The LaCie Little Big Disk Quadra is less than the size of a Harry Potter book, yet crams in two 500GB 2.5in hard disks.

With unusual styling that looks like it came straight from a 1970s sci-fi series, Maxtor’s OneTouch Plus is a distinctive but not unattractive product.

Smart and easy to use, and can be positioned vertically or horizontally

A useful little NAS box with plenty of features and a compelling price.

We were unconvinced by the orange and brown livery of Seagate’s towering desktop drive, but for the miniature version the company has toned things down. It’s still brown, but the orange glow is restricted to the front of the unit and its simple low-profile shape is far easier to like.

Several manufacturers this month have sought to distinguish their products through design. None, however, has gone so far as Seagate to challenge our expectations of an external hard disk.

An external drive that despite being a decent performer is making Walter Gropius roll in his grave as we speak.

Samsung’s new Flash disk can extend battery life and boost performance – at a price

Great performance, near-silent running and the FTP server make the Buffalo a great alternative to the Maxtor.

Seagate's Freeagent series of external drives look stunning and perform admirably.

Not the fastest or quietest here, but it does offer some unique business benefits.

Plenty of features for such a small box. If you don’t already have a wireless router, this is a fantastic choice.

One of the cheapest 500GB drives here, but this is reflected in the lack of features and slow transfer speeds.

Packed with features, and with great performance, the only disadvantages are the price and the short warranty.

Superb performance, quiet running and excellent value for home use, especially if you want to stream media.

Easy to use, and with space for a second SATA disk, but it struggles with small files and is overpriced for the features.

Not the best value, but this desktop NAS appliance offers good backup and webserver facilities.

Superior real-world transfer performance makes it a winner this month.

The miracle of pocket portable data continues, with more storage in a smaller physical space.