MaximumPC 2008 09

B

uff alo’s 500GB DriveStation Combo 4
external drive is the fastest USB drive
we’ve ever tested, and it even holds its
own on an eSATA connection. That’s thanks to
a propriety technology called TurboUSB that
squeaks additional speeds out of the device.
On Windows XP, a DriveStation connected
with TurboUSB improved its synthetic read
and write speeds by 20 percent (even though
its burst speeds confused our benchmark) over

a typical USB connection. The device’s real-

world speeds weren’t as dramatic—a mere

four percent increase—but it was an improve-

ment nonetheless.

We didn’t see any real-world performance

improvement between the two modes in

Windows Vista because TurboUSB is built into

the operating system itself. We’d defi nitely use

this device on XP, but it’s a wash with Vista.

The DriveStation comes with Memeo

AutoBackup

soft ware and a

full-disk secu-

rity utility that

conceals your

drive under 128-

or 256-bit AES

encryption. The

latter program’s

lock and unlock

shortcuts for the encryption mechanism are

mislabeled, but we were more bothered that it

accepted our password via USB but rejected it

over eSATA.

Minus these quirks, the DriveStation is a

fi ne external storage product. It’s not blazing

a speed trail on its eSATA connection, but it

stuff s the USB pipe. –D A V I D M U R P H Y

Buffalo DriveStation

Combo 4

We’d certainly use all the parts

of this Buffalo

VERDICT

$190, http://www.buffalotech.com

8

USB, FireWire 400,

FireWire 800, and

eSATA connections;

TurboUSB is speedy.

Not the fastest drive

on Vista; security

utility comes with a

few bugs.

RUMP SHAKIN’

BUFFALO DRIVESTATION COMBO 4

RUMP ROAST

Expect to see a faster 1TB edition

of this device, as the increased

areal density of terabyte drives

offer improved speeds.

HD Tach Burst (MB/s) 36.2 WNR* 194 35.2

HD Tach Rdm. Access (ms) 17 16.4 16 13.4

HD Tach Avg. Read (MB/s) 33.9 41.7 64.2 35

HD Tach Avg. Write (MB/s) 32 41.1 59.9 34.4

PCMark05 Overall 3,698 3,833 6,211 3,519

Best scores for USB/TurboUSB bolded. HD Tach scores taken using version 3.0.1.0. All scores reflect Windows XP benchmarks. *Burst speeds measurements across XP and Vista produced results that were faster than USB’s possible bandwidth.

BENCHMARKS

DriveStationCombo 4 (USB) (^) Combo 4 (Turbo USB) Combo 4 (eSATA) OneTouch 4DriveStation DriveStation Maxtor