Testing:

     To test the Mercury Elite-AL Pro I'll be using my trusty EVGA nForce 680i SLI based test system with a C2D E6700, and 2GB of DDR2. 

     For testing we'll be using 2 benchmarking programs; HD Tune and HD Tach. Both are good hard drive benchmarking programs we've been relying on for years to give us accurate results in our public and private hard drive benchmarking. 

USB 2.0 Tests - HD Tune

     First up is the USB 2.0 tests with HD Tune.

     With HD Tune we see results that are typical of a hard drive with a USB 2.0 interface. USB is great, but it's not the fastest way to transfer data.   

USB 2.0 Tests - Hard Drive Tach (Quick Benchmark)

USB 2.0 Tests - Hard Drive Tach (Long Benchmark)

     Here HD Tach is showing nearly identical results with the quick and long benchmark tests. Referring to the long benchmark, we see a burst rate of 37.7 MB/s, an average read speed of 35 MB/s, and an average write speed of 34.5 MB/s. Again, this isn't impressive, but it's typical of what we see with a USB 2.0 interface. Next let's speed things up a bit with external SATA (eSATA).