2GB To 20GB: Medium Backups

You have a lot of data to back up--too much to fit on a couple of CD-Rs--and you also want to move around some big files. That's where the four drives in this category--three variations of rewritable DVD and a portable hard drive--come into play. All four of these drives have a large enough capacity to store all the data on a typical business user's hard disk, or to transport a slew of medium-length video files; and all of them use removable media well suited for off-site storage. Of the four rewritable DVD units we looked at, the DVD+RW drive was the fastest.

Currently, there are three competing, incompatible rewritable DVD formats: DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW. When the dust settles on the standards battle, two of these formats may die, and you could be stuck with the losing format.

The oldest of the three, DVD-RAM, is also the least compatible. Current DVD-RAM drives can write to $15 single-sided 4.7GB DVD-RAM cartridge media as well as to $25 double-sided 9.4GB cartridge media. (The drive also writes to bare DVD-RAM discs, but one of DVD-RAM's main advantages is the cartridge's protection for the disc.) Unfortunately, only a DVD-RAM drive can read cartridge media, and even bare discs are incompatible with most DVD-ROM readers. The latest generation of DVD-RAM drives, such as the one we tested, can also record to write-once DVD-R media, which is compatible with most current DVD-ROM drives. Finally, unlike their competitors, DVD-RAM drives can't double as a CD-RW drive.

DVD-RW and DVD+RW drives have a bit more in common. Both use 4.7GB write-once or rewritable discs--about $6 apiece for DVD-R and DVD+R, and about $10 for DVD-RW and DVD+RW. And both formats can act as CD-RW drives. DVD discs written in either drive will play back in many--but not all--DVD-ROM readers; however, the write-once media is generally more compatible with existing DVD-ROM drives.

Though the actual write speeds between the two formats are largely comparable (DVD+RW is slightly faster than DVD-RW in this regard), the most prominent difference between the two involves the formatting times (preformatted media isn't available). With DVD+RW drives such as the HP Dvd200i, formatting is independent of the software you're using; the drive itself formats a disc as you write to it. With DVD-RW drives such as the Pioneer DVR-A04, though, formatting is more a function of the software than of the hardware (at this time, only software maker VOB offers a package that supports DVD-RW's Quick Format); the software we used in testing does only a full format, which accounts in large part for the Pioneer's slower performance in our tests. Whereas the HP took just a minute to initiate its format and start writing a 4.7GB DVD+RW, the Pioneer required over an hour just to format a DVD-RW.

Aside from offering superior performance, HP's Dvd200i DVD+RW drive distinguishes itself with its lucid manuals and smooth software setup. Of the three rewritable DVD drives we tested, it's the only one whose manual provides useful information (such as instructions for creating a DVD movie). HP also includes a basic backup package, HP Simple Backup, that can perform full backups but not incremental ones. The one thing that irked us: Deleting files on a DVD+RW disc can take a long time.

In our backup tests, both the QPS DVDBurner DVD-RAM/R drive and the Pioneer DVR-A04 DVD-RW drive--in that order--lagged behind the HP DVD+RW. Even the Plextor CD-RW drive beat these products on our three backup tasks. Installation for both the Pioneer drive and the QPS drive was standard-issue for an internal drive, but neither's documentation could come close to the HP's. For instance, the Pioneer's short hardware manual complicates some tasks (such as explaining setting the jumpers, which you may need to do during installation).

The sleek HDD 20GB Portable Hard Drive from Iomega wins out as the fastest drive in this category and is a close runner-up to the HP Dvd200i. Among all drives, it came in second on our 500MB folder copy test, and third on our full 10GB backup test.

But the Iomega uses a 4200-rpm 2.5-inch hard drive, which helps explain why it finished last among the hard-disk-based products in this review--behind the ABSplus and the KanguruDisk, which use faster, 3.5-inch hard drives. Iomega's HDD External Drive line uses higher-capacity 3.5-inch hard drives, too, but those models are physically larger and bulkier than the Portable Hard Drive units.

The HDD 20GB Portable Hard Drive is one of the easiest products in this review to install: Just snap on the included module, and connect it to a FireWire port (assuming your PC has one) without powering down your system. If you want to use the drive with USB 2.0, you can remove the FireWire module and add a USB 2.0 one for under $50; or you can buy the USB 2.0 version of the drive for $30 less. The lightweight drive is easy to take with you, since there's no bulky power adapter (power is drawn from the FireWire port).

The software bundle includes Iomega's Backup--a capable program for doing full and incremental backups--and QuikSync, which lets you select the folders that you want to back up and monitor, and automatically keeps your backups up-to-date. QuikSync also preserves multiple versions of files, so you can recoup if you later mistakenly overwrite a specific file.