External storage is quickly catching up to the speed and capacity of traditional internal solutions, thanks in part to the USB 3.0 specification, and now even more, Thunderbolt. Typical external solutions always had to be designed around the drive inside, which more often than not was a standard desktop drive shoved into an external shell. This time around with the Transcend ESD200, things are different.
It's not uncommon to see manufacturers label something portable, and have it turn out not so portable in the real-world. Transcend has taken this to heart and designed the ESD200 from the ground up as an external storage device. This means the form factor isn't built around the drive inside, in turn giving us dimensions like 92mm tall 62mm wide and just 10.5mm thick. Compatibility of the ESD200 extends to modern Windows OSes, Mac OS X 10.4+ and Linux kernel 2.6+. The ESD200 carries a three year warranty.
Upon first inspection, you will notice this drive is unlike any other on the market. The small and compact form factor carries the Transcend logo, across a black diamond exterior for a stylish and clean look.
Included in the scope of delivery, you will find a number of marketing materials, along with the warranty card and quick start guide. Additionally, we have a soft carry case for the drive and the USB 3.0 cable.
On the edge of the drive, we have the USB 3.0 connection, and to the left the backup button. The backup button functions with the Transcend Elite software that is freely available through a web download.
One of the lesser-known features of running Microsoft's new operating system Windows 8 is the native capability of USB Attached SCSI or UASP. In benchmarking external drives, we utilize IOMeter for sequential workloads followed by DiskBench and our custom set of real-world data, and is by far the most important comparison when looking for a drive for everyday use.
Looking over our sequential read results, we find the ESD200 coming in at 200 MB/s.
Moving over to sequential write, we find the ESD200 offering chart leading performance of just over 200 MB/s.
With our DiskBench real data workload, we find the ESD200 coming in just above the ADATA SE720 at 148 MB/s.
The ESD200 is another example of Transcend's commitment to providing unique portable storage solutions. It is also a testament to how much capacity and speed one company can design and throw in to a very small package. The build quality of the unit, while being plastic, does feel pretty solid.
Performance of the ESD200 was pretty solid as well. Sequential read and writes came in at 200 MB/s and our DiskBench testing had the drive right in the mix as well.
Pricing at this time for the ESD200 in the tested 120GB capacity is set at $147.99.