My ageing iMac DV has a miniscule (by today’s standards) hard disk - it’s only 12gB. Ridiculous. And even with a fresh install of OS X, it was starting to fill up.
Thus came the computer’s salvation from being squeezed into a puny few megabytes to breathe - the Freecom Data Tank 800gB. Don’t ask me if ‘Data Tank’ is all one word - I don’t know myself.
Either way, the packaging was (as usual) a nightmare, with the disk being squeezed into a tiny amount of space between the cables and disks. However, eventually, it was out.
The disk is quite heavy, but has a surprisingly small footprint. Its casing is aluminium with black plastic on the front and back. There are two buttons on the front to be used with the driver software, and a glowing emblem displaying the drive’s default capacity (800gB) and which flashes on and off when the disk is being accessed.
Inside, there are two 400gB SATA disks working in a RAID array, which then connects to your computer via either USB2 or FireWire 400/800. And, yes, they used the ‘fake gigabyte’ - the true combined value is around 745gB.
Nevertheless, this is still enormous, and the drive works fine without any drivers. I can use software encryption on Mac OS X if I want to, and I have an Automator script which will back up my Users folder every evening.
The power comes from an odd-looking plug coming from the brick which hooks up to the mains supply. It does have the annoying habit of spinning down after not being accessed for five to ten minutes - and it takes around fifteen seconds to spin back up again. It is an annoying, but minor inconvenience.
Far more inconvenient is the stupid software - a rubbish Flash menu, linking you to the Freecom website to download some encryption software. While this menu irritates you, a pretentious and stupid video in the corner declares that ‘IT TOOK MAN TEN MILLION YEARS TO ACCUMULATE 11 EXABYTES OF DATA’. Shut up!
I ended up removing the disk (thank goodness for the eject key on the keyboard) and I intend to ceremoniously burn it on New Year’s Eve. OK, maybe tonight.
One other detail that I do like about the disk is the quietness of it; there is a minor hum from the rotating platters, and that’s it. You have to physically put your ear to the machine to hear the head moving.
Overall, I’m impressed: if you ignore the idiotic software and power-saving scheme, the device is wonderful. Bravo Freecom.
Freecom DataTank 800gB: £155.68
Score: 4.9/5
Contact: Freecom, freecom.com
The Freecom DataTank is available from the Crashed Pips shop, in partnership with amazon.co.uk.
