14 DAY TRIAL // When Toshiba developed the STOR.E Plus series of external, portable hard drive units, it kept in mind how often people take along their laptops when going on a trip, and how many other things they are willing to bring along besides that.
Most notebooks have a good amount of on-board storage, but sometimes it serves to have a music or film library on an external device. To share with others if nothing else.
Besides, with USB 3.0 connectivity, it's easy to transfer even multi-gigabyte files quickly, from one person to another.
That, and there's certainly more room for variety when an extra HDD is available.
In its announcement, Toshiba even mentions the thousands of people who spend 75 minutes a day commuting to and from work.
Backup is another thing that Toshiba thought of when it made the new STOR.E Plus external HDD.
Some people may need to view or edit files while using unprotected, public Wi-Fi and 3G networks. Having backups ready can save them a lot of frustration.
Thus, the 2 TB STOR.E Plus HDD should find quite a few buyers as soon as it spreads through the global supply chain.
Black in color, it has a platter speed of 5,400 RPM (rotations per minute), USB 3.0 connectivity (as we already said), a seek time of 12 ms (on average), a cache buffer of 8 MB, and a weight of 170 grams / 5.9 ounces. All in all, not bad for a 77.0 x 13.6 x 117.0 mm device (3.0 x 0.54 x 4.6 inches).
Obviously, the 5 Gbps transfer rate of USB 3.0 won't actually be reached, and that can be said for pretty much every external storage device out there, save a very select few SSDs.
That said, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8 are supported by Toshiba's 2 TB STOR.E Plus. Sales will start on September 26 for €129 / $170.