Special Purpose Drive - ADATA HD710M
The device, received by our editors, at first glance looks solid. The disc fits well in the hand and is covered with a thick layer of military-colored rubber, which, among other things, protects it. from water, dust or shock. And how it works in practice, we will now see.
HD710M (aka Military) is an external hard drive with two capacitive versions - 1 TB and 2 TB, in the USB 3.0 standard. It weighs about 220 g, and its dimensions are: 132 × 99 × 22 mm. On the case we find a USB cable 38 cm long, fixed with grooves. The manufacturer boasts that the colors that mimic the device used in the army (brown, green, beige) are not accidental, and the technical characteristics of the drive confirm that it does indeed meet military standards for water and dust resistance (MIL-STD-810G). 516.6) and shock and drops (certified MIL-STD-810G 516.6).
Attaching the USB Cable to the ADATA Drive Chassis
The test unit contained a 1 TB Toshiba drive (actual capacity 931 GB) with four heads and two platters (typical 2,5-inch design) running at approx. , 5400 rpm.
On the manufacturer's website (www.adata.com/en/service), the user can download drivers and other tools for working with the disk - OStoGO software (for creating a boot disk with the operating system), HDDtoGO (for data encryption and synchronization) or an application for backup copying and encryption (256-bit AES). I chose the English version, because the Polish one is not entirely clear to me. The interface itself is simple and very clear, which makes it a pleasure to use.
The drive is quiet, doesn't get too hot, and runs fast - I copied a 20 GB file folder from the SSD in just 3 minutes, and moved a 4 GB folder in 40 seconds, so the transfer speed was about 100-115 MB / s (via USB 3.0 ) and about 40 MB/s (via USB 2.0).
The manufacturer tells us that the disc can be submerged in water to a depth of 1,5 m for about 1 hour. And my tests confirm this. We tested this at shallower depths, but kept the disc in the water for over an hour. After I took the device out of the bath, dried it and connected it to the computer, the drive worked flawlessly, which, of course, withstood a full glass of water. The “armored” disk perfectly withstood all the throws and falls from a height of about 2 meters that I happened to make - the full data on the disk was preserved without any damage.
In summary, the ADATA DashDrive Durable HD710M deserves a special mention. Military certifications, interesting and functional software, durable housing, quiet operation and high efficiency - what more could you want? It is a pity that the manufacturer did not think of a slightly different fixing of the socket, for example, instead of a plug, use a latch that is easier to close.
But: a good price (less than PLN 300), a three-year warranty and increased reliability put this drive in first place in the classification of devices in this class. I recommend it especially to fans of survival and ... desktop messengers.
