2. Box and Specs

2.1 Packaging

The Mini Portable Disk (MPD) comes nicely packaged in bubble wrap within a simple cardboard box. Everything that you’ll need to get you up and running is included with the packaging. This includes the drive enclosure, USB and Firewire cables and a simple manual. The manual is small and provides very basic information to get you started. However if you’re running a Windows XP system – there really isn’t a whole lot that you’ll need to do as we shall see in a bit. All you need to do is provide the 2.5 inch hard disk drive.

Front cover	Back cover
Inside	and packaging of components

All the components

2.2 Specifications

Here are the specifications to the MPD that we received. We received the 2110 UI from Enhance Technology.

Dimensions:
140 mm (L) x 80 mm (W) x 20mm (H)

Weight:
130 grams

Device space:
Support for 2.5”/9.5mm hard disk drives

Materials:
Plastic and Metal Cover

Transfer Rates:
USB 1.1: 400-700 KB/s
USB 2.0: 60 MB/s
1394: 50 MB/s
(keep in mind that these are the rated throughput specs – actually drive performance is less)

HDD interface:
IDE 44pin interface

Power input:
+5V DC, 1000 mA or via USB/Firewire charging. Built in 800 mAH Lithium Ion (Li-ion) Battery

2.3 A Look Outside and Inside

The first thing you’ll notice is that the enclosure is small. Those of you who are used to working with external drives like the Western Digital Firewire HD will come to appreciate the size of the MPD. Instead of drive enclosures that make use of 3.5inch drives normally found in desktops, the MPD makes use of smaller laptop drives that are both light and portable in size. The following are pictures of the external enclosure:

Top of the enclosure	Bottom of the enclosure
Ports	Length
Width	Height

Another aspect of external hard drives that most of us have to deal with are the large AC adapters (really wall warts) that are normally included. You’ll notice that the MPD doesn’t have that all – thank god! – it’s AC adapter is just plain small. On top of that – you often won’t even need that AC adapter. The MPD carries around a rechargeable Lithium Ion battery that can provide a charge for up to 10 hours. How cool is that!!! If you need a charge and you don’t have an AC adapter handy – the MPD can take it’s charge directly over the USB or Firewire line a la the Apple iPod. Nice touch!

AC Adapter

Let’s take a look inside shall we? Of course if you want to use the MPD you’ll need to obtain a 2.5 inch drive – they’re fairly easy to find on the net though normally more expensive than your standard 3.5 inch drive. Keep in mind that 2.5 inch drives tend to be slower in performance – you’ll often find drives in the 4200 rpm or at most 5400 rpm range. Keep in mind that 2.5 inch hard disk drives are not sufficient for applications that need high performing disk drives; but they’re perfectly fine for business applications and most games/audio and video playback applications. If you are in the market for a small high capacity drive, then the MPD should be considered.

Inside of the drive enclosure

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