The USB connection is often an afterthought on computers. It is not the fastest way to transfer data as that distinction could go to Firewire or the newer eSATA connections. However USB ports are ubiquitous since they are the most common way external devices connect to a computer. Cell phones, PDAs, iPods, and external hard drives all use this venerable port.
To help the USB keep pace in terms of speed the USB-IF created the USB 3.0 which is destined to phase out USB 2.0 over the coming years. This new USB interface is designed around a “SuperSpeed” bus which can transfer data at up to 4.8 Gbps. This protocol is backwards compatible with earlier USB connections the same way USB 2.0 was with USB 1.0. A good overview of the new standard can be found here.
Seagate is one of the first external hard drive manufacturers to take advantage of the new USB spec and have just released the BlackArmor PS 110 USB 3.0 Performance Kit. This kit allows laptops with ExpressCard slots to take advantage of the faster interface speeds by using the included PC Card that houses a USB 3.0 port. This version of the BlackArmor’s looks like its USB 2.0 predecessor with just on slight difference the mini-USB 3.0 connector on the back.
Today at Bona Fide Reviews we will take a closer look at this drive and see how much faster it really gets.
Specifications:
BlackArmor PS 110 USB 3.0 Performance Kit
The fast and secure portable hard drive with USB 3.0 performance
- Delivers transfer speeds up to 3x faster than USB 2.0 drives
- Includes software that backs up your entire system including OS, programs and settings
- Protects backed up files with AES 256-bit encryption
- Includes everything you need to upgrade your laptop to USB 3.0
Specifications Model Number ST905003BPA1ES-RK Interface USB 3.0 Capacity 500GB PHYSICAL Height 12.5mm (0.49 in) Width 80mm (3.15 in) Length 130mm (5.12 in) Weight (typical) 178g (.39 lb) Shipping Weight .36kg (0.794 lb) PERFORMANCE Spindle Speed 7200 RPM
Looking for a fast portable drive with plenty of storage?
Then look no further. The Seagate BlackArmor PS 110 portable drive USB 3.0 kit makes quick work of even the biggest files, so you can transfer or back up your videos and other critical files without waiting forever. In fact, you can transfer a 25GB HD movie in just 4.2 minutes, compared to 13.9 minutes with a USB 2.0 drive.
- Transfers files fast thanks to a 7200 RPM BlackArmor PS 110 portable drive and USB 3.0 connectivity
- Lets you carry and transfer your biggest files and back up your PC on the go because of its slim form factor
- Includes a complete USB 3.0 laptop upgrade kit with a PC card adapter and all the cables you need*
- Ensures reverse compatibility with USB 2.0
Securely back up and restore your digital files with ease
The BlackArmor PS 110 USB 3.0 lets you automatically back up your files. And don’t worry if you accidently delete or lose a file due to a computer crash, because restoring any file is easy, too.
- Automatically backs up your entire system including files, programs, operating system and settings
- Protects backed up files with AES 256-bit encryption
- Restores your files—even your entire system—to a previous point in time with included SafetyDrill+™ recovery software (Bare Metal Restore)
- Features a “Try & Decide” tool that lets you try out new programs and different system settings before making them live—without affecting your system, or endangering your files
Unboxing:
Seagate ships the BlackArmor PS 110 USB 3.0 Performance Kit in a recyclable cardboard package. Inside the box we find the BlackArmor drive, a USB 3.0 PC Card (an ExpressCard adapter), a USB 3.0 cable, a USB 2.0 power connector cable and an instruction booklet.
The BlackArmor PS 110 is predominantly black and has a blue Seagate logo with a blue LED activity light on the top of the drive enclosure. The rear interface has the mini-USB 3.0 connection in lieu of the mini-USB 2.0 connector found on other Seagate portable drives. It is 12.5 mm in height and 12.5 x 7.5 cm in depth and width. Inside the enclosure is a 7200 RPM 2.5” hard drive.
Appearance wise the BlackArmor PS 110 looks like most recent Seagate FreeAgent Go drives and is externally indistinguishable from its USB 2.0 BlackArmor PS110 version save the USB connector. It is currently designed to work at USB 3.0 speeds only with PCs and provides drivers for Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7. As of the writing of this review you can only use the drive as a USB 2.0 device on both Linux and Macs without the USB 3.0 speed benefits.
At one end the USB cable looks familiar with a standard USB plug at and the alien looking USB 3.0 connector on the opposite end. This new connector is notched has what appears to be a micro-USB connector with an additional rectangular component adjacent to it. The cable is rather stiff and measures 19 inches in length.
Seagate includes an Expresscard/34 card (34mm wide version) to allow older laptops and netbooks to take advantage of USB 3.0 speeds. This card includes a USB 2.0 power cable, which is used to provide additional power to the USB 3.0 connected drive. This cable measures 29 inches providing enough room to reach any USB port on most laptops.
Besides the speedy portable drive Seagate also includes Black Armor Backup that is a suite of software based built on Acronis’ backup and restore software. From this suite you are able to automatically backup your entire system, restore files, schedule tasks, create restore points and even a sandbox called “Try and Decide” for testing out new programs and system settings before implementing them on your system.
