First Looks
The CRU DataPort SecureDock is an aluminum-shelled device with the CRU DataPort logo on the top. The front and rear bezels are black. There is a series of LEDs on the front, indicating power, activity, and whether or not the security token is plugged in and, one for the drive availablity. The security token connects via mini-USB.
The back of the unit shows a power rocker, USB2, eSATA, and power connectors. The rear is also somewhat grated to give the device some airflow. A magnetic levitation fan provides cooling, too. The bottom has the model and serial numbers, as well as four rubber feet to prevent scratches to the surface beneath the unit and to provide some resistance when inserting the drive cage.
Installation & Use
Connecting the CRU DataPort SecureDock to my computer was a cinch. I chose eSATA in order to take advantage of the rarely used eSATA port on top of my Cooler Master Cosmos S case.
I did some benchmarking using HD Tune Pro and SiSoft Sandra on Windows XP 64-bit. Sandra’s drive index was 70.59 MB/s and the random access time was 19 milliseconds. HD Tune Pro reported an average read of 78.7 MB/s and an average write of 76.7 MB/s with bursts just short of 92 MB/s for each operation.
The 500 GB Hitachi hard drive included with our review unit isn’t the speediest of Hitachi’s hard drives, but it’s enough to keep up with my 500GB Samsung Spinpoint, which averages approximately 80 MB/s if I remember correctly.
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