Testing Continued:

eSATA Tests - HD Tune

     This time we switch over to the eSATA interface on the Mercury Elite-AL Pro which has a maximum data transfer rate of up to 150 MB/sec. The 680i motherboard I'm using is equipped with SATA 3.0 which has an actual data transfer rate of up to 300 MB per second. Of course the Mercury Elite-AL Pro will default to 150 MB/sec, but let's see just how close we can come to this max rating. Obviously this is best and fastest method of connecting an external hard drive to a PC, as long as your PC is equipped with eSATA.

     HD Tune shows a huge jump in performance from 33 MB/s with USB 2.0 to an average of 69.4 MB/s. Even the burst rate is triple that of USB 2.0. Even CPU usage is down...

eSATA Tests - Hard Drive Tach (Quick Benchmark)

eSATA Tests - Hard Drive Tach (Long Benchmark)

      HD Tach is showing incredible results with the quick and long benchmark tests. Referring to the long benchmark, we see a burst rate of 123.5 MB/s, an average read speed of 72.7 MB/s, and an average write speed of 70 MB/s. Now this is what I call an impressive increase in performance!

Software:

     As a nice bonus OWC has included a program called NovaBACKUP for the PC. There is also a Mac version called ProSoft Engineering® Data Backup. NovaBACKUP is a simple to use program for all of your backup needs. It even includes a Virus Scanning utility.

     The NovaBACKUP Wizard is also very easy to use. If you have a basic understanding of your file system, you'll have no trouble following the wizard.  

Conclusion:

     Overall I was very impressed with OWC's Mercury Elite-AL Pro 1TB External Hard Drive. The enclosure is of the highest quality I've seen in an external hard drive enclosure and OWC choose an excellent hard drive to go in it. The performance is right on for a eSATA or SATA hard drive ripping out numbers in the 70 and 80 MB/s range. The USB performance did okay, but you definitely need to go the eSATA rout with a external hard drive this large. I can't image trying to transfer a terabyte of data through a USB 2.0 interface... As for price, it's a little expensive as a USB 2.0 drive, but as a 1TB eSATA external hard drive it has the competition beat. There was even the pleasant bonus of backup software. Marketed at an external hard drive, I wasn't expecting software of any kind. So finding that there was an easy to use backup program included with the drive was even more impressive.

     Dealing with OWC for the first time was a great experience and if all of their products are as good as the Mercury Elite-AL Pro they will have no trouble bringing in loyal customers from both the PC and Mac side. Bottom line, the Mercury Elite-AL Pro is a superior product of ultra high quality and I'm proud to award it the Club Overclocker Seal of Approval!

Performance:	5 out of 5
Innovation:	4 out of 5
Quality:	5 out of 5
Stability:	5 out of 5
Aesthetics:	5 out of 5
Software/Drivers Pack:	4 out of 5
Overclocking:	N/A
Value:	5 out of 5
Project Skill Level (5 being most difficult)	2 out of 5