gdgt

Conclusion: We're mixed

The Drobo Mini attempts to combine speed and portability by allowing you to put four 2.5-inch SATA drives into a 7-inch x 7-inch device. Slashgear points out that this "places new limits on capacity, since 2.5-inch drives aren’t available in the same huge sizes as their bigger brethren." When testing speeds, MacLife said they "saw 184MBps writes and 256MBps reads from the Drobo mini." However, CNET felt the Drobo Mini "does nothing to impress" and that "the drive seemed to become progressively slower the more data it stored." CNET also had issues with noise, saying the "fans run all the time starting from the moment you turn the drive on, and they're noisy." If you're often out in the field and need solid data protection, this unique drive may be a good option, but keep in mind you'll be limited by storage capacity -- and you'll pay a high price for it as well.