Maxtor Personal Storage 5000DV 160GB FireWire/USB2.0
The box tells you exactly what you're getting. 160GB, 7200rpm rotational speed, 8MB cache and a OneTouch button. The DV is the head of the Personal Storage 5000-series. It doesn't feature the 250GB capacity that the XT range features, but that's a 5400rpm disk and has more in common with the OnTouch 300GB on the previous page. As far as speed goes, this is the fastest of the disks on test, sharing 7200rpm rotational speed with the 80GB 3000DV, but with an 8MB cache instead of 2MB. Infact it's the only 8MB cache disk on test, giving it an extra advantage in the on-paper performance stakes.
OneTouch button, blue plastic casing, up and downstream FireWire connectors, USB2.0 port and an AC adaptor port are the features. No discrete on/off toggle switch, you need to rely on the mains for that. There's also a lock port for using what seems to be standard Kensington equipment, although I was unable to verify that.
Inside the box we have AC adaptor (that can be shared with other Personal Storage drives, even disks in the 3000-series range), manual, driver CD with OneTouch driver and copy of Dantz Retrospect Express, USB and FireWire cables and a handy stand for mounting the drive on its side, saving a bit of desk footprint.
The plastic feels a bit flimsy, the OneTouch button especially, but it's nothing too bad. It's definitely not as heavy as the 300GB OneTouch on the previous page, maybe lighter than the 1.22Kg official weight suggests. I'm too lazy to get scales and weigh it though.
It's also the noisiest of the disks, along with the 3000DV I'm just about to come to. Whereas the Freecom and OneTouch 300GB drives are silent, the PSx000DV disks get faily loud and you can definitely hear them spin and seek at some points. Maybe the enclosures amplify the noise they make, since DiamondMax 9 disks aren't generally loud in my experience. Whatever the reason, the 5000DV 160GB isn't as quiet as I'd like.
