Gtech Armor ATD review
Shooting on location is tough. Not just are you battling the elements, but you need to protect your gear and what's been shot. In comes G-Technology's amazing hard drive: The ArmorATD. These are designed to handle the harshness of shooting outside, extreme travel, drops, crushes, rain, dust... you name it.
Specs include an enterprise grade 2.5" hard drisk wrapped in a rugged rubber casting. This is also removable. It uses USB-C ports which is protected by a weatherproof cover, and it comes with a USB-A adapter letting it work with a bunch of different workflows.
Shariff Ibrahim from jigsaw24.com wrote a fantastic review.
He decided to test just how durable the ArmorATD is by putting it through a series of challenges. So off he went to his backyard garden to put his drive through all sorts of trouble.
Speed:
How fast is the ArmorATD? This is of course critical when working with a tight deadline. G-Technology claims the drive reaches up to 140mbs. Shariff tried this out using a 7gb file on his MacBook Air. He reports that 60 seconds passed before it completely transferred over. This is not as fast as you'd see in SSD, but remember, this is a HDD which is perfect for backing up files while out on the field.
Drop it:
Sharriff next decided to give the ArmorATD the famous drop test. He dropped it from shoulder height onto the pavement. Of course, we don't reccomend just dropping your drives for tests, so we give Shariff props for testing all this out. He gladly reports that "Neither the drive or the pavement was damaged."
But a drop is one thing. Will it work? The answer is yes! "{I connected it} to my MacBook Air showed no sign of internal damage."
Can it Handle the Pressure?
Sharriff did two tests here. G-Tech says the ArmorATD can withsatans 1,000lbs which is a lot.
"To put that to the test, I looked for the heaviest implement to hand I could find – an old spade. A generous bash to the drive with the flat of the shovel had me worried, and I was relieved when the drive came out without a scratch," Sharriff said.
He decided to go one step further. He drove over it with his Toyota Carolla Verso which weighs a little over 3,000lbs. That exceeds what G-Tech recommends.
"I wanted to make sure it was really put through the wringer. Again, the ArmorATD prevailed, although I wouldn’t recommend trying these experiments on your shiny hard drive on purpose," he said.
How about Water?
Expect when you're shooting on location that it's going to rain. So this drive is supposed to keep your data dry. Sharriff decided to fill up his watering can and forcibly make it rain.
"Amazingly, after a good 30 second slosh from the watering can and then a pat down on my jeans, it was damp, but still showed no signs of defeat. The rubber cover protecting the USB port makes a perfect barrier against the elements," he said.
Dust
This could be a problem for those shooting in the hot deserts or even on a beach. Sharriff didn't have access to dust per-sey, but he did have a lot of mulch.
"A load of old soil isn’t the ideal addition to your shiny hard drive, but again, after a quick wipe down, the ArmorATD backed up its dirt-defying credentials thanks to that rubber casing. Really useful when working in – literally – the field," he said.
In Conclusion
If you're on the road or on location, the ArmorATD is truly the drive for you. It's available in 1tb, 2tb, or 4tb drives starting at just $79.99! Sharriff successfully proved that this little drive can withstand the harshest of environments and still protect your files.
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