clicked on it, and were told it was for a non-existent program. It’s almost as if Buffalo just throws all its software in the box regardless of what product it is.
The DriveStation software apparently installs vaporware.
One final oddity we encountered reviewing this drive was that you can’t purchase it from the Buffalo website for some reason. When browsing the various models there is a link labeled “Buy Now,” but when you try to buy the 320GB model it brings you to a page that says there are no featured merchants listed.” Clicking through the links, we got the same error message for the 750GB and 1TB versions of the drive. The 500GB model is the only one that provides link for purchasing. If you want this drive, you have to Google it or find some other method other than purchasing it from the Buffalo website.
Buffalo has a link to “Buy Now,” but then tells you it has no vendors listed. Bah.
Conclusion
The DriveStation is not a bad product. If you just plug the drive in and set up Memeo, you’ll be very happy with it. Try fiddling with any of the additional software, with the exception of the encryption stuff, and you will most likely be left baffled and confused. We saw similar software wonkiness in our review of the Buffalo LinkStation NAS drive, so though it’s disappointing it’s ultimately not surprising. Buffalo makes decent products, but somebody at the company needs to step in and resolve these software issues as they detract from the “out of the box” experience in a big way.
Pros:
• Basic functionality is awesome
• Easy setup
Cons:
• Additional software is broken and buggy
• “Turbo mode” is not any faster
Specs
Number of Drives 1
Drive Interface SATA
Hard Drive Sizes 320GB, 500GB, 750GB, 1TB
Rotational Speed 7200 RPM
Interface
Standard Compliance USB 2.0
Connector Type USB Type A
Number of Ports 1
Data Transfer Rates Max: 480 Mbps (High Speed Mode)
Max: 12 Mbps (Full Speed Mode)
Others
Dimensions (WxHxD mm)
46 x 200 x 163
Weight (g) 1270
Power Consumption (W) Max. 25W, Average 17W
Operating Environment (Celsius) 5-35°
OS Support Windows®Vista, Windows®XP, Windows®2000, Mac OX 10.3 and later
Power Supply external, AC100-240V 50/60 Hz