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Recently we held a competition for one lucky reader – for the opportunity to review an upcoming ADATA product. Ian Stevenson won the competition and today we present his independent'reader review'.
Today we’ll be taking a look at the 750GB DashDrive Durable HD710 portable hard drive from ADATA. This external hard drive offers a refreshing new approach to shock-resistant designs, combining style and substance together courtesy of the striking aesthetics and USB 3.0 Interface.
With military-grade shockproof and waterproof construction, targeting the on-the-go crowd whose active lifestyles demand a versatile shockproof performance and those demanding equipment that is protected from the elements.
- The HD710 is a robust storage device constructed of unique rubber material, designed especially for outdoor users. Its vibrant colour, clean-cut design and distinctive charm may appeal to those with active lifestyles.
- The military specification shockproof structure is highly waterproof.
- Equipped with a 2.5-inch 5,400 RPM hard drive and USB 3.0 transfer interface, achieving read/write performance up to 109MB/s.
Specifications:
- Device Interface: USB 3.0
- HDD Interface: 2.5″ SATA
- Dimensions: 132 x 99 x 21.5mm (5.2 x 3.9 x 0.85in)
- Weight: 220g (0.49 lb.)
- Available colours: Black / Blue / Yellow
- Shockproof: Military MIL-STD-810G 516.5 drop tested
- Waterproof: IPX7 Standard
- Capacity: 750GB (698GB available drive space when formatted to NTFS)
Below we take a look at the hard drive itself along with the accessories included in the box.
The drive is carefully mounted inside a rubber and plastic shell with a carbon fibre effect on each side of the drive; this gives it a very likeable look whilst also giving it a robust feel.
The back is identical to the front of the drive with the exception of the labels, this symmetrical design enables the drive to absorb impact evenly.
The front of the box maintains a minimalist design offering pleasing aesthetics and the basic product information, such as capacity and interface speeds whilst the rear of the box provides more detailed information in a variety of languages.
The contents included in the box (along with the drive) are; An ADATA product catalogue showcasing the versatility of the company and the products they offer, a quick start installation booklet and the USB & Power cable combo.
A close up of the silicone push flap that protects the super speed USB3 port from moisture.
System specs:
Processor: i5 2500k (overclocked to 4.5Ghz)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus Extreme IV
Memory: 16GB Mushkin Ridgeback 2133Mhz
Storage: 120GB Corsair Force 3 SSD
2TB Western Digital Green
2TB Seagate Barracuda Green
Graphics Card: Sapphire 2GB 6950
Power Supply: 1200W Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold
Operating System: Windows 7 x64 Ultimate Edition
Prior to each benchmark the drive will be formatted using the “Quick format” function in Windows 7. This will ensure consistent, clean data is being written to the hard drive and eliminate any minor performance set-backs caused by overriding existing data.
Software:
CrystalDiskInfo
CrystalDiskMark
CrystalDiskInfo (4.3.0) is a Hard Drive monitoring utility. It displays basic drive information, monitors S.M.A.R.T. values, and drive temperature.
CrystalDiskMark (3.0.1 x64) is a Hard Drive benchmark utility that measures sequential and random read and write speeds of the drive and displays the results after each test.
The results are good for a mechanical drive, scoring just under 100 MB/s in both sequential read and write tests.
ATTO Disk Benchmark utility is designed to be a performance measurement tool for both SSD's & hard drives. It measures your drive performance with various transfer sizes and test lengths for both reads and writes.
Features:
- Transfer sizes from 512KB to 8MB
- Transfer lengths from 64KB to 2GB
- Support for overlapped I/O
- Supports a variety of queue depths
- I/O comparisons with various test patterns
- Timed mode allows continuous testing
- Non-destructive performance measurement on formatted drives
Results mirror the CrystalDiskMark testing on the previous page. We can see the drive is capable of delivering almost 100 MB/s in both read and write tests. Solid results for an external mechanical drive.
HD Tune is a benchmark utility that can be used to measure a drive's performance, scan for errors, check the health status (S.M.A.R.T.) and securely erase all data.
HD Tune shows peak speeds of around 105 MB/s, with average transfer rates dropping to almost 76 MB/s. Burst rate shows a peak of 132.6 MB/s.
To test ADATA's claim of the drive being completely waterproof, I decided to put it through a simple test that involved the drive being submerged in a bowl of water for several minutes, however the drive would be moved every few seconds whilst in the bowl to ensure it could sustain being waterproof whilst being disrupted when submerged.
Just to prove that the drive was left in water for more than a few seconds, we showcase a video clip – below.
[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U6BHRT_Lqc&feature=youtu.be']The drive worked perfectly fine after being submerged under water for a short time. The review was handled after this test.
In addition to the waterproof claims, ADATA claims the HD710 has been rigorously drop tested to military standards.
As its unlikely most users of us won’t be meeting any of those specifications at home, we decided to hurl it around a room for a few minutes. The worst case real world scenario is likely to be a ‘drop' from a couple of feet onto a hard surfaced floor.
See if it survives below:
[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiOE45MC1Lc']Their claims are well founded, the drive survived our stress test !
The ADATA DashDrive Durable HD710 is aimed at the enthusiast audience who are frequently on the move, perhaps traveling from work to home with important data on a daily basis.
It also is suited to the user base who want the reassurance of protection during ‘less than ideal' traveling conditions. There is no doubt that this drive has exceeded my expectations on all levels.
The durability is impressive as it suffered only minor surface scratches in the tests I performed and the hard drive worked first time, every time when plugged back into the PC.
In addition to the shock tests, the drive also survived a short swim during testing and was comfortably protected from the water thanks to the rubber exterior and the USB/Power plug that fits snuggly into its respective slots.
What impressed me most was the thought that ADATA had invested into the flap mechanism. This flap automatically puts itself back into place when you remove your finger.
What this means is even if you happen to drop the drive into water whilst you were using it … providing the drive wasn’t plugged in, it should be adequately protected from the water.
Thanks to the 2.5” Toshiba drive inside the review sample (retail drives may vary drive models) the drive remains perfectly silent whilst maintaining performance comparable to a 3.5” Eco drive – which is an impressive feat indeed.
Overall, although the aesthetics may not be to everyone’s taste – it performs as good as some larger desktop drives and yet it’s small enough and light enough to take with you anywhere. No matter the destination, you can rest safely knowing your drive and data is protected from fall damage and unwanted moisture.
This drive can be bought for around £90 inc vat in the UK today from ARIA, and it offers great value for money. Highly recommended.
Pros:
- Well built.
- Shock proof.
- Water proof.
- great connector system.
Cons:
- Its 5,400rpm, so limited to around 100 MB/s.
Kitguru says: Shockproof, waterproof and reasonably quick. Ideal for sensitive data on the move.
