Typical for a Mac specific model it comes pre-formatted in HFS+ (Mac Os Extended) format and is therewith optimized for Macs by default. So, it is Time Machine compatible without further ado and can be used for Mac Os X backups. In case you like to use the drive under Windows too, you can either format it in FAT32 (recognized by both, Mac OS and Windows), or create two additional partitions in NTFS and FAT32 format. This way, it is possible to use the ideal format under each operating system and use a FAT32 partition for data exchange.

We tested under Mac Os X 10.6.6 (HFS+) and under Windows 7 64 bit (NTFS) on a MacMini, an HP ProBook 6540b, an MSI 880 GMA E45 Mainboard, an FW 800 ExpressCard/34 from IOI, and an Icy Box USB 3.0 ExpressCard/34.

FireWire 800 (IEEE 1394b)

The performance recorded by Xbench 1.3 on the Mac reflects the current performance of FireWire 800.  Just under 80 MB/s at sequential reading means that the performance limit of FireWire 800 identified by us so far is reached. The sequential write rate of 54 MB/s is clearly lower. This is not usual, as the write rates normally reach a similar level. E.g., the LaCie Quadra d2 or the Iomega Black Belt also reach a rate of 80 MB/s at writing.

CrystalDisk Mark 2.2 under Windows 7 records nearly the same values on the HP ProBook 6540b with FireWire 800 ExpressCard. In HD Tune a maximum transfer rate of 57.8 MB/s is achieved. To summarize, the recorded values are typical for Firewire 800 and clearly ahead of other the connectivity options on the Mac, i.e. FW 400 and USB 2.0. This interface is actually not interesting for Windows users, as no laptop has it on board by default and it has to be retrofitted on demand. On the Mac we did not need to use an additional USB 2.0 connection for power supply, but, this was necessary when connected to the ExpressCard.

USB 3.0/ USB 2.0

Apart from a few exceptions USB 3.0 is not available on Macs. So, the Verbatim for Mac only uses the USB 2.0 standard there. Nevertheless, the achieved results in High-Speed mode are quite respectable. It accomplishes very good 37 MB/s at sequential reading and 34 MB/s at sequential writing.

Only Windows laptops can reach full speed via USB 3.0 in Super-Speed mode. Here you can enjoy a transfer rate of 83 MB/s and nearly 80 MB/s at sequential reading and writing. This result complies to the performance of the used Toshiba MK5059 GSXP hard drive, which works at 5400 rpm and features 8 MB cache. Our detailed HDD benchmark list shows how this drive performs in comparison to other models. Again, the Mac could drive the hard disk without additional power supply, while only connecting USB 3.0 was not sufficient on the Windows computer. However, with the provided USB-2.0 cable the Store`n` worked without problem.