Easy Data Transfer Between PCs -- With No Extra Software!

Last Gadget Standing WINNER

When Data Drive Thru submitted its Tornado data transfer gizmo for our CES Last Gadget Standing competition, I was skeptical. Its claim: Plug in a custom USB cable to two computers and you can transfer data between the two PCs without installing extra software.

Now I've used network-based sync tools many times as well as LapLink, but all of those require a little overhead. So I put the Tornado to the test.

Sure enough, you just extend the two USB cables and plug each into a PC. On one computer, the Tornado transfer system popped up on screen in a few seconds. On the other, my machine required a reboot. I plugged the Tornado cable back into it, and the transfer system popped up immediately.

Transferring files is really quite simple. The Tornado client is a lot like having two Windows Explorer windows open at once. One PC appears at the top of the screen, the other PC at the bottom. You can browse each PC completely, then just drag and drop files from one computer to another, and you can do file copies either way. Transfers are extremely quick, thanks to the USB 2.0 interface. (I'm used to doing these kind of transfers over Wi-Fi, which is dog slow in comparison.)

With the exception of that one reboot, I had zero trouble with the product. My only real complaint is the length of the cable: At about five feet long, it can be surprisingly tricky to position two computers that close together and wrangle a USB cable connection to each. An extra foot would have actually made a huge difference.

At $60, it seems like the Tornado is a little on the pricey side, but not obscenely so. Then again, considering LapLink Gold costs $130 on its web site (and a USB cable is an extra $50), it's comparatively a bargain. I like it!