2.5” Hitachi Travelstar IC025N020ATCS04 20GB Hard Disk Drive

Among hard disk drives of the 2.5” form-factor the series from Hitachi is the most popular (taken over by the company from IBM). We took a model from the Travelstar 40GN family (20GB) for our tests. Although the one-inch difference seems to be unimportant, this drive boasts very different dimensions and weight as compared to the above-described 3.5” HDD. Its thickness (9.5mm) emphasizes its main purpose – mobile data storage. Of course its speed characteristics cannot match those of the regular HDDs, but it is partially because of its slower spindle rotation speed (4200rpm), which also makes it very quiet. The buffer size (2MB) is the same as most modern 3.5” HDDs have. Average access time is 12ms. This “star” supports the ATA-5 interface with UltraDMA 100 data-transfer mode.

Tekram TR-621 2.5 USB 2.0 Mobile Rack Kit

Ordinary 2.5” hard disk drives, usually found in notebooks, can be made mobile, too. Just put them into a special rack supporting USB 2.0. We took the one from Tekram.

The rack is a ribbed metal case with plastic parts at the front and rear. When the back panel is removed, you can extract the PCB with chips and the interface connector for 2.5” HDDs. You place the drive onto this board, insert it into the case and cover it with the panel. The upper part of the case has two work-mode indicators. The rear plastic panel carries a USB port and a power connector. The device is powered through the PS/2 connector of the mainboard by means of a cable with an appropriate adapter.

The model comes with USB and power supply cables, a user’s booklet, a CD-disc with drivers and an electronic user’s guide, a cloth sheath for transportation and mounting screws.