Installation, Performance, Comparison
Setting up the BlackArmor PS 110 USB 3.0 kit involves connecting the drive to a free USB port on your PC and installing the USB 3.0 drivers. Installation of the drivers should start automatically; if it doesn’t you may need to navigate to the BlackArmor PS 110 driver location and run it from there. Once the driver is install you can disconnect the BlackArmor from the standard USB port or if you wish to use the Black Armor Backup software you can install it off the drive.
Now insert the USB 3.0 PC Card Adapter into the ExpressCard slot on your laptop. The PC should now recognize the card; there is no need to reboot after the driver installation, which is always nice. If you install the BlackArmor backup software then you will need to reboot the machine.
The indicator on the card will be red if the additional USB 2.0 power cable is not connected to it so make sure that is hooked up before plugging in the BlackArmor to the USB 3.0 port. When this cable is connected to the PC card then the indicator light will turn green.
Now connect the BlackArmor PS 110 drive to the USB 3.0 port on the PC Card. Once again the PC will look for the proper drivers and should recognize the drive after a few seconds. Now you are ready for speedy USB 3.0 action!
For testing I used a MacBook Pro, an HP Pavilion Laptop and an Intel Core i7 Desktop with a PCI-E USB 3.0 card. To benchmark the drive – DriveBench, HD Tune Pro 4.01 and ATTO Disk Benchmark were used. The BlackArmor was tested using both USB 2.0 and 3.0 connections.
For the first set of tests I used the PC Card on a MacBook Pro running BootCamp with Windows 7 64 Bit Home Edition.
With ATTO Disk Benchmark I obtained these two results. The BlackArmor connected to a USB 2.0 port ran at the expected 30-35 MB/s performance, but strangely on the USB 3.0 connected test the numbers were better than the USB 2.0 bench but not as impressive as expected.
After researching this issue I discovered that there are two types of Expresscard/34 Standards each with different speeds. The newer ExpressCard 2.0 Standard operates at a raw bandwidth of 5 Gbit/s (transfer speed 500 MB/s) while the original version has half that throughput.
Apparently the MacBook Pro I used for testing was using the ExpressCard 1.0 standard. This was the speed bottleneck on these benchmarks. To test the optimum capability of the BlackArmor PS 110 USB 3.0 Performance Kit I borrowed an HP Pavilion that used the newer ExpressCard 2.0 standard. Here are the Pavilion and Desktop PC with USB 3.0 results using ATTO.
Much better and in line with what Seagate was advertising.
Next I tested the BlackArmor using HD Tune Pro 4.01. Once again the ExpressCard 1.0 standard slowed the speedy performance of the BlackArmor but still provides almost double the speed of USB 2.0 connections.
For the final test I ran DriveBench on the Core i7 using a 1.2 GB file.
So what did we learn from all these benches? The BlackArmor PS 110 USB 3.0 Performance Kit is fast, very fast. Speeds are dependent on the type of USB 3.0 connection and interface. Since the PCI-E USB 3.0 ports are powered off a molex inside the PC these connections seem like they will provide more consistent power to the drive than the USB ports powering the included PC Card. This seems to show with faster performance on the desktop over the laptops.
The BlackArmor PS 110 USB 3.0 Performance Kit does tie up a USB 2.0 port on the laptop but it evens out with the USB 3.0 port gained with the PC card. The kit does require additional power to run the BlackArmor at USB 3.0 speeds which may affect battery life on the laptop or netbook which is another thing to be aware of before making the commitment to using the PC card full time. It may be more beneficial to hook up the drive when you need fast transfer and then disconnect the PC card.
Using the BlackArmor with a PCI-E card makes the PC card kit superfluous so if you don’t need to use the drive at USB 3.0 speed with a laptop then you may just want to pick up the drive by itself and forgo the PC card kit.
Conclusion:
The BlackArmor PS 110 USB 3.0 Performance Kit is a great way to enter the world of USB 3.0 devices. Soon USB 3.0 will become the defacto standard but many older laptops may be left out in the cold. This kit allows machines sporting ExpressCard/34 slots to be retrofitted with USB 3.0 compatibility. In addition the drive and USB 3.0 port are backward compatible meaning USB 1.0 and 2.0 can be used with the drive or the kit.
Seagate upgraded the drive from the 5400RPM version found in their FreeAgent Go and the original BlackArmor PS 110 to a speedier 7200 RPM model to take advantage of the USB 3.0 interface. Basically this drive flies with speeds 2 ½ times the speed of USB 2.0. After using a USB 3.0 drive you will not want to go back to the turtle like transfer speeds of USB 2.0.
The drive is backward compatible so even if you can only take advantage of USB 3.0 speeds on your laptop you still can use the drive with standard USB 2.0 ports. If you are looking for one of the fastest portable drives in the market look no further than the BlackArmor PS 110 USB 3.0 Performance Kit.
Pros:
+Fast, fast, fast
+Sleek looking drive
+Black Armor Software
+Solid construction
+7200 RPM hard drive
+Acronis based backup software suite
Cons:
-Only operates USB 3.0 speeds on Windows PCs
-Stiff USB 3.0 cable
-Express card requires USB 2.0 port power
-Runs slower on ExpressCard 1.0 standard
Ratings
Overall: 4.5 out of 5
Performance: 4.5 out of 5
Aesthetic: 5 out of 5
Build Quality:5 out of 5
