INTRODUCTION

     No matter how much advancement in technology we see through the years one thing continues to stay unaltered and that's the continuously growing storage demands/needs for most enthusiasts and professionals. Personally for backup purposes only i use quite a few Terabytes and i know many others who use even more so i really hope that the 5TB HDD models will get released sooner rather than later (Q1 2013 is the projected date after all). Now as you all know lately we've been focusing most of our efforts into testing all the latest storage related devices to hit the market from internal devices such as SSDs and HDDs up to portable devices including USB flash drives and 3.5"/2.5" external HDDs. Still the market is huge, new models get released almost on a daily basis and so today in our hands we have yet another such device the Armor A15 1TB USB 3.0 2.5" portable hard drive from Silicon Power.

   Silicon Power Computer & Communications Inc., founded in 2003 by a group of enthusiastic specialists in International Business, Global Marketing, and Technical Engineering of flash data storage industry. Well dedicated in brand image and product quality, Silicon Power has been recognized and well accepted by millions of end-users in more than 100 countries, becomes the world's leading manufacturer of flash memory cards, USB flash drives, card readers, DRAM modules, solid state disks, and portable hard drives in less than a decade. Headquartered in Taipei, we continuously established various branches throughout the world including Netherlands, Japan, Russia, Mainland China and other emerging market to reach the worldwide market. Silicon Power's overall performance has gradually drawn great attention worldwide. In 2006, we received Taiwan Rising Star Award for our foreign business achievement. In 2008, we won 17th National Outstanding Small & Medium Enterprise Award for our outstanding progress. Moreover, with superior quality and innovative design, our products stood out in several competitions and awarded Taiwan Excellence and COMPUTEX Design & Innovation Award in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Winning trust of global consumers, Silicon Power holds a record of successive double-digit revenue growth for last seven years. According to the Common Wealth Magazine's 2010 Survey of Taiwan Top 1000 Manufacturers, our 2009 revenue growth rate was ranked No.11 among Taiwan's top 1000 manufacturers, and even ranked No.1 in semiconductor industry. Positioned as Passionate, Creative and Hungry for Success, Silicon Power introduces products for users who are seeking individualized, unique and personal digital storage devices. With the mission of creating unprecedented experience for users, Silicon Power will endeavor to deliver a full range of high quality products that have innovative designs, distinctly unique features and comprehensive after sales services to create and fulfill your personal memory.

   Much like the award winning Armor A80 the newly released A15 is also a rugged portable hard drive aimed mostly towards people who need/want the extra data protection offered by it. However unlike the anti-dust/pressure/shock and water resistant metal enclosure of the A80 the A15 features just a rubber anti-shock enclosure which is certainly not as durable but it does look and feel better (it actually looks like a sports accessory by Nike). That aside it also features USB 3.0 connectivity (5Gbps), is currently available in 3 different capacities (500GB/750GB/1TB), features an quick backup button that doubles as a blue activity LED, can be used the SP Widget free download software by Silicon Power and finally comes with 3 years warranty. All these sound great but how does it perform? Well that's what we're here to find out.