OWC Mercury Elite 160GB
Review

Other World Computing 160GB Mercury Elite 5400 RPM FireWire Hard Drive
Company: Other World Computing
(Maxtor DiamondMax HD inclosed)
Price: $349.95
http://www.macsales.com

Here’s how to review an excellent high-capacity FireWire hard drive, in 10 easy steps:

1. Unpack unit, cable, power supply, support brackets, and CD from shipping carton.

2. Insert power supply into hard drive case and electric outlet.

3. Connect FireWire cable to drive and computer.

4. Turn on power switch on rear of drive. Observe blue light on front of unit and silent operation of drive, while Mercury Elite mounts quickly on computer’s desktop.

5. Double-click on drive’s icon to open it. Check out shareware and updaters that are already installed.

6. Transfer files and folders into and out of Mercury Elite HD with speed and efficiency.

7. Clone OS X onto this unit, then boot into X directly from the drive, even on a slow slot-loading iMac.

8. Go to the OWC web site to make sure sexy product photo and all crucial tech details are there for readers’ easy access.

9. Take quick tour of Hard Disk SpeedTools utility CD included with drive. Decide not to attempt to utilize the software, because Mercury Elite drive works fine as is.

10. Contact Other World Computing (OWC) for their supplementary comments to MyMac.com readers, which is standard procedure for all Nemo reviews. CEO Larry O’Connor tells MyMac.com:

The SpeedTools software, just by installing it, will further increase the performance of our drive. You don’t need to even do any tweaking for there to be benefits. The drive is preconfigured here all ready for the SpeedTools extension, but also works perfectly A-OK without that software installed/activated.

Wow, that was sure easy. I am impressed with every aspect of this new FireWire drive, and I give it a hearty recommendation. Mercury Elite receives a perfect score for an FireWire-only unit. Both USB 2.0/1.1 and FireWire will be available from OWC in one combo drive enclosure when you read this review, and MyMac.com plans to continue to work closely with this very Mac-friendly manufacturer as new top-quality products become available.

MacMice Rating: 5 out of 5


Nemo’s MyMac.com “Q/D/S/V Standard” for all product reviews:

Q = QUALITY, including ease of installation, performance, stability, and general happy relationship with everything on my system;

D = DOCUMENTATION, both printed and electronic, plus appropriate website material;

S = SUPPORT, in the form of email, phone, and web updates;

V = VALUE, which includes both original cost and subsequent expenses


John Nemerovski

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