Siwara SW Pocket

While its industrial square design won't win any awards for style, Siwara's SW Pocket is the lightest drive on test and should appeal to those who value sheer portability over aesthetics. The ridged black plastic exterior incorporates air vents on the underside to help keep the hard disk cool. Our USB2 review model was fitted with a 20GB 2.5in IBM Hitachi Travelstar drive, but 40GB, 60GB and 80GB models are available.

One thing making the Pocket different from other drives is its custom mini-centronics connector, which places some of the electronics outside the unit From a manufacturing point of view, this allows for simpler and smaller devices, and the ability to sell both USB and Firewire versions simply by bundling a different cable. In theory, you could also buy one version and convert it to the other simply by swapping leads. The downside is that, should you lose the cable, getting a replacement may be more difficult than usual.

The drive is hot swappable and doesn't require any special drivers; once connected, a single red LED indicates activity. It can draw power from the host, but a separate power supply is included in case your system isn't meaty enough.

Siwara includes a good range of software, from formatting and partitioning tools to backup software, but by far the most interesting is SW VDC, allowing you to use the drive as a virtual CD tower. In terms of speed, the Pocket wasn't the fastest drive on test, but its performance will be adequate for most purposes.

It is expensive per gigabyte, but while other drives may offer more bang for your buck, we were impressed with the Pocket's range of software and portability.

Contact: Dude Ltd. 0845 644 5333
www.hki-systems.co.uk

Specifications:

• Capacity: 20Gb
• Spin speed (rpm): 4,200
• Buffer size (MB): 2
• USB 2
• Firewire model
• Size (mm) w x d x h: 73 x 128 x 18
• Weight (g): 155
• backup software
• additional software
• Warranty (years): 2