Iomega Helium Portable Hard Drive (1TB)

Iomega's Helium Portable Hard Drive (1TB) ($199.99 list) is the latest in a long line of external hard drives the company has designed for Mac users. Rather than simply formatting an external for use with Mac OS and shipping it to Apple Stores as it did with the eGo line, Iomega did all that only after designing a case that compliments the silver aluminum coloring of the latest Macs. The drive matches all currently shipping Macs, but it's really designed to compliment the MacBook Air, as that system primarily connects via USB 2.0, and that's the only interface you'll find on this drive. It's a decent-enough drive, but there are other alternatives if you're not married to the design.

Design and Features
The Helium is a pocket-size drive that looks like an aluminum slab, and feels that way too?it's surprisingly hefty in the hand. It has an embossed Iomega logo on one side, but is otherwise almost featureless. There's a mini USB port and drive activity light on one edge and a sticker with the model and serial numbers on the bottom. The matte aluminum finish approximates the look on unibody MacBook Pro and MacBook Air laptops as well as the Mac mini and iMac desktops, so you know which crowd this drive is aimed at. It's sturdy enough to take a few knocks in you commute bag (36-inch drop rating), though that's about a foot and change less than, say, the LaCie Rugged Mini (500GB) ($114.99 list, 3.5 stars), which has an extra rubber bumper for protection (51-inch drop rating).

The drive works with Apple's Time Machine backup software, which is built into Mac OS X 10.5 and up. Because the majority of the drive's users won't need any additional software, the 1TB is sent blank, formatted for HFS+ so it's ready to back up your Mac right out of the box. The drive comes with a pamphlet with a link to Iomega's download page, so you can grab other free utilities, including QuikProtect backup software, but unless you're reformatting the drive for use on a Windows machine, you'll likely never need to go there. The drive comes with a three-year limited warranty, which is better than the average one-year warranty. The Helium comes with a Y-shaped USB cable, so you can plug it into a second USB port in case the main plug doesn't draw enough power to spin the drive. This extra safety measure is good for users who have to transfer files to older Macs that don't have full-powered USB ports.

Performance
The Helium was an average performer: It took 42 seconds to write our 1.22GB test folder. The last Iomega eGo BlackBelt Mac Edition ($199.99 list, 4 stars) we tested was significantly faster at 35 seconds over USB 2.0 and 22 seconds over FireWire 800. The Seagate GoFlex Ultra-portable Drive for Mac (1.5TB) ($219.99 list, 3.5 stars) took 37 seconds with USB 2.0 and 24 seconds with FireWire 800. The Helium also returned average throughput scores on the AJA System test: 37MBps read and 27MBps write. We didn't test the Seagate or the eGo BlackBelt with AJA System Test, but these are average scores for USB 2.0 throughput.

The Iomega Helium Portable Hard Drive (1TB) will appeal mainly to owners of older MacBooks and MacBook Airs equipped only with USB 2.0 ports. Newer MacBook Pro and Air laptops have the much faster Thunderbolt port onboard, while all MacBook Pros and Mac desktops have FireWire 800 ports, which connect to drives that are a lot more economical and faster than those using USB 2.0. The Seagate GoFlex Ultra-portable Drive for Mac (1.5TB) has a lot more features than the Helium, including an adaptable interface for FireWire 800 and USB 3.0. The Seagate is also a much better buy on a dollar-per-gigabyte basis, as the drive has 500GB more capacity and has a list price that is only $20 more expensive. The older Iomega eGo Blackbelt shares the Helium's capacity and price, but adds FireWire 800. Unless you're willing to forgo faster interfaces for the Helium's smaller case, it's not as easy a sale.

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Buffalo MiniStation Cobalt USB 3.0 with several other hard drive side by side.

More hard drive reviews:
??? Iomega Helium Portable Hard Drive (1TB)
??? Iomega Mac Companion (3TB)
??? LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt (240GB SSD)
??? Seagate Momentus XT (750GB)
??? LaCie Rugged Mini (500GB)
?? more

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