Verbatim InSight 500GB external hard drive

Coming clean on capacity

Thu 2 Sep 2010 // 12:01 UTC

Back-up Bundle

Apps like this will typically back up certain file types - JPEGs, MP3s, DOCs and so on - and may even, or alternatively, allow you to specify which folders will get backed up. BackItUp gives you the choice of both - and chucks in full disk partition back-up too. You can save jobs for future use and to have them run to a schedule.

Nero's BackItUp 4 Essentials: comprehensive

It'll also let you create a boot disc which can be used to start up your computer and restore the backed up data.

BackItUp isn't tied to the Insight - I was able to back up files to my network storage just as easily, and Nero has an online facility you can use too. It's all very flexible, and for once the wealth of options are accessible and don't get in the way if you want to perform basic tasks.

The only downside is that BackItUp compresses archives, so you can't make use of the back-up without the app. There are check boxes to disable compression - archive encryption too - but these were greyed out for me.

The InSight aquits itself well when it comes to performance, yielding class-average read scores in the CrystalDiskMark 3.0 benchmark and presenting average or better write speeds.

Verdict

It's a nice little drive, the Insight, but it's pricey, with the cheapest I've seen it being £70. Not expensive per se, but you can get other, equally good brand-name 500GB external hard drives discounted to £50. The InSight's slim styling, capacity read-out and back-up tools are nice, but not so essential as to be worth paying the premium. ®