Introduction

Technology sure does changes quick. Just a few years ago we have gotten a USB connection. Can anyone remember what we used before USB connection? That's right , serial. With invention of USB we have gotten so many applications and accessories that when looking back on the technology it puzzles us how we got our work done. With time USB 1.0 changed in to USB 2.0 and nearly quadrupled the speed of the connection. And now it is time for USB 3.0 version. USB 3.0 offers much faster transfer speed than USB 2.0. As manufacturers change and re invent their technologies, we as a consumers only benefit from the technological advances. Today we are going to take a look at Seagate's external storage unit, BlackArmor PS 110. BlackArmor PS 110 is a USB 3.0 based enclosure which comes with 500 gig hard drive. Not only this unit provides you with an external storage but it also comes with Acronis backup software which allow you to make a image of your pc and then restore it if needed. Let us take a closer look at BlackArmor PS 110 and see the difference in USB technology.

About the Product

Following information is taken from the Seagate website.

Looking for a fast portable drive with plenty of storage?
Then look no further. The Seagate BlackArmor PS 110 portable drive USB 3.0 kit makes quick work of even the biggest files, so you can transfer or back up your videos and other critical files without waiting forever. In fact, you can transfer a 25GB HD movie in just 4.2 minutes, compared to 13.9 minutes with a USB 2.0 drive.

• Transfers files fast thanks to a 7200 RPM BlackArmor PS 110 portable drive and USB 3.0 connectivity
• Lets you carry and transfer your biggest files and back up your PC on the go because of its slim form factor
• Includes a complete USB 3.0 laptop upgrade kit with a PC card adapter and all the cables you need*
• Ensures reverse compatibility with USB 2.0

• Automatically backs up your entire system including files, programs, operating system and settings
• Protects backed up files with AES 256-bit encryption
• Restores your files—even your entire system—to a previous point in time with included SafetyDrill+™ recovery software (Bare Metal Restore)
• Features a “Try & Decide” tool that lets you try out new programs and different system settings before making them live—without affecting your system, or endangering your files

• BlackArmor PS 110 portable drive
• BlackArmor Backup software pre-loaded on drive (Windows® OS only)
• Quick start guide
• USB 3.0 cable
• USB power cable
• USB 3.0 PC card adapter
• 5-year limited warranty

Specifications

Now that we got basic information out of the way, lets take a closer look at BlackArmor PS 110.

Closer look

Front Shot		Rear Shot

BlackArmor PS 110 comes in a fully recyclable packaging. Everything is trying to save the world so is Seagate. On both sides of the packaging we found logos of the Seagate and BlackArmor. On the back of the packaging we found the descriptive information about the product inside and what it comes with.

5 Year Warranty		Acronis Backup Software

BlackArmor PS 110 comes with a great 5 year limited warranty. So if there are any problems with this unit down the road, it could be replaced or repaired by Seagate free of charge. In addition to the great warranty, BlackArmor PS 110 comes with a premium backup software, Acronis. Acronis is a leader in a bare metal restore solutions in the enterprise world. With Acronis installed on the hard drive, it makes BlackArmor PS 110 a very much powerful tool.

Out of the box		USB 3.0 PCI express card

BlackArmor PS 110 comes with a PCI Express adapter for a laptop. Any recent laptops have PCI Express slot so the BlackArmor PS 110 can be installed easily. The actual drives for the adapter could be found on the BlackArmor PS 110 hard drive. Kind of inconvenient as you have to plug the BlackArmor PS 110 in first to install drivers. Why not include a cd with the drivers?

USB 3.0 PCI express card		USB 3.0 and power connections

This PC Card Adapter is specially designed to provide a USB 3.0 connection with additional power to spin the hard drive. Normally you would have just a USB 3.0 connection and the power would come right from it, but in this case PCI Express need to generate additional power for the hard drive to function normally. Note that the USB connector now looks blue as it represents USB 3.0 connection.

