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Samsung Story Station 1TB external HDD
Nice one, Sammy
The FAT32-formatted Story proved a decent performer when copying a 2GB file to the drive and similarly transferring a folder containing 100 10MB files to the Story. Duplicating all these files was likewise performed with dispatch. The MB/s data speed figures in the chart put the Story up there with the best of the external drives we've tested.
File Transfer Results - Copy to External Drive
Data Transfer Rate in Megabytes per Second (MB/s)
Longer bars are better
Samsung says the retail price for the 1TB Story is £84, and we expect to see it on sale for £70-80. That's par for a 1TB USB-only external hard drive, so the Samsung represents reasonable value. Add to that the fact that it's a good performer, it comes with a decent software bundle that majors on functionality rather than vendor branding and that it looks good, how can we not recommend it?
File Transfer Results - Duplicate on External Drive
Data Transfer Rate in Megabytes per Second (MB/s)
Longer bars are better
If it had some flaws, maybe? Well the Story doesn't. Some buyers might prefer an eSata or Firewire port, but they up the cost and not everyone has a computer fitted with these ports. The only other issue we can see is that it's held together with torx screws. Then again, anyone likely to want to replace the drive in Samsung's stylish enclosure is likely to have a set of torx screwdrivers anyway. No? Get yourself a Swiss Army Knife Cybertool.
So even the assembly's not really a hindrance. Inside, you'll find one of Samsung's own 3Gb/s Sata EcoGreen F2 drives with 32MB of cache and low power consumption characteristics.
And, as we say, we like that switch.
Verdict
Good looks, good performance, quiet operation, reasonable price, three-year warranty - what's not to like? This Story has legs and we think it'll run and run. ®
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