HP SimpleSave sd320a

The HP SimpleSave sd320a targets users looking for an easy way to backup data. In terms of value-for-money the 320GB SimpleSave sd320a scores well at a cost of US $120 or $0.37 per gigabyte. Its value factor is improved even further when you consider it ships with backup software.

The SimpleSave software is aptly named because it makes data backups supremely simple. On plugging the drive into your PC or notebook the software automatically runs and, unless you hit the ‘My Options' or ‘Exit' button, will automatically backup up files it finds and deems as personal data on your hard drive. The software is also able to perform incremental backups, so you needn't worry about selecting new files after the first backup process completes.

If however you want control over what the SimpleSave software makes a backup of, you can easily do this by clicking on the ‘My Options' text and then click on ‘File Types & Locations'.

In terms of performance the SimpleSave isn't a speed-demon. It took 10 seconds to copy a 238MB file off our machine's drive (write test) and copying the same file back to our PC (read test), it needed 8 seconds. Other portable drives proved quicker by one or two seconds. Performing the same tests with our larger 4GB data directory, the HP lagged behind other portable drives by larger margins.