Maxtor OneTouch 4 Mini

Backup media is hardly the sexiest review subject here on T3, but Maxtor's newest offering might be just the product to change that.

Once you've wrestled your way into the blister-pack, you'll be marveling at how incredibly tiny the Maxtor OneTouch 4 Mini is. Powered by the USB-port on your computer, it means all you have to lug around with you is the drive and a USB cable.

Well, we say 'lug around', but this thing weighs the same as a 160GB iPod Classic, can store the same amount of data, and costs £160 less!

It comes with installers for the Windows and Mac OS backup software built-in, allowing you to use the OneTouch button on the front of the drive to make back-ups of your favourite files easily. The software will even ensure that your data remains encrypted, so if some thieving little scum-heap runs off with it, your files are safe from being snooped into.

If you fancy using the drive purely as an external drive (perfect for, say Apple Leopard's Time Machine backup), all you need to do is format it, and it'll work like any other harddisk.

The OneTouch 4 Mini isn't one of the fastest harddisks out there, but that isn't the point either. For back-ups, and for transporting a ridiculously huge number of files around with you, a small stack of OneTouch 4 Minis will do smashingly well. With 80GB, 120GB and 160GB versions to choose from, this might very well be the most perfect portable back-up solution out there!