PCI express connector		USB+Power

The back of the PC Card Adapter is pretty much standard connection. There are no "gotcha's" here. Just plug and play. The BlackArmor PS 110 uses a USB 3.0 to proprietary connection to connect to the actual unit. As you can see from the top shot there is a USB 3.0 connector on the right and power connector on the left.

BlackArmor PS 110 Front		BlackArmor PS 110 Back

BlackArmor PS 110 is made from a hard plastic and it is very light in weights. What we have inside is 2.5" laptop hard drive which spins at about 7200 RPM. There aren't many logs on the actual unit and in fact the only logo we found is right in the front. BlackArmor PS 110 has a small led on the top of the enclosure as it blinks on access of the hard drive. On the back of the unit we found a small area with descriptions of the unit inside and serial number.

BlackArmor PS 110 Side Shot		USB 3.0

The whole unit is very slim and makes a great impression. So you can travel with BlackArmor PS 110 and do not worry about the weight. On the back of the unit we found a USB 3.0 connector. It is a slim connector as well. One thing we found that could be improved with this unit is the length of the cable. Being only 12 inches, doesn't give you much room to "play around".

Connected to the laptop		Connected to the desktop

Connecting BlackArmor PS 110 was not hard. This is a plug and play unit so no physical installation required. The only tough part was is installing the drivers for the PC Card. We also connected BlackArmor PS 110 to one of our true USB 3.0 enabled testing rigs as we are going to be performing benchmarks with it. The access LED light glows light blue and very soothing.

Acronis Backup Software

As we mentioned earlier, BlackArmor PS 110 comes with Acronis Backup Software. BlackArmor backup is backup suite which allows you to perform backups and restores of individual files as well as the whole OS. What about the opened files you might ask? It is able to back up open files as well. So your information stays protected incase of the hard drive crash or deleted files. For more information about BlackArmor PS 110 Backup software please read Seagate pdf document right here. BlackArmor Backup.

Testing

Today's benchmarks will be provided by HD Tach. We intended to show you the speed differences of USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 connections as we feel it would play a big role in BlackArmor PS 110 usage.

HD Tach 8 MB vs 32 MB USB 2.0

Our first benchmark wes performed by using BlackArmor PS 110 in USB 2.0 mode. Nothing spectacular here. For the USB 2.0 connection we have gotten speed up to 34.8 MB/s with average burst speed of 34.4 MB/s. This is pretty much all you can get out of the USB 2.0 connections. If you are wondering what does DAS mean at the end of the BlackArmor, Direct Attached Storage.

HD Tach 8 MB vs 32 MB USB 3.0

Our next benchmark was done with BlackArmor PS 110 in USB 3.0 mode. And here are things getting interesting. The average read speed was 86.1 MB/s and average burst speed was of 107.7 MB/s. As you can see this is a big improvement in the speeds. However the access time for both of these benchmarks was 16.9ms.

Conclusion

If you are looking for a high performance direct attached storage unit BlackArmor PS 110 could be for you. BlackArmor PS 110 provides exceptional accessibility and easy of use to its users. Being backward compatible to USB 2.0, users with older systems could also use BlackArmor PS 110 for their file storage. Per our observation the USB 3.0 is much faster than 2.0 would be a great aid for faster file transfers. BlackArmor PS 110 comes with backup software powered by Acronis. This is an extremely useful feature as you can back up and restore files from your computer with great ease. There are couple of things which could be improved in BlackArmor PS 110. We found that the USB 3.0 Connector cable is too short. Users could really benefit from having a longer cable. Another feature that could be improved is the drivers of the PC Card. It would be a great aid to a used to have these drivers on CD. Overall our experience with BlackArmor PS 110 has been a pleasant one and we strongly believe that is would be a great success in the market.

Some pros we found:

Light and easy to use.

Great Backup feature with Acronis.

Comes with laptop adapter card.

Some cons we found:

Cable is too short.

Laptop adapter card drivers are hard to get to.