Hitachi Touro Mobile Pro Review

Reviewers who gave the Hitachi Touro Mobile Pro a test drive were impressed with both its performance and its looks. One expert posting a Hitachi Touro Mobile Pro review at CNET appreciates the drive's speed, noting that this hard drive's platter spins at a quick 7,200rpm, whereas other comparable drives the site looked at spin at just 5,400rpms. In its Hitachi Touro Mobile Pro review, PCmag points out that the drive was able to copy a 1.22GB folder in 17 seconds when using a USB 3.0 connection - a data transfer rate of about 72MB per second. The CNET expert also likes that this drive includes 3GB of online "cloud" storage at no extra cost and that the backup software is easy to use. But performance isn't all this hard drive has going for it: The expert posting a Hitachi Touro Mobile Pro review at GadgetReview raves about how attractive this hard drive is, saying it looks like a larger iPhone 4. Users posting reviews at Amazon appreciate how fast and visually appealing the Hitachi Touro Mobile Pro is, while shoppers at B&H say the drive is easy to install. One downside: This drive doesn't have inputs or adapters for Firewire or eSata connections (though several experts reviews note that most users don't use those types of connectors anyway).

The Hitachi Touro Mobile Pro is available in both 750GB and 500GB versions, although it's easier to find the 750GB version. Both versions include 3GB of free online storage so you can post and share data online, but with a price difference of just $10 to $15, we'd jump for the drive with larger storage. The Mobile Pro spins at 7,200rpms and is compatible with USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 connections. Although you can use this drive with a Windows-based PC right out of the box, you'll have to reformat it if you're using a Mac-based system. But Mac users beware: This drive is only compatible with Macs using Mac OS 10.5 or newer.

The Hitachi Touro Mobile Pro is a speedy, hard-working drive. Although it's a bit pricier than other drives we researched, we think it's worth the extra cost because it spins faster and has more storage. And the 3GB of free online storage is a nice bonus, one you don't usually get with other cheap hard drives.