Maxtor One Touch Mini 4 Ultraportable Hard Drive Review

Back in August we reviewed Seagate’s FreeAgent Go Drive and now we got the chance to review another brand name under Seagate which is Maxtor’s OneTouch line the Mini 4. Like the rest of Maxtor’s OneTouch Hard Drives’ the Mini 4 is no different in its ability to do instant back-ups by touching the button on the face of the hard drive, in this case it has a glowing button for starting an instant backup. Following the concept of many portable external hard drives before it – the Mini 4 is also designed to be portable and fast. With its rugged design and sleek shape it’s a breeze to pick up and travel with. External hard drives used to be huge. In some cases they still are, but the tide is changing and the importance to schlep around extra hard drive space is becoming such a necessity that Maxtor has made it easier to lug around up to 160GB without feeling like its weighing your bag down. The Mini 4 measures 4.9 x .59 x 3.22 inches and weighs just under 6 ounces, making it a pleasure to carry.

Installation of the OneTouch 4 Mini was a breeze. I am currently running the Windows Vista OS and all I had to do was plug in the USB 2.0 “Y” cable that comes with the OneTouch 4 Mini into my computer. On the USB cable, one USB connector is labeled ‘Power’ and the other is labeled ‘Power and Data’ and the computer picked it up right away. Only requiring USB power and no AC adapter is great, but the fact that the OneTouch 4 Mini’s manual advises to use two USB ports for power is a bit inconvenient because what happens if I don’t have two USB ports to spare? Most laptops only have two to three USB ports, so that can be an issue. Still having a totally USB powered hard drive is much more convenient than having to carry around an AC adapter. However, even though the manual advises you to plug in both USB connectors into your computer, both my laptop and desktop were able to pick up and use the OneTouch 4 Mini with just one of the USB connectors plugged in. Also, the One Touch Mini was very quite and cool to the touch. I didn’t hear any constant spinning or revving.

Using HD Tune 2.53 the One Touch 4 Mini read files at an average 17.2mb per second, which results are speedy. In other words, this is a great drive for back ups and general drag and drop file storage. We can’t help but compare it to Seagate’s FreeAgent Go Drive, which sports very similar specs – a 5.400RPM drive and it is available in similar capacities. Personally, I like the design of the the OneTouch 4 Mini more so then the Seagate FreeAgent Go Drive. Size-wise they are almost identical, but I like the rugged design of the OneTouch 4 Mini a lot, it’s silver finish matches my Macbook Pro and its black edges make it look like it would be a great hard drive companion to match the new stylish new iMacs as well. But looks aside, a major difference between the two drives is the Creedo software that comes bundled with the FreeAgent Go Drive, which turns the hard drive in to a portable desktop for yourself so that you can easily access your bookmarks and personal documents as if you were on your own computer – even if you aren’t.

The One Touch 4 Mini comes pre-loaded with the One Touch Software and we suggest copying its contents to your computer if you plan on formatting the drive. Additional software is provided on the Maxtor SafetyDrill and Recovery CD. Compatible with both Windows and Mac except for the SafetyDrill program, SafetyDrill reboots and recovers your computer’s entire hard drive in case of system failure or virus/spyware infection. Also on the CD is the Maxtor DrivePass and encryption which protects sensitive files. Setting up the hard drive via the software was easy enough by following the on-screen directions.

The One Touch 4 Mini weighs just 5.9 ounces and sports a 5400 rpm drive, 8MB Cache, and a good price – Amazon has it listed for $139.99 for the 160GB version, the 120GB version for $111.99 and the 80GB version is listed as $96.99. A generous 5 year warranty is included as well. Overall, the One Touch 4 Mini is a great deal all around for someone looking to get as much storage as possible in a device that is portable and lightweight. It is also a sure fire addition for anyone who has a laptop or desktop that needs extra storage space but doesn’t have the extra space on their desks to keep it.

Conclusion:

The good: Great design, easy installation, easy backup with One Touch Button

The Bad: May require 2 USB ports and SafetyDrill Software is not compatible with Mac