Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
Avastor ’s latest RAID regalia , theXMR Mobile RAID Drive , offers an light - to - carry design , multiple connection larboard , and transplant swiftness that closely rival other portable arrays .
look similar to an older Mac mini horizontally cut - in - half , the XMR has a unruffled aluminum soundbox that ’s covered by a white plastic top that pay the campaign ’s name and company logotype . The raiment measures exactly 6 by 6 column inch and is just 0.9 inch grandiloquent . It weighs just a little over a lb , great for taking it with you on your travels .
All of the array ’s buttons and ports are on the front of the machine . That include a pair of FireWire 800 ports , one eSATA port , one USB 2.0 port wine , a power push button , body process lights that indicate campaign and array action , and power input for tie in to an electrical wall plug .
Along with the regalia , you get a Quick Start Guide , a nifty neoprene protective arm , and a power adapter for when you ’re using with USB 2.0 or eSATA ( when using FireWire 800 , the drive is jalopy - powered ) . You also get all the cables you need , even a FireWire 800 to FireWire 400 cable for use with an Old Mac . However , some of the furnish cable television service were really brusk . The FireWire 800 transmission line measured just under 1.75 feet and the USB transmission line about a infantry , so unless you want to use the array very nigh to you , count getting foresighted cables .
The bundled CD that include a user manual of arms also has Avastor ’s maraud Master 1.6.1 software program , which is compatible with OS X 10.6.8 and earlier — the software is not compatible with the latest version of OS X , Lion . Avastor says it working on an update .
Our 1.5 TB test unit hold a pair of 2.5 - in Seagate Momentus 7200 - rpm hard drives , situated as RAID 0 and preformatted for OS X. With RAID Master , you could change the regalia setup to RAID 1 Redundancy , SPAN , or JBOD conformation ( though you ’ll have to initialize it through Disk Utility afterwards ) . The computer software was very easy to apply , so newcomers to RAID should palpate comfortable changing setting , but doing so will erase any data you have in your array .
In our trial run , the XMR post competitive speeds , compared to other portable RAID array . In RAID 0 , it bested both the CRU - DataPort ToughTech Duo ( ) and theOWC Mercury Elite - AL Pro Dual Mini ( ) in USB 2.0 read speed , simulate a 2 GB folder of data back to our test bed at 37.4MBps and a 2 GB filing cabinet at 38.4MBps . The XMR performed even better when localise to RAID 1 , write a 2 GB file at 33.3MBps over USB 2.0 and 72.2MBps through FireWire 800 . It then got the best AJA arrangement test write score of 70.1MBps via FireWire , surpassing the previously mentioned portable array .
The XMR did n’t do so well in our Photoshop examination . It film the array 90 second connected to USB 2.0 and 76 minute through FireWire 800 to complete the test in RAID 0 , and 85 seconds via USB and 64 seconds when set to RAID 1 . All four of those resolution were more soggy that what the other raiment ’s attain in any RAID mode . It should be noted that we usually do n’t see much focal ratio difference between RAID 0 and RAID 1 in two - parkway arrays .
Macworld’s buying advice
Small size of it , easy configuration , and competitive transfer speeds — majuscule reasons to get the XMR Mobile RAID Drive . It did n’t do so great tackling Photoshop , but if you ’re looking for a small array to carry your info around , the XMR would be a good selection for what you need , leave that you have n’t made the switch to Lion yet .
