Turn any USB drive or your iPod into a backup device. Backs up your iPod too.
Price: £64.99, EU €79.99, US$79.99 (Windows and Mac compatible)
A year ago we reviewed a compact USB hard drive with a difference, from a company called Clickfree. The difference was that when you attached the drive to the USB port of the computer, its Plug and Play feature loaded the backup software from the drive and automatically commenced the backup procedure, hence the name 'Clickfree'. This time we have a variation on the theme from Clickfree; the Transformer SE Special Edition). You aren't buying a drive, but a dongle that turns almost any USB drive into a Clickfree backup drive. Not only that, the Transformer SE can also download songs and videos from your iPod.
Incidentally, a new version of the Transformer, called the Transformer NE (Network Edition) can back up computers across a local area network and although we haven't yet tested it, claims not to require networking skills.It costs about a quarter more than the SE version.
Above you can see the Clickfree Transformer SE plugged into a laptop USB port and, in turn, an iPod Touch connected to the pass-through USB port of the Transformer SE device.
The Clickfree Transformer SE is a USB dongle that contains the software and USB Plug and Play circuitry that you would find in one of Clickfree's USB backup drives. When an ordinary USB drive, be it a USB memory pen/stick/key, or an actual hard drive, is connected to the USB port on the Transformer SE, and then connected to a computer with the Transformer's own USB plug, the combination behaves just like a Clickfree backup drive. The Clickfree system automatically finds and copies all your documents, photos, and other media files, but does not perform an entire backup including operating and application files. Clickfree's offering is not photographer-specific, but photographers will undoubtedly benefit from such a solution.
As a bonus for iPod users, the Transformer SE also has an option that enables you to backup your iPod music, photos, and videos to a PC. This is very handy, especially when moving your music collection to a new PC or an extra PC. It's fast and effective, too. This might raise alarm bells concerning piracy issues, and there is some concern about that, but Clickfree do point out that all Transformer SE is doing is copying files and if you bought music, for example, from iTunes, then Digital Rights Management protection will probably only allow such files to be played on a properly licensed PC and iPod.
Below is a pictorial guide to the process of using the Clickfree Transformer SE to backup your iPod (click on the picture to see a bigger view):
When the Transformer dongle is plugged into the USB port of your computer this is the initial message (above).
Once the connected drive has been detected, there is a count down, in seconds, to when the backup will commence automatically. With the Transformer SE you can click on the options button to modify your preferences, or click on the Import Music button if the backup drive happens to be an iPod.
If you choose the iPod music option you have the choice of downloading a single file, a selection of files, even play lists, or the whole collection.
Once you have decided what to download, and where to download it to, then started the download, you get this progress window.
And this is the screen confirming that everything has been completed.
It should be pointed out that an iPod can also function as a backup drive for your computer's files.
After a Clickfree installation is initially completed, it will remind you when subsequent backups are required.
As Clickfree doesn't do an entire OS and applications backup, it's sensible to use something else, like Acronis TrueImage, to create a system backup before starting to use the Clickfree solution, but there is no doubt that the Clickfree backup procedure is more appealing to use, and therefore more likely to be used than many other backup solutions. If you can't be bothered to do backups because the solution is clunky, then you will put yourself at risk. That's less likely with Clickfree.
I really like the Clickfree product and, especially, the ability to turn any USB drive - even an iPod - into a backup solution like this. But there is a caveat, and that's the price. For the Clickfree Transformer SE's £65 price, in the UK, you could buy a 500GB pocket USB drive bundled with less elegant backup software. A smaller 250GB Clickfree backup drive is priced at £89.99, so the premium for the Clickfree functionality is clear, and it seems quite large for the Transformer SE. Ignoring the cost issue, the Clickfree Transformer is a clever product, especially for iPod (and iPhone) users.
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