Freecom Tough Drive XXS 6 GB

Talk about physical protection for your data—the Freecom Tough Drive XXS is about just that. The manufacturer says it has the ability to withstand shocks and bumps, which is something we haven’t seen on any other drives in its product category. The manufacturers have drop-tested it to two metres and state that it can withstand up to 200G shock while operating. The credit goes to its tough exterior, made of shock-absorbing, soft silicone, which also gives it a rubberised look and a solid feel, and also to an internal anti-shock mechanism that insulates the hard drive from shock.
Aesthetics is not compromised, as you can see alongside. Not much larger than a matchbox, this featherweight (56 g) drive is slim enough to slip into your pocket.
The drive is based on a 1-inch, 3600 rpm microdrive built specially for mobile devices. 6 GB (5.7 GB real capacity) means oodles of free space for most practical purposes.
When the small, retractable USB 2.0 plug (which is attached to a small cable) is connected, the device is instantly recognised by Windows XP, and a little blue LED in the plug starts glowing—and flashes as data is transferred. The retractable cable is very short—hardly an inch long—and Freecom have wisely provided an extension cable.
The drive was faster in our tests than most other drives in its class. It took just under 2:30 minutes to transfer 1 GB of assorted files and just over 2 minutes for sequential files. The XXS is extremely silent, too. The bundled Freecom Personal Media Suite can compress and encrypt your files. You can also synchronise the contents of the your hard drive with the XXS.
We think this drive is everything a portable drive should be. With 4 GB flash drives available for around Rs 2,000, the Rs 10,500 price tag certainly isn’t extra-small!

Specifications
1 GB; 1-inch microdrive; 3600 rpm; buffer: 128 KB; average latency: 8.3 ms; dimensions: 75 x 53 x 15; weight: 56 g; interface: USB 2.0; USB extension cable