Review: Buffalo MiniStation Extreme

Like its stable mate, the Buffalo MiniStation Plus, the MiniStation Extreme is a small, though not particularly light, USB 3.0 external hard drive.

When we say small we're of course referring to the drive's physical dimensions, not its capacity. Within its small frame lies a whopping 1TB of disk space - more than enough for most people's needs. When we say not particularly light, this is because of its shock-resistant casing.

But how well does it perform? When plugged into a standard USB 2.0 port the disk manages read and write speeds of around 30MB/s. Plugged into a USB 3.0 port, however, the write speeds leap to an average of 85.73MB/s, with read speeds a very good 94.87MB/s.

Very handy LED lights on the front of the drive let you know which port you've plugged the Buffalo MiniStation Extreme into - green for USB 2.0 and Blue for USB 3.0.

If you stick it in a USB 3.0 port and it insists on glowing green, make sure you've downloaded and installed the latest USB 3.0 drivers for your motherboard. As out tests show, it really is worth using in the newer, faster USB ports.

The Buffalo MiniStation Extreme also comes with a host of programs we've come to expect from Buffalo devices. As with the Buffalo MiniStation Plus, these programs don't add much, and after installing it can be a pain to completely uninstall them from your system, with folders left all over your system's hard drive.

The Buffalo MiniStation Extreme works perfectly well without these programs, and we recommend not installing them.

As for the shock-resistant casing we mentioned earlier, it includes US Military-grade shock protection and shock absorbers that surround the hard drive. It certainly feels very robust, and Buffalo states it can withstand falls of up to two metres. So it might not survive being dropped out of a window, but it'll be fine being knocked off a table, or put in a bag and forgotten about until someone chucks it across the room.

Verdict

It's not indestructible, but the Buffalo MiniStation Extreme makes a nice change from some of the dangerously flimsy external hard drives we've tested. It's fast, too, once you ignore the programs that come with the external hard drive.

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Buffalo launches nippy DriveStation Velocity hard drives

Buffalo Technology's latest hard drives, the DriveStation Velocity range, claim to have the ability to transfer 1,000 digital photos in under than 7 seconds.

That's all thanks to the 7,200 RPM drive along with the TurboPC Ex utility for Windows PCs which add up to a data transfer rate of 5Gbps. So while it's not the fastest hard drive we've ever heard of, it's not bad for a desk buddy for your average joe.

Unsurprisingly, it's a USB 3.0 affair but it is backwardly compatible with USB 2.0 if you're yet to upgrade and don't mind the slower speeds.

Looker

It's not a bad looking device either, coming in shiny piano black and a fairly compact frame.

Spies and other secretive sorts will be pleased to hear that it comes with 256-bit AES Full Disk Encryption to keep all those secret files and photos safe from prying eyes.

The Buffalo DriveStation Velocity is available to buy now, and will set you back the fairly reasonable prices of £89.99 for 1TB, £112 for 2TB and £164 for 3TB.

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Review: Buffalo MiniStation Plus

The Buffalo MiniStation Plus is a very impressive external hard drive, considering it has capacity to hold 1TB of data in such a small case. It might not be quite as slim as the Seagate GoFlex Slim, but it holds lots more files.

Although it's small, the reason why it isn't quite as tiny as its ultra-thin competitors is that it has a shock-proof chassis.

Due to its small size and large capacity, there's a good chance that you'll be carrying a lot of your important files and documents around on it, so its sturdy build quality is very welcome.

Unlike some USB 3.0 external hard drives, the Buffalo MiniStation Plus doesn't use a Solid State Drive, opting for a more old-fashioned 5,400RPM hard disk. This means that it lags quite a bit behind SSD-based external hard drives when it comes to speed, with write speeds of around 44MB/s in our tests.

The software that comes with the Buffalo MiniStation Plus promises to speed things up, but we found that it made little difference.

Verdict

In our tests, using a 5,400RPM hard disk fails to make the most of the USB 3.0 connection's potential.

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Review: Buffalo MiniStation Plus

The Buffalo MiniStation Plus is a very impressive external hard drive, considering it has capacity to hold 1TB of data in such a small case. It might not be quite as slim as the Seagate GoFlex Slim, but it holds lots more files.

Although it's small, the reason why it isn't quite as tiny as its ultra-thin competitors is that it has a shock-proof chassis.

Due to its small size and large capacity, there's a good chance that you'll be carrying a lot of your important files and documents around on it, so its sturdy build quality is very welcome.

Unlike some USB 3.0 external hard drives, the Buffalo MiniStation Plus doesn't use a Solid State Drive, opting for a more old-fashioned 5,400RPM hard disk. This means that it lags quite a bit behind SSD-based external hard drives when it comes to speed, with write speeds of around 44MB/s in our tests.

The software that comes with the Buffalo MiniStation Plus promises to speed things up, but we found that it made little difference.

Verdict

In our tests, using a 5,400RPM hard disk fails to make the most of the USB 3.0 connection's potential.

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