Memorex has produced a few tidy little portable storage devices in the past, recently updating its Traveldrive range with the Ultra version, a mid-capacity mini-drive available in capacities ranging from the 80GB model on test here to the highest at 160GB. Both are based on 2.5-inch laptop drives, so the overall dimensions are pretty slim.

The Ultra is stylish as these things go, about the size of two packs of cards and finished with a black, rubber-effect grip on each side. The default grey scheme can be customised with one of two colours of interchangeable plates, supplied in the box.

On the front of the unit you'll find a cool blue light that illuminates when the drive is powered up; a purely aesthetic property that does add a touch of class. There's not a lot else: you'll find a mini-USB interface, a small LED that changes colour to notify you of the speed of the USB connection and a backup shortcut button.

Strangely, this latter is simply a way of loading the provided backup software instead of having to navigate to the shortcut in the usual way. We'd expect something a little more useful here, such as the ability to set up a default backup routine and have this button kick things off for you.

Supplied on CD you'll find ArcSoft TotalMedia Backup, a straightforward yet comprehensive set of tools that offers a number of ways to select and make copies of important files. Although you can manually select specific files or folders to add to a backup set through the advanced options, the majority of the functionality works automatically by allowing you to choose specific file types; for example photos, music or video.

The software will then scan your hard drive to locate all matching files and automatically copy them to a specified location. You can create a backup schedule, and opt for incremental backup which only includes files that have been modified since the last backup date.

There's not a lot else to it but you'll find a decent amount of information, including automatically generated backup logs, and the simple wizard-based interface makes it very easy to keep tabs on progress.

Since the supplied software is often the most variable factor when it comes to external hard drives, we were pretty pleased by the Memorex drive. Its design and portability are also appealing, and it's pretty reasonably priced as well.