Review of the Buffalo DriveStation Axis USB 3.0 3TB External Hard Drive
I have always been impressed with Buffalo products. And the 3TB USB 3.0 DriveStation Axis was no exception. The unit is well packed and arrived to me in perfect condition from Amazon.com. I plugged it in and Windows 7 identified and installed it right away. In no time flat I was ready to rock and roll with this unit.
This is the first self-contained USB 3.0 external hard drive I have purchased. I was greatly impressed by its file transfer speeds. When transferring a 3.5 TB ISO file this unit moved the file in only fifty-two seconds (0:00:52.00)! A USB 3.0 external hard drive dock by USPEED moved the same file in one minuet and forty seconds (0:01:40.00). At ESATA speeds using the same USPEED dock the file transferred at one minuet and nine seconds (0:01:09.00). USB 2.0 transfer of the same file using a Roswell external hard drive enclosure took two minutes and four seconds (0:02:04.00). By far the Buffalo 3TB USB 3.0 DriveStation out performed them all.
One thing I discovered is that my PC would not proper recognize the Buffalo DriveStation and another external USB 3.0 unit at the same time when plugged into my USB 3.0 hub. Plugging in directly to the USB 3.0 port on the computer the unit worked fine while the other unit was plugged into the hub and plugged into the hub itself without the other unit it performed fine as well.
When I purchased the unit I paid $129.99 in early September 2012 from Amazon.com. It is now early October 2012 and the unit is going for $148.66 on Amazon.com. That is still a good deal for a device that performs very well. I would expect that the 1 TB, 2 TB and the 4 TB models will perform equally well. Amazon has them all available for sale. Buffalo has great technical service and support. In the past year I had to RMA a network attached storage device made by Buffalo and I was very pleased with the outcome. Everything was resolved very quickly with no hassle at all. It is rare that I have problems with their products. Whenever I have needed any support it has always been very efficient and effective and usually from their tech support center in the United States.
I highly recommend this product. As with any Buffalo product I have purchased over the years I have found that this external hard drive has greatly exceeded my expectations.
