Model: Transcend 500GB StoreJet 25D3 USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive
Manufacturer: Transcend
Provided By: Transcend USA
While a relatively new name in the storage industry, Transcend Information has a history that goes back more than 20 years. Founded in 1988 by Peter Shu, this Taiwanese company got its start by offering the "JetMate" laser printer driver and the "KeyPro" software protection system. As time went on, Transcend expanded into the memory market, launching its own line of desktop and notebook memory products. Today, Transcend's product lineup includes more than 2,000 memory modules as well as USB flash drives, memory cards and solid-state drives (SSD).
Along with their flash based storage solutions, Transcend offers a growing number of external hard drives. This spring, the company introduced its first USB 3.0 compatible drive, the StoreJet 25D3. Available in 500GB and 640GB capacities, this portable hard drive is capable of reading and writing at speeds as high as 90 MB/s. The StoreJet 25D3 also features an internal hard drive suspension system which helps to prevent data loss caused by accidental slips or falls during travel. Last but not least, the drive comes with Transcend's StoreJet elite software and is covered by a 3-year warranty.
| Transcend 500GB StoreJet 25D3 USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive | |||||||||||||||||||||
General Specifications
Environmental
Dimensions and Weight
Other Features
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With specs and features like this, it's hard not to be impressed by the StoreJet 25M3. However, as you all know by now, we're not ones to take things at face value. In this review, we'll take a closer look at Transcend's new portable hard drive and then put it through its paces to see how well it performs. Does the StoreJet 25M3 have what it takes? Keep reading as we find out.
Packaging and Contents:
The StoreJet 25D3 comes packaged in an attractive blue, white and black box. The front advertises many of the drive's key features including its 500GB capacity, shockproof design and SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface. There is also a large, plastic window which lets you look inside the box and see what the drive looks like. The back of the box provides a bit more information, including the StoreJet's 25D3's specifications, system requirements and features.
Inside the box you'll find the StoreJet 25D3 as well as a USB 3.0 cable, power cable, travel pouch, quick start guide and warranty card. The bundled StoreJet elite software comes on the drive itself.
Physical Features:
While not the smallest external hard drive in Transcend's product lineup, the StoreJet 25D3 is still fairly compact and lightweight. Sharing the same basic design as the 25D2, Transcend's new drive measures 129.9 × 82.1 × 17.3 mm and weighs in at 191g. The StoreJet 25D3's case is constructed out of lightweight, black plastic. While the top of the drive has what Transcend calls a "gloss piano finish," the bottom and sides have more of a matte finish.
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Along the back, you can see the drive's SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface and power connector. The StoreJet 25D3 can be powered off a computer's USB bus. However, if your computer cannot provide the 5V DC required by the drive, you'll need to use the included USB power cable.
On top of the StoreJet 25D3 there is a multicolor LED which lights up orange or blue, depending on the USB connection type. This indicator light also flashes to show when data is being transferred.
Inside the case, you'll find Transcend's shock-dampening system which incorporates internal suspension technology to protect the hard drive from damage caused by accidental slips or falls.
I wasn't able to crack the StoreJet 25D3 open. However, using CrystalDiskInfo, I was able to see what hard drive was in the enclosure. Looking at the screenshot below, you can see that Transcend has used Samsung's Spinpoint M7E (HM501II) hard drive. This drive features a SATA 3.0Gb/s interface, 8MB cache and a 5400 RPM rotation speed.
Installation:
As with most USB drives, the Transcend 25D3 was very easy to install. Those running Windows XP, Vista or 7 can simply plug the drive into any available USB 2.0 or 3.0 port on their computer. If the computer is already turned on, plug and play will automatically detect the drive.
If installed correctly, the StoreJet 25D3 should show up in the Device Manager. Under Windows 7, the drive is identified as a "StoreJet Transcend USB Device".
The StoreJet 25D3 comes formatted with FAT32, giving you about 465GB of usable space. If you plan to store files larger than 4GB in size, you'll want to convert or reformat the drive with NTFS.
Software:
As I mentioned earlier, the StoreJet 25D3 comes bundled with Transcend's StoreJet elite software. Developed for use with Transcend's portable hard drives, StoreJet elite includes a number of user-friendly applications that help mobile users manage their data and increase productivity. The software will sync your Internet Explorer and Firefox favorites and allow you to surf the web from any computer without leaving a trace. It also has the ability to synchronize your Outlook and Windows Mail accounts for easy backup or mobile use.
Using StoreJet elite's DataBackup and DataSync option, you can backup, restore and synchronize your important data. This data can also be compressed and protected using a password and 256-bit AES encryption.
