# Review - ADATA DashDrive™ Durable HD710 Waterproof/Shock-Resistant USB 3.0 External Hard Drive



## smartsubbi (May 17, 2012)

We have seen flash-based thumb drives from the likes of HP and sandisk survive large drops, being submerged or even frozen if the occasion presents itself. However, creating a portable hard drive this robust presents a few more challenges, as it will not only be heavier but also more fragile because of its internal moving parts. One of the most typical and convenient options is having an external hard drive. Not only are these affordable* ( taking into count the current market price for the HDD L) and easy to use  but once data has been backed up, you can take it with you or store it at a safe location.

The DashDrive™ Durable HD710 was designed for road warriors who need to take their storage with them on the harshest of environments. The is an eye-catching USB3 portable hard disk with a Yellow and black rubber sheath (Which i am currently Revieving ). It also comes in other 2 colors as shown below.

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I wouldn't have just taken A-DATA's claims (that its shock proof and water resistant) without playing with it for a few days which included knocking it off the desk around a dozen times, the rubber sheath arround it took this punishment very well without so much as a scratch. Given that the DashDrive™ Durable HD710 is waterproof, i then submerged it into the bowl of water with ICE cubes for 15ms. And for My surprise it did not affect the Hard disk in any way just plugged it again and went ahead with my Benchmark Testing 

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Other than the rubbery outer sheath there is another eye catching design aspect of the DashDrive™ Durable HD710 that A-DATA hopes will help make this product a little more desirable. Instead of requiring users to separately carry around a USB cable, the HDD includes a 30cm long USB cable that wraps around the body of the drive. This is a great idea, although reattaching the cable to the outside of the housing after every use was quite annoying. The cable easily tuckes away. That said, users will just have to be patient when packing up their DashDrive™ Durable HD710 which at times users dont end up doing it K. Rounding out the exterior features is a bright blue LED that signals activity when the drive is in use.

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A pattern quickly emerged from my file transfer tests – the DashDrive™ Durable HD710 is far quicker at reading files then it is at writing them. 

USB 3.0: Large files were read at a fast 103.0MB/s, but written at a slightly slower rate 102.0 MB/s. Small files were read at a sluggish 35.78MB/s and written at a slow 15.60MB/s.

*3.bp.blogspot.com/-cSSQdjE53wY/T6YOWlBIFyI/AAAAAAAAACc/_7JoDh62EY4/s320/3.0.jpg​
USB 2.0: Large files were read at a fast 34.34MB/s, but also written at a slightly slower rate 24.99MB/s. Small files were read at a sluggish 21.28MB/s and written at a slow 15.99MB/s

*3.bp.blogspot.com/-ByVB5-pXty8/T6YOcXoeaOI/AAAAAAAAACk/HgRNbEDKo7U/s320/2.0.jpg​
Below are the other benchmarks tools used and their results all are on USB 3.0:

*3.bp.blogspot.com/-omDLjTK4sA4/T6YOkaFU9-I/AAAAAAAAACs/fdyKIvEnu68/s320/ATO.jpg

*4.bp.blogspot.com/-GFZLuloeS7g/T6YOuUvYloI/AAAAAAAAAC0/zEwH74QcInc/s320/HD+Tune+pro+1.jpg

*4.bp.blogspot.com/-GYSMLzzOsp4/T6YO3BSHxrI/AAAAAAAAAC8/-mMLH6ieMtI/s320/HD+Tune+pro+2.jpg​
Final Thoughts

Hmm.... With the hard drive market which has become increasingly competitive and somewhat overcrowded and with people shifting to the SSD’s. The A-DATA DashDrive™ Durable HD710 is an eye catching product with Its build quality is first-class and the durability it offers far exceeds that of the majority of  portable drives, which often feature flimsy plastic bodies that are easily damaged.

In terms of performance, the DashDrive™ Durable HD710 was more than capable of topping out the USB 3.0 bus. Due to the use of thick rubber to protect the enclosure and the drive within, the DashDrive™ Durable HD710 is slightly bulkier compared to your average portable HDD. Fitting in your pocket will still be a problem due to its outter rubber sheath. Removing the cable for use was not a problem, but reattaching it to the enclosure was more often than lazyness work which usually a common user would end up doing


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## mrintech (May 17, 2012)

Great Review 

TFS


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## Amey408 (May 17, 2012)

Hey nice review. what's the price?


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## Nanducob (May 18, 2012)

Gud review and i admire your guts to throw that thing in water..eventhough its waterproof...haha


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## saswat23 (May 18, 2012)

Nice review. But what's the price?


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