Review: Imation Apollo USB storage

A compact external hard disk

Portable hard disks can help you keep backups of important data and carry files around when you're on the move.

The Apollo from Imation is a pocket-sized external disk that connects to the computer using a supplied USB cable and is finished with a stylish black and chrome finish.

In the box there is a twin-headed USB cable that's designed to offer additional power to the disk (some computers can't supply adequate power from one USB port).

On the disk itself you'll find a copy of Arcsoft Totalmedia Backup, which is a straightforward application to help copy content from the computer to the disk as a backup.

Using the software you can either select file categories (videos, music, personal documents and so on) or manually choose specific files or folders from the computer.

You can perform full backups or incremental ones that update a backup with only files that have changed, and the application allows users to create timed backups that occur at various intervals.

The 160GB version we looked at costs £60, which is good value, and there are other disks in the range with larger capacities, up to 320GB.