Introduction

Today I have the first in a series of reviews of X-Micro products. It is called the Mini DisGo; it is a portable storage device, specifically a very small hard drive. It is self-powered by USB, has a nice aluminum casing and all around just looks cool. In today’s world it just seems that there is never enough space especially for transporting data from place to place. Sure flash drives are becoming larger in capacity, but until they reach the multiple gigabyte mark we will need alternative ways to efficiently and quickly transfer data from place to place. X-Micro and several other companies have provided a solution to this in the form of mini hard drives. Today I have for review the 20 gigabyte version of the X-Micro Mini DisGo, I will be comparing it to other portable hard drives and flash drives available today, let's see what X-Micro has to offer us...

First Looks

Before we get into the pictures, let's take a look at the specs and info from the X-Micro site about the Mini DisGo:

X-Micro Mini DisGo

For size, quality, and cost-performance, the Mini DisGo sets a new benchmark for portable storage devices. Only 85 grams in weight and slightly larger than a business card, the Mini DisGo sports an aluminum case and is available in a range of hard drive sizes from 5GB to 40GB. The Mini DisGo is also USB-powered with a transfer rate of 480Mbps.

Features
- Bus interface: USB 2.0
- Transfer rate: 480Mbps
- Connector: 1 mini USB connector
- Spin: 4200rpm
- HDD: 5mm, 1.8inch 5/20/30/40GB
- Buffer: 512kb
- Search Ave. 15ms
- LED: Green for power, Orange for data transfer
- Power: USB self-powered
- Electrical: +5V, 500ma Max
- Operating requirements: Temperature from 0ºC to 50ºC Relative humidity 5-90% (Non-condensing)

Dimension
- 8.5x60x100mm
- Weight 85gr

Ok, the package is your standard sealed clamshell with various bits of information on the cover and essentially the same specs on the back in different languages; the Mini DisGo is displayed in the center of the package.

There is a small sticker inside the package that states what the capacity of the drive is to the right of the drive itself. I received the Mini DisGo with a 20GB Toshiba hard drive.