Specifications

Reviews
drive from M-Systems, and the flash drive ate the Pocket Drive’s lunch, writ-
ing 1GB of data in just 4:27 (min:sec) compared with an agonizing 12:45 for
Seagate’s drive.
The Pocket Drive is much larger and more affordable than flash-based
alternatives, but this value comes at the price of speed. In our minds,
speed is just as important as
capacity and compatibility
because of the various costs
(money, opportunity, and oth-
erwise) associated with time,
so we advise you to proceed
with caution.
—JOSH NOREM
Seagate 5GB Pocket Drive
Slow transfer rates make this
miniature hard drive a hard sell
MAXIMUMPC JANUARY 200590
Large capacity, excellent software, and highly
portable.
FLASH DRIVE
FLASH FLOOD
A lot slower than USB flash drives.
$200, www.seagate.com
7
MAXIMUMPC
VERDICT
I
received an award for the best male penmanship in the third grade.
Unfortunately, the honor—bestowed upon me by my peers, no less—
resulted in me not putting any further effort into improving (or even
maintaining) my hand-writing skills. Nearly 30 years later, I still have the
best penmanship…for the third grade. But in the real world, it just plain
sucks. As in, no one can read my chicken scratch when I label audio CDs
and digital-photo DVDs.
Enter the Signature Z1 CD/DVD Printer, a phonebook-size thermal-
transfer printer that lets you print directly onto CD/DVDs. The all-plastic
construction feels a bit flimsy, but this USB 1.1 printer is simple to install,
even easier to use, and reasonably quiet. Unfortunately, while the 200dpi
resolution produces solid-looking text, the quality breaks down pretty
quickly when you try to print all but the most basic graphics. Photos are
particularly hard on the eyes—the result is an awkward-looking image
that resembles crude clip art samples rather than pictures.
The bundled basic edit-
ing software lets you add
text and black-and-white
Signature Z1 CD/DVD Printer
It’s not pretty, but it gets the labeling job done
T
he definition of a Maximum PC verdict of 7 reads, “These products often
come with a frustrating mix of good and bad features.” This is precisely
the case with Seagate’s new 5GB Pocket Drive. The drive boldly breaks
new ground by being the highest capacity drive of its size on the market and
by using a hard drive rather than flash memory as its storage medium. The rub
is that it’s slow. Really, really slow. But this sluggishness needs to be weighed
against the drive’s positive traits, of which there are several.
First, the 5GB capacity means the Pocket Drive holds more than twice as
much data as the highest capacity flash-based keys, which top out at 2.1GB.
This huge capacity, for such a small package at least, is made possible by
Seagate’s recently released 1-inch hard drive dubbed ST-1, which has a 2MB
buffer and a spindle speed of 3,600rpm.
Another cool and welcome feature is the bundled proprietary software
“toolkit” that lets you perform a wide array of useful tasks, such as partitioning
the unit into both “secure” and “public” partitions, which allows you to keep
secret files on the drive. The included software also lets you write-protect the
drive, make it bootable, format it, and even restore it to factory defaults. M-
Systems (one of the biggest players in the flash-based USB key market) offers
a similar security option on its flash drives, and we’re pleased that Seagate’s
version is just as easy to use.
Now for the bad news. As stated before, this drive suffers from seriously
slow transfer rates. During testing, we ran it head-to-head with a 2GB flash
Spin the black
part around
and a 6-inch
USB cable
unfurls, then
tucks neatly
back into
the drive for
transport.
verdict of 7 reads, “These products often
come with a frustrating mix of good and bad features.” This is precisely
the case with Seagate’s new 5GB Pocket Drive. The drive boldly breaks
new ground by being the highest capacity drive of its size on the market and
by using a hard drive rather than flash memory as its storage medium. The rub
is that it’s slow. Really, really slow. But this sluggishness needs to be weighed
The included editing
software is bare-
bones, allowing you
to import photos as
well as place regular
and fancy, curvy-
looking text.
The Signature Z1 is small, quiet, and capable—just don’t
expect any frills. And don’t print anything but text.
photo elements to four areas of a CD or DVD surface—the top, bottom,
left, and right.
You can only print in one color—a black ink cartridge is included, but
red, green, and blue cartridges are also available. Each cartridge costs
$20 and will print up to 200 “print areas,” or 50 CD/DVDs with printing in
each of the four areas.
For what you get, the
Signature Z1 is a bit pricey.
For around the same price
you can buy a four-color
printer and CD/DVD labels
and create much more
appealing visuals for your
home-made media.
—STEVE KLETT
Simple to set up and use, and it’s quiet.
NEAT NANCY
MESSY MARVIN
Offers zero frills, and graphic reproduction is poor.
$140, www.primera.com
6
MAXIMUMPC
VERDICT
2.75“
9.25“
2.78“
7.48“