The test system used in this review was an HP dc7900. The computer came equipped with an Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0GHz CPU, 2GB of DDR2 800MHz memory, Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250310AS 250GB SATA hard drive, NVIDIA Quadro FX570 256MB PCIe graphics card, Intel 82567LM-3 gigabit network card and Patriot SuperSpeed USB PCIe host card. For the operating system, I installed a fresh copy of Windows 7 Enterprise.
To test the performance of the Transcend StoreJet 25D3, I ran a series of benchmarks using CrystalDiskMark 3.0, HD Tach RW 3.0.4.0, ATTO Disk Benchmark 2.43 and HD Tune Pro 4.01.
CrystalDiskMark 3.0:
First, I ran a few quick tests using CrystalDiskMark. This benchmark tool measures the performance of a storage device by testing its sequential read and write speeds as well as its random read and write speeds using blocks 512K and 4K in size.
Transcend StoreJet 25D3 - USB 3.0
Transcend StoreJet 25D3 - USB 2.0
The StoreJet 25D3 performed very well when connected to the computer's USB 3.0 port. In our tests, the drive reached speeds as high as 90 MB/s when reading and writing.
HD Tach RW 3.0.4.0:
Next, I used HD Tach to test the StoreJet 25D3's read, write and burst speeds as well as its seek times and CPU usage.
When connected to the computer's USB 3.0 port, the StoreJet 25D3 had average read and write speeds of 75.8 MB/s and 75.1 MB/s, respectively, as well as a burst speed of 121.4 MB/s. The drive wasn't nearly as fast when using USB 2.0 though. Compared to what we saw with USB 3.0, the 25D3's read and write speeds dropped by more than half.
ATTO Disk Benchmark 2.43:
I also used ATTO Disk Benchmark to test the StoreJet 25D3's sequential read and write speeds. The test was run using blocks ranging in size from 0.5KB to 8192KB and the total length set to 256MB.
 Transcend StoreJet 25D3 - USB 3.0 |
 Transcend StoreJet 25D3 - USB 2.0 |
When tested with ATTO, the StoreJet 25D3's read speeds topped out at about 258 MB/s and its write speeds at 149 MB/s when connected using USB 3.0.
HD Tune Pro 4.01:
Next, I ran a series of tests using HD Tune Pro. This hard disk utility measures a drive's performance by testing its sequential read and write speeds as well as its access time, burst rate and CPU usage. For this review, I used it to benchmark the StoreJet 25D3's random read and write speeds, random access times and the number of operations per second.
 HD Tune Read Benchmark - USB 3.0 |
 HD Tune Read Benchmark - USB 2.0 |
 HD Tune Write Benchmark - USB 3.0 |
 HD Tune Write Benchmark - USB 2.0 |
Once again, the StoreJet 25D3 performed very well when connected to the computer's USB 3.0 port. The drive had average read and write speeds of 72 MB/s and a burst speed of 112 MB/s. When using USB 2.0, the StoreJet 25D3's read and write speeds were limited to 33.3 MB/s and 29.4 MB/s, respectively.
 HD Tune Random Access Read - USB 3.0 |
 HD Tune Random Access Read - USB 2.0 |
 HD Tune Random Access Write - USB 3.0 |
 HD Tune Random Access Write - USB 2.0 |
Using USB 3.0 didn't have nearly as big of an effect on the StoreJet 25D3's random read and write performance. Nevertheless, the IOPS and average speeds were slightly higher than what we saw when the drive was connected to a USB 2.0 port.
With the StoreJet 25D3, Transcend has shown us that good things do come in small packages. Along with a great looking, shock proof design, this new portable hard drive packs some impressive performance. Thanks to its USB 3.0 interface, the StoreJet 25D3 is able to read and write at speeds as high as 90 MB/s. The drive is also backwards compatible with USB 2.0. However, as you saw in our tests, it's much slower when operating in this mode. Transcend tops all this off with a 3 year warranty and their StoreJet elite software which offers intelligent backup scheduling, Internet tools and 256-bit AES encryption.
That being said, the StoreJet 25D3 seems to use more power than some of the other portable hard drives I've used. As a result, you may need to use a second USB cable to provide additional power. Also, the included StoreJet elite software only runs on Windows. Mac and Linux users will need to find other software if they want to backup and protect their data.
The StoreJet 25D3 is available now in 500GB and 640GB capacities and can be purchased directly from Transcend for $101 and $120, respectively.
Highs:
- 500GB capacity
- Fast transfer rates with USB 3.0
- Great looking, shock proof design
- Internal hard drive suspension system
- Includes StoreJet elite backup and security software
- Power saving sleep mode
- Reasonably priced
- 3 Year Warranty
Lows:
- Needs second USB cable for power in some cases
- Does not include software for Mac and Linux
