Clickfree 500GB Portable Hard Drive
It's hard to root for something that looks like the bastard stepchild of R2D2 and a metal soapbox. The Clickfree's plastic surface is unconvincingly painted to look like metal, while the top and bottom edges are shiny enough to reflect light back at you from any angle. We know that beauty is sometimes superficial, but it's hard to look at the Clickfree when compared with the deep silver and gentle curves of the Replica. Speaking of which, this drive is also $20 more than the Replica, which is perplexing since it looks like it was made with 10 bucks worth of parts. Seriously, am I supposed to plug this into my pretentious Dell Adamo or MacBook Pro? I don't think so.
The clear visual distinction between the two drives isn't the only place their paths diverge. While both are intended to back up your storage with one cable and little fuss, the Replica provides several services that the Clickfree doesn't. Unlike the Replica, the Clickfree doesn't keep a "live," continuously updated mirror image of your computer. Instead, it chooses important files from your computer and organizes them by category — such as "Photos," "Presentations" and "Favorite Websites." It's a smart way to break down and organize file types.
On the other hand, the Clickfree software's interface is just as chintzy as its hardware. It's more frustrating than helpful to browse through our backed-up files — an aimless search function is conducted through expanding and contracting vertically stacked folders, rather than by navigating icons. Even worse, there's no way to rename file folders yourself or even change how they're stacked. Come on guys, we need to exercise a little control over our metadata.
Unfortunately, although the Clickfree Portable Hard Drive lives up to its name (backups start themselves after plugging it in), its bloated price tag and counterintuitive features made backing up only slightly less painful than the click-and-drag ways of yore.
WIRED Takes backing up totally out of your hands. Backup of key files takes less than a minute from start to finish. Included software allows you to set a backup reminder, so you can't pretend you forgot to plug it in. Runs quieter than a sneaking ninja. Supports Mac OS X 10.5 (or later) as well as Windows.
#item_stats {display: none;}#item_specs {display: none;}Backing up your data is like flossing: Everyone needs to do it, but no one likes to. Luckily, portable hard drives have begun to take the mind-numbing tedium out of copying your precious files. We put two new models into the ring, each promising a prescription for data storage, but only one truly dulled the pain.
Seagate Replica 500GB
Weighing in at less than a pound and only slightly larger than a pack of cards, this featherweight contender manages to pack quite a punch. Seagate's Replica is, in many ways, the PC user's answer to Apple's Time Machine, wedding an elegant form factor with a hands-off philosophy of data protection.
The Replica comes with bare-bones software and strikes a good balance between peace of mind and individual-user control. Seagate thankfully did away with the kind of added cables and software that can plague older hard drives, providing nothing more than a USB 2.0 cable, recovery guide and recovery CD.
After the hard drive is plugged in, it checks for updates to the Replica software, downloads the most current version and starts mirroring your computer's content. The startup process is short, taking only a couple of minutes, though the actual backup is a time-gobbling endeavor. (It took us about 4 hours to transfer 130 GB of data). A blue light on the top of the Replica's case blinks continuously while data is being transferred, making it easy for you to go about your other business while it works in the background. It's also stealthy for a hard drive, emitting only a quiet whir when working at full speed.
Backing up data is certainly not our idea of an exciting Friday night, but the Replica's combination of unobtrusiveness and intelligent features make it far less of a chore. It's certainly much more pleasant than going to the dentist.