LG XD1 Combo external hard disk review

Introduction
LG has just entered the external hard disk market with their own offerings. LG has been in the computer peripherals business for years with other products like DVD writers, Combo drives, LCD screens, etc. but this is their first product in external hard disks. This is a short review of the LG External HDD XD1 Combo (eSATA+USB 2.0), to give the full name. It's a portable external hard disk of the 2.5" form factor. LG doesn't make hard disks, so the XD1 uses a Western Digital hard disk of 160 GB, 250 GB and 320 GB capacities.

Reasons for buying
I was looking to purchase a portable external hard disk with an eSATA port for some time. LG's models are a bit cheaper than its competitors' equivalent products and as an introductory offer, LG is offering a 10 Euros reimbursement offer. The price I paid in France is 89 Euros, so the effective price after reimbursement is only 79 Euros.

Package contents
- external hard disk
- Imitation leather case
- USB to mini USB cable, approximately 10 cm in length
- eSATA cable, 1 m in length
- USB to DC jack power cable, 1 m in length
- USB male to USB male cable, 1 m in length
- Driver and software installation CD
- Manual, warranty sheet

Specifications
- Hard disk : Western Digital WDC2500BEVT 250 GB, 5400 RPM, 8 MB buffer memory, SATA 3 Gbps
- File system : NTFS
-Interface : USB 1.1, USB 2.0, eSATA
-Data transfer rate : 480 Mb/s USB, 3 Gb/s eSATA
- Power supply : From an USB port
- L x W x H : 76 x 130 x 17 (mm)
- Weight : N.A.

Design and build
The case is made entirely of plastic and has a glossy finish with an imprinted pattern. It does look quite nice. It is available in black and in red. It's a clean looking case with all the ports and the single power activity light on one side. The imitation leather case is nice touch since it's not supplied by other manufacturers. It is slightly too long but it's thoughtfully designed with a hole to access the ports without having to remove the case. The case also contains a little compartment for the short USB cable. There's no space for the longer USB and eSATA cables but the short cable can get the job done without the bulk of the longer cables. One problem is the eSATA cable, which is quite stiff and can't really be wrapped or folded up properly. This, along with the USB power cable, reduce the convenience factor of the hard disk.

Software
The supplied software is PC Clone EX. I installed it and tried it but I didn't like it so I uninstalled it. I currently use Vista's built in backup feature, that works well.

Performance
The drive capacity is 250 GB according to LG and Western Digital but Windows reports 232.9 GB, and the smaller number is the actual disk space available to the user.
Testing with HD Tune shows the drive performance in both eSATA and USB to be good. Predictably, the eSATA connection is a lot faster and equal to an internal drive. The test computer was a Dell Latitude E6400 with an eSATA port.


eSATA mode with write caching enabled


USB mode

Warranty
LG offers a 2 year limited warranty.

Conclusion
The LG external portble hard disk performs well and can be considered as good value for money. It has good performance but it's not better or no worse than competing models. The main reason anybody would purchase this over another brand would be the value for money it offers.

Pros
- Good performance in both eSATA and in USB modes
- Compact
- Well finished
- eSATA port for high transfer rates
- Quiet

Cons
- Not shock resistant
- No provision to carry the cables in the case
- No power switch. It would avoid having to unplug the drive to switch it off.

 

Thanks for this. It performs as expected and the main attraction is the pricing.

HDD manufacturers insist on using decimal "giga" (1000 x 1000 x 1000) whereas our computers think giga is 1024 x 1024 x 1024.

The eSATA cables tend to be fairly stiff. The best one I have got is like a ribbon cable and it rolls up smaller than the round cables.

I would note that the "not shock resistant" only applies during operation. It is shock resistant when off.

John

 

I agree with your point on shock resistance. But I would say that the case itself seems to be made of hard plastic that wouldn't absorb any shock in case of a fall. The only real shock protection is offered only by the imitation leather case. It's not completely protective but it's definitely better than nothing at all. The hard disk generates little heat so I leave it in the soft case all the time.

Sorry about not posting any photos; I don't have a camera handy at the moment.