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Portable
Storage Device Comparison
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Features
- Performance
- Pictures
- Support |
| Speed
Test I : 256MB CF Card to Portable Storage |
| Test
Setup: |
Storage
Device with IBM TravelStar 20GB installed
Ridata Professional 256MB CF card
Nikon D100 Digital Camera |
| Test
Steps |
Use
Nikon D100 camera to fill up 256MB CF card with 13 TIFF files
with average size 17.7MB. Total file size 224MB.
Measure the time
to transfer the card to storage device |
| Test
Result |
| Brand |
Time |
Speed |
| Tripper |
113 seconds |
1.98 MB/sec |
| Super
DigiBin |
86
seconds |
2.60 MB/sec |
| X-Drive |
259 seconds |
0.86 MB/sec |
| Image
Tank |
210 seconds |
1.07 MB/sec |
| Comments:
Super DigiBin and Tripper are both very fast here,
followed by Image Tank and X-drive. |
|
| Speed
Test II : 512MB CF Card to Portable Storage |
| Test
Setup: |
Storage
Device with IBM TravelStar 20GB installed
Ridata Professional 512MB CF card
Nikon D100 Digital Camera |
| Test
Steps |
Use
Nikon D100 camera to fill up 512MB CF card with 28
TIFF files
with average size 17.7MB. Total file size 485MB.
Measure the time
to transfer the card to storage device |
| Test
Result |
| Brand |
Time
to Transfer |
Speed |
| Tripper |
242 seconds |
2.0 MB/sec |
| Super
DigiBin |
185 Seconds |
2.62 MB/sec |
| X-Drive |
541 seconds |
0.90 MB/sec |
| Image
Tank |
437 seconds |
1.10 MB/sec |
| Comments:
This shows consistent results with Test I. It also
indicates the overall speed with larger cards is higher
due to fixed startup time. |
|
| Speed
Test III : 1GB IBM Microdrive Portable Storage |
| Test
Setup: |
Storage
Device with IBM TravelStar 20GB installed
IBM Microdrive 1GB (current model)
Nikon D100 Digital Camera |
| Test
Steps |
Use
Nikon D100 camera to fill up 1GB Microdrive with 59 TIFF files
with average size 17.7MB. Total file size 1021MB.
Measure the time to transfer the MicroDrive to storage device |
| Test
Result |
| Brand |
Time
to Transfer |
Speed |
| Tripper |
726 seconds |
1.40 MB/sec |
| Super
DigiBin |
389
seconds |
2.62 MB/sec |
| X-Drive |
1152
seconds |
0.88 MB/sec |
| Image
Tank |
910 seconds |
1.12 MB/sec |
| Comments:
It is to our surprise to see Tripper speed becomes slow
when reading Microdrive, but it is still acceptable. Super
DigiBin is the winner here again. X-Drive performs
significantly slower with Microdrive. |
|
| Speed
Test IV : Storage Device to PC |
| Test
Setup: |
Storage
Device with IBM TravelStar 20GB installed
Ridata Professional 256MB CF card
Nikon D100 Digital Camera
DELL Dimension 4550 desktop with built-in
USB 2.0 port |
| Test
Steps |
Use
Nikon D100 camera to fill up 256MB CF card with 13 TIFF files
with average size 17.7MB. Total file size 224MB.
Transfer the CF card to storage device, then transfer
from storage device to DELL desktop by USB 2.0 port
(backward
compatible with USB 1.1). Measure the time to copy the 224MB
data to PC |
| Test
Result |
| Brand |
Time
to Transfer |
Speed |
| Tripper |
15
seconds |
14.9MB/sec
or 119.47 bps |
| Super
DigiBin |
317
seconds |
.71 MB/sec or
5.68 bps |
| X-Drive |
256 seconds |
.88 MB/sec or
7.00 bps |
| Image Tank |
269 seconds |
.83 MB/sec or
6.66 bps |
| Comments:
With USB 2.0 interface, Tripper performs much better speed
(120 bps), the highest speed we have seen even compare to
other USB 2.0, Firewire devices we tested. It is
about 20 times faster than
the average speed of other 3. |
|
| Battery
Test : 256MB CF Card to Portable Storage |
| Test
Setup: |
Storage
Device with IBM TravelStar 20GB installed (fully
charged)
Ridata Professional 256MB CF
Nikon D100 Digital Camera |
| Test
Steps |
Use
Nikon D100 camera to fill up 256MB CF card with 13 TIFF files
with average size 17.7MB. Total file size 224MB. Count the
number of times the storage device can successfully transfer the
256MB CF card (till the machine shuts down itself due to lack of
power). Also record the total continuous usage time. |
| Test
Result |
| Brand |
Number
of downloads |
Total
Usage Time |
| Tripper |
37 (or 8.09GB
data) |
71 minutes |
| Super
DigiBin |
41 (or
8.97GB data) |
69 minutes |
| X-Drive |
25 (or 5.47GB
data) |
115 minutes |
| Image
Tank |
80
(or 17.5GB data) |
290
minutes |
| Comments:
The battery test is what many people care the most.
Instead of total usage time, the number of downloads makes
more sense. Image Tank is a
huge winner here. Even with its 2000 mAh battery,
the result is a big surprise. Both Super DigiBin and
Tripper also perform well in this test. X-Drive also can
successfully transfer 5.47GB data, which is still
acceptable for most users. |
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