It may not be the first time we’ve seen a USB 3.0 compatible 2.5 external hard drive nor the first time we’ve tested one with a rather high storage capacity of 1TB ( also available in 2.5TB/2TB/500GB capacities) but the Canvio Alu is quite unique since compared to most models in the market that feature hard plastic, rubber and/or metal housings it features one made entirely out of aluminum. I’m not however just referring to looks ( it does look nice however) but to the benefits of aluminum since not only does it dissipate heat incredibly fast but it’s also very lightweight. Under the housing Toshiba has used their MQ01UBB200 2.5 SATA II ( 300) drive ( 9.5mm thick) which features a rotational speed of 5400RPM and 8MB Cache. I was somewhat surprised to see that Toshiba used a 2.5 drive with just 8MB cache and I do expect that to have a negative impact in the performance of this drive but the how much well that remains to be seen