HDD by stefan @ 2014-05-23
By adopting a slim design and a chassis which combines both plastic and aluminum, Silicon Power has released the new Diamond D20 USB 3.0 portable HDD which comes in 500 and 1TB capacities. The free SP Widget downloadable utility adds extra value to the product by providing backup and security functions.
I would like to thank at first Silicon Power for supplying a sample of their Diamond D20 500GB USB 3.0 Portable HDD for testing and reviewing.
“Silicon Power Computer & Communications Inc., founded in 2003 by a group of enthusiastic specialists in International Business, Global Marketing, and Technical Engineering of flash data storage industry. Well dedicated in brand image and product quality, Silicon Power has been recognized and well accepted by millions of end-users in more than 100 countries, becomes the world's leading manufacturer of flash memory cards, USB flash drives, card readers, DRAM modules, solid state disks, and portable hard drives in less than a decade. Headquartered in Taipei, we continuously established various branches throughout the world including Netherlands, Japan, Russia, Mainland China and other emerging market to reach the worldwide market.
Silicon Power's overall performance has gradually drawn great attention worldwide. In 2006, we received Taiwan Rising Star Award for our foreign business achievement. In 2008, we won 17th National Outstanding Small & Medium Enterprise Award for our outstanding progress. Moreover, with superior quality and innovative design, our products stood out in several competitions and awarded Taiwan Excellence and COMPUTEX Design & Innovation Award in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Winning trust of global consumers, Silicon Power holds a record of successive double-digit revenue growth for last seven years. According to the Common Wealth Magazine's 2010 Survey of Taiwan Top 1000 Manufacturers, our 2009 revenue growth rate was ranked No.11 among Taiwan's top 1000 manufacturers, and even ranked No.1 in semiconductor industry.
Positioned as Passionate, Creative and Hungry for Success, Silicon Power introduces products for users who are seeking individualized, unique and personal digital storage devices. With the mission of creating unprecedented experience for users, Silicon Power will endeavor to deliver a full range of high quality products that have innovative designs, distinctly unique features and comprehensive after sales services to create and fulfill your personal memory.”
- SuperSpeed USB 3.0 compliant and backwards compatible with USB 2.0
- Ultra slim and light-weighted design for easy carrying
- Solid aluminum metal structure and scratch resistant surface
- Power saving sleep mode
- LED indicates power on and data transfer activity
- New version of SP Widget free download software, providing 7 major back-up and security functions (256-bit AES file & folder encryption)
- Dimensions: 116.5 x 78 x 10.5 mm
- Weight: 135g
- Capacity: 500GB
- Standard Compliance: USB 3.0 / 2.0
- Data Transfer Rates: Max. 5 Gb/s (USB 3.0 Mode) - Max. 480 Mb/s (USB 2.0 Mode)
- Power Supply: DC 5V (Power supplied through USB)
- Operating Temperature: 5 to 55 degrees Celsius
- Storage Temperature: -40 to 70 degrees Celsius
- Supported Operating Systems: Windows 8 / 7 / Vista / XP / 2000 , Linux 2.6.31 or later, Mac OS 10.5 or later
- Color: White
- Three-year warranty
As the previous offerings from Silicon Power, the D20 Diamond Series HDD comes in a fully sealed enclosure:
On the frontal side we can take a sneak peak the main product, but we will be also able to see the product name along with the storage capacity:
One of the box sides shows an estimation of multimedia content this drive can fit in both of its variants: 500 and 1TB
On the back side of the box we will get to see a list of specifications, package contents, supported operating systems, but also a short product description, written in multiple languages:
The portable HDD, along with the rest of the bundle is held inside a transparent plastic mold; we will also receive a multi-language user manual:
The previously mentioned manual comes with instructions on how to perform the hardware installation:
The new enclosure design is very light-weight, slim and easy to carry. The solid aluminum structure features a unique carbon-like texture:
In the middle we have a metallic Silicon Power logo:
On the sides, the enclosure presents itself with a black plastic frame:
Near the USB 3.0 connector, we will also get to see a small power and activity LED:
The bottom side of the unit is made from plastic and in the center the manufacturer has placed the total drive capacity:
Each corner is also provided with a small plastic foot:
The testbench was composed from the following hardware:
CPU: Intel I7 Retail @ stock
Motherboard: Foxconn BloodRage with G42 BIOS
RAM: 3x2GB Patriot PVT36G1600LLK 1600MHz
Video: Sparkle GTX 470 with stock and OMNI A.L.C.
Power Supply: Nexus RX-8500 850W modular
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200.11
Case: Thermaltake Armor+ LCS, stock cooling
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate x64
Expansion: ASUS U3S6
When powered on for the first time, we will see that the Diamond D20 drive comes formatted FAT32, with a single partition:
With the help of AIDA64, we will be able to extract some more information about the drive, which is a Samsung Momentus M8, with the rotation speed of 5400RPM:
On the drive we have preloaded an utility which helps with the product registration:
A free-to-download utility is to be found on the Silicon Power website, which contains multiple functions to the drive:
The interface of the software is split into multiple sections:
One of the functions is the ability to backup the My Documents folder:
Next, we can sync and backup any folders from the internal drive:
We can always choose to encrypt or decrypt the data stored on the drive:
Also, we can backup My Favorites folder, Outlook Email contents or different tasks:
The software also comes with a “PC-Lock” function:
Some more details about the drives can be found in the “Storage Device Information” tab:
The SP Widget app can be also updated from the same interface:
Finally, with the utility we can also change the language of the interface or scan the drive contents:
We did really like the Diamond D20 from Silicon Power since it features a slim enclosure design with a quality finish, while offering good speeds when transferring files to or from it. As we can see from the tests we have ran, the 5400RPM HDD is good for storage purposes, but it falls short a little if it would be used as a system drive, but this is not the intention of this particular product anyway.
The 500GB of the drive variant we have tested are not enough? No problem, since Silicon Power also has available for us one 1TB variant. The good news travel even further, since they have also announced the 2TB drive availability for many of their drives.
The Diamond D20 500GB drive is available online for about 52 Euros.
We would like to thank again to Silicon Power for making this review possible!