FC-Test (Continued)

Now we can conclude that IEEE1394 (IFireWire) and USB 2.0 interfaces do yield a lot to the ATA/100 when working with the external HDD. Maybe it is all because of the IEE1394-to-ATA/100 and USB 2.0-to-ATA/100 converters used in the external hard disk drives, but I am more inclined to believe that the contemporary HDDs simply do not fit into the old interfaces. Maybe, FireWire800 will save the situation? Or maybe we should turn to SerialATA?

When we compared the results for USB 2.0 and FireWire interfaces, we understood that the latter provides better data transfer rate.

Conclusion

So, despite the fact that we actually knew the results of our tests in advance, I don’t regret having spent so much time on running all those benchmarks. Firstly, the external WD drive we have just tested appeared faster and better than the 120GB model, which we have reviewed a while ago (see our Western Digital External Hard Disk Drive Review). Secondly, we saw that USB 2.0 and FireWire interfaces, do not provide enough bandwidth for it, as the drive can work even faster. And thirdly, I tried to play with this drive for as long as possible, as I really fell in love with it :)

Well, now I would like to sum up everything I have already said:

Highs:

• Outstandingly stylish exterior and design;
• Extremely high performance (for an external HDD);
• Huge storage capacity.

Lows:

• High price;
• Too tangible discrepancy between the HDD storage capacity and the interface speed.

In conclusion we would like to thank Western Digital for the opportunity to test this wonderful product.