High quality; fashionable leather exterior; repeatedly survived 1.2m drop test; auxiliary power options; good value
Average read and write speeds; lacks FireWire port; flask-like design might not appeal to some
The fashionable Iomega eGo Leather Portable Hard Drive is a good alternative to more mundane-looking devices, and it provides a healthy amount of space for a decent price. Don't expect lightning-fast transfer speeds, though
7.6 Very good
Reviewed by Justin Yu
The 250GB eGo Leather Portable Hard Drive is a classy addition to Iomega's range of external hard drives. Last year, CNET UK sister site CNET.com reviewed the 160GB cherry red eGo Portable Hard Drive. The eGo Leather offers an aesthetic upgrade and 90 more gigabytes of space for just a little more money. If you like the look and feel of the leather casing and are willing to sacrifice some data-transfer time (our speed tests produced average results), the eGo Leather is definitely worth a look.
The eGo Leather is available for around £65. At about 26 pence per gigabyte, it's averagely priced for an external hard drive.
Design and features
The eGo Leather is an external hard drive for fashionistas and business professionals alike. It's wrapped in genuine brown leather with chrome caps on either end that add to the professional appeal of the drive. Combined, the curved shape and leather casing make the eGo Leather look very similar to a classic flask, which may appeal to some and put others off. In either case, there's no denying that the design is sleek.
The eGo Leather is powered completely via USB 2.0, but, in the small chance that your laptop needs an extra push, Iomega includes a cable with two USB connectors for auxiliary power. There's also a 5V AC power port for extreme cases, but a power cable isn't included in the package. Iomega sells the brick as a £16 accessory on its Web site.
The silver end caps do double duty -- they add to the high-end aesthetic and protect the drive from damage. Iomega claims the drive can survive a drop of up to 1.3m. We put it to the test and dropped our test unit several times from 1.2m. The drive continued to function perfectly. We can't vouch for the consequences of repeated drops over a long period of time, but we feel confident that the eGo Leather will withstand the normal wear and tear of everyday use.
Performance
The eGo Leather didn't come last in our speed test (that award goes to the Maxtor BlackArmor), but its read and write speeds aren't exactly impressive. It barely stands ahead of the BlackArmor in terms of write speed and reads data at a very average 148.8Mbps. While it's certainly not slow, it's not setting any new standards for speed either.
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Conclusion
The Iomega eGo Leather Portable Hard Drive is both easy on the eye and robust. Its transfer speeds aren't anything to get excited about, but it's a decent alternative to more mundane-looking hard drives.
Additional editing by Charles Kloet
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