Testing:

    A quick note, although the pictures below aren't terrible, they aren't as good as I would have liked. You see, at the time of testing, I had to print screen, and then paste into WordPad. Burn a CD, open the WordPad documents, and paste into Paint Shop Pro 8. Unfortunately, during the process, the pictures were automatically converted down to 256 colors, and were skewed a bit horizontally. Damn WordPad...

    Anyway, after you do your backup, you will get a summary, with a button available that will show you the log. The log documents all the files backed up, skipped, and other things as the time involved in doing the operation.

(29) Files done	(30) Log

   
    Doing a restore, once again, as easy as pressing the "Restore" button on the unit, brings up a selective, or a "Full Restore." I elected to do a full restore this time. See the warning. (Picture 31) So after that, I let the software do its magic...

(31) Full restore	(32) In progress

    Next will be some of the log files. The file count is almost the same, so pretty much tangible results can be derived from the difference in time, using USB 1.1 and USB 2.0. I'll summarize a bit after the log pictures before getting into the good and the bad of the software.

(33) Restore log (USB 2.0)	(34) Restore log (USB 1.1)

(35) Two restore logs (USB 2.0 and 1.1)

    Picture 33 is, at USB 2.0 speeds, 468 megs copied over, and taking less than a minute. Picture 34, USB 1.1, 14 minutes to copy almost the same exact files. See how important it is to use USB 2.0? Picture 35 shows two restores. One at USB 2.0, and the other at USB 1.1. That's 2 minutes to copy back over a bit less than 500 megs, at USB 2.0, and around 9 minutes to do about the same at USB 1.1. In summary, with a Fujitsu 30 gig laptop drive, write tests come out about 21 MB/S at USB 2.0, and 1 MB/s at USB 1.1. If you don't have USB 2.0, be prepared to wait. In several hours of testing, at USB 1.1 speeds, the unit performed without any glitches.


How the software works revisited:

    Now I'll give you a bit more technical information on how the software works. When you go ahead and do a selective, or total back up, the software will do a file count to see if it could successfully back up all your files. On my main machine, I selectively selected more than the capacity of the 30 gig drive, I was at USB 1.1 speed, so it took forever. I did not see any warning as suggested I would by COOLMAX. I did see the log files and it did skip files though. Large ones. Like a few DVD rips I had. So I would be aware of what you are backing up, and the space on your external drive.

    The software also smartly skips your system files. Such as .exe, inf, .dll, and the Windows and Program Files directory. This way, if something catastrophic happens, and you had to reload your OS, restoring your data won't change your programs, or mess up Windows, as that could easily happen with an older version of a .dll being copied over. It would be very easy to do, since the software does NOT do file date comparisons. It WILL overwrite a document from your external hard drive, even if the one on your say, C:\ drive is newer. (Picture 31) Be aware of that. The only downside I can see to NOT backing up anything in the Program Files directory is, many older digital camera software, such as Canon stuff, puts all the pictures in a folder or two buried under the Program Files directory. You digital camera users, make sure you know where your pictures are. :)

    The software creates a folder on your external drive named "Backup." It is hidden, but that is easily enough reckoned with. Browsing through it, you can see all your files, and open them as if they were on your C:\ drive. Guess what that means? Well, that means that your files are NOT compressed to save space. Good in a way, that if you just wanted one file, you could easily copy it back over. Bad in a way, that I bet a lot of files could be compressed to save space. Very important if you are sloppy like me, and waste hard drive space with downloads of stuff. With 2.5" hard drives maxing out at 80-100 gigs at the time of this writing, hard drive space should be considered in your purchase. While laptop drives aren't terribly expensive, they aren't cheap either. But imagining what a 3.5" unit like this would be; external power supply, bulky, I'd prefer the 2.5" one,, just for convenience of not needing a backpack to carry the darn thing around.


Summary:

    At less than $50 USD, it's another good external enclosure out on the market. It does have some air holes to let some air into the unit too. In no time during testing did the 2.5" disk get very hot. Remember, 2.5" hard drives run off of a 5 Volt source, and are built to be in a laptop with very little circulation.

    The addition of the back up and restore buttons on the unit is extremely enticing for ease of use. However, with the first version of the software, I can see some improvements that should be made. If you don't want to use the software, or the buttons, just use it with say Windows Backup software instead, or maybe Stomp's "Backup MyPC." At least it will compress your files to save space. It might even work for disaster recovery, since the COOLMAX software was pretty much designed for your files, and not a disaster. I can easily see most people doing a selective back up on say your My Documents folder, by pressing a button, and a click or two. It doesn't get much easier than that.

    One day, you probably will be caught if you rely on your hard drive to keep your data safe. Anyone without some form of backup solution is asking for trouble. With the latest craze it seems, in viruses, trojans, and even more of an epidemic lately, spyware, as far as I'm concerned, you can't afford to NOT keep a backup of your stuff. Hard drives do die, often without warning. Keep that thought in the back of your mind...



 Pros:

   • Small and portable due to using a 2.5" HDD
   • Back up software is painless to use
   • Affordable
   • No external power needed - self powered
   • Works as an external removable disk
   • One touch back ups and restores
   • Uses a standard USB cable


 Cons:

   • Software could use some improvements (My whole real complaint)
   • No included case to carry your unit

"A very simple, yet effective way to back up your files."

Closing:

    I'd like to thank COOLMAX for sending the unit over for review. In the not too distant future, I'll be looking at the 3.5" version. Where space is concerned, you internet junkies with broadband outta like the 3.5" enclosure. Since 3.5" hard drives are growing very large these days. And at that time, we'll look at the good and bad as well. COOLMAX certainly has the right idea on this, but not a perfect execution. (Software) We'll see what the future brings. If interested in this or other COOLMAX products, click right here to see where to get them. Thanks for coming by. Until next time...

 

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