Ralph Belance uses a Maxtor OneTouch 4 Mini drive to import his work between computers.

As a film student and an intern at a Hollywood studio, Ralph Belance keeps a close eye on his budget while trying to launch a career in a tough business. Like many students, Belance drives a high-mileage car and lives with a roommate to help keep a lid on expenses.

And while he doesn’t yet own a high-end computer for handling multimedia work, Belance has the next best thing: a portable hard drive from Seagate that allows him to carry loads of data—documents, video, photos, music and more—and transfer all of his files to a PC or Mac at school.

Belance, who studies media production at American InterContinental University’s Los Angeles campus, uses a 160-GB Maxtor® OneTouch® 4 Mini hard drive that he says gives him “a new sense of freedom.”

The OneTouch 4 Mini drive automatically syncs files between computers so that the latest data is always available. The drive also offers two levels of password-protected encryption security to keep valuable contents from falling into the wrong hands.

Big Storage, Small Drive

But what's most impressive for Belance is how much the sleek OneTouch 4 Mini drive can store in its 6-ounce package: up to 160 hours of digital video or more than 51,000 photos. 

“This drive has been a tremendous help,” says Belance, 22. “In the past, I had to hope that no one was using the computer I’d usually work on at school. And then I’d worry about losing all my work if there was a system crash. But with the Mini, I’m not limited to using the same computer—and I’m not worried about having my files deleted if the school has to reboot the computers.”

Prior to purchasing the OneTouch 4 Mini drive, Belance made do with a 4-GB USB flash drive. While he liked the tiny form factor of flash, Belance soon learned how limited the technology was for his work.

“It was useless when it came to working with big video footage,” he says. “The Mini has enough gigs so I can import all my work between computers, and it's very portable, too. There's no inconvenience at all to carrying it around with me. This hard drive is just one little thing that helps me maneuver through my day with less friction.”

Belance also appreciated the OneTouch 4 Mini drive’s easy setup process. “I’m not much of a technical guy when it comes to computers,” he admits. “The software that came with the drive couldn’t have been simpler. I just plugged it in and the drive pretty much installed itself. All I had to do was follow the instructions that popped up on screen. It was a piece of cake.” That's the kind of customer testimonial Seagate exec Jon Van Bronkhorst likes to hear.

Easy-to-Use Solutions

“We design all our products to be simple to use, while providing valuable tools for data protection and peace of mind,” says Van Bronkhorst, executive director of product marketing for Seagate. “We want to ensure that every customer has an experience like Ralph’s. Life has been made more complicated by the amount of information that we need to access, wherever we are. Our solutions at Seagate help everyone deal with these complications.”

Belance, who also works as an intern in the marketing department at Fox Atomic Studios, a division of 20th Century Fox, mainly keeps storage-hungry film projects from his classes on the OneTouch 4 Mini drive. That content includes clips that he uses for his editing and audio classes. But as a budding director, Belance also uses the drive to safeguard a film script he’s written—or make that “multiple revisions” of his script.

“One thing I’ve learned is that writing a script is like ironing a shirt,” Belance explains. “You have to keep reworking the script to get all the wrinkles out—and hopefully make everything fit together as a seamless piece.”

Despite his age, Belance already shows a veteran’s savvy when it comes to his chosen profession—and what it takes to succeed.

“I’m well aware of how hard of a task this will be,” he says. “I’m trying to learn and absorb every aspect of film that I possibly can. This is a business. The studios want to make a profit, and they’re looking for good stories they can sell to an audience. No matter how good your film might be, no one’s going to see it if you can’t market it properly.”