They don’t call it easy for nothing! Apricorn’s EZ Bus Mini is a wonderfully small portable hard drive and backup system that makes it fast and simple to back-up your co
mputer or reinstall your data. It’s also handy for storing digital photographs and music and video files (e-mails too if you need to adhere to Sarbanes-Oxley). Mini does mean mini; the drive fits in your palm of your hand (its dimensions are 4 in. x 3 in. x .60 in.) and weighs only a little more than 4 oz.
I tested the 60 GB version, which came with everything I needed, including USB cable and backup software. By simply plugging the EZ Bus into any USB port on my Dell desktop using the EZ’s built-in fold-up cable, I was ready to go. It’s totally USB-powered so no power source is necessary.
Software installation was simple and quick. The package comes with EZ Gig II Backup and Disaster Recovery Utility for Windows, a powerful and easy-to- use backup utility. EZ Gig II is actually two separate utilities -- Clone EZ and Image EZ -- on one disk. Clone EZ is ideal for users that require an exact bootable clone of their hard drive (great for either a disaster recovery backup or a hard drive upgrade). Image EZ is great for users that desire a compressed image of their entire hard drive (or partition), and because Image EZ compresses its backup, users may have enough space to keep backups from multiple dates or multiple computers.
Imaging my 80 GB drive was fast using the high-speed USB 2.0 connection; it’s backward compatible with USB 1.1, but that will add time to the back-up process.
As a nice added touch, the drive comes with its own padded travel pouch, underscoring its use for personal portable storage.
Pricing: Pricing: EZ Bus Mini 60 GB, $289.00; EZ Bus Mini 40 GB, $229.00; EZ Bus Mini 20 GB, $159.00
Availability: Now
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