Hitachi XL2000 Desk 2TB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive 0S02485 (Black) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This is a large cheap functional disk (2Tb). Yes, like many Hitachi disks it will disconnect from a Mac when the Mac powers down so as to save power but when the Mac comes out of sleep you get a little message on the screen to say that a hard disk disconnected, you click 'ok' and the disk reappears, just like with this drive's predecessor. Not a big problem in exchange for cheap bulk storage that works (I have several of these drives). Hopefully Hitachi will correct this behavior in a future firmware but it is not a show-stopper when using a Mac by any means. Perfect for bulk storage of very large files like home video etc.

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Product Description:
Solid. Ready whenever you are. With the dependable speed of USB 2.0. When you need pure storage muscle, choose a drive that makes backing up your life a little easier. Because nothing should ever get in the way your memories, movies, music and entertainment.

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LaCie Hard Disk 2 TB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive designed by Neil Poulton 301871U Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I attached this 1-TB USB external drive to my 2.8 ghtz IMac.The setup was a snap, but the included utilities wanted to take the whole drive as a single partition.I used the Mac's disk utilities, and created two partitions.This way, one partition can now be used for Time Machine (which by the way, will keep backing up until the disk is full, then begins deleting the oldest files), and another partition that is used to back up my Linux server.

The rest of the setup was fast. The Mac found the drive quickly, and so did Time Machine.The Time Machine software asked me which partition I wanted to use, and once that was decided on, Time Machine took off, and has been backing up ever since.How simple is that?

Also, most of the specs I read on this drive show a cache of 16 mb, but the drive as delivered, much to my pleasant surprise, has a cache of 32 mb.Even with the USB connection (I think firewire, which is available on some other La Cie drives, is about 15% faster), I found the file transfer time more than acceptable.I have run video from the drive with no issues.Also, I often transfer rather large photo files, and graphic images to and from the drive, and again no issues.

All that being said, for the money, the drive is hard to beat.

Click Here to see more reviews about: LaCie Hard Disk 2 TB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive designed by Neil Poulton 301871U

Product Description:
The user-friendly LaCie Hard Disk, Design by Neil Poulton adds sophisticated style to your desktop, yet its presence is quiet and unobtrusive. It has a unique distinguishing feature a blue LED strip on its underside that creates an ambient glow. Its subtle, all-black design blends perfectly into dark home entertainment setups and workstations. Very small for its vast capacity, this lightweight, compact drive has a fashionable, mirror-polished finish. The smartly engineered design allows for heat dissipation and near-silent, fanless operation. With Hi-Speed USB 2.0, this efficient external hard drive makes a great companion to your PC or Mac. Setup is nearly effortless; it's plug & play, offers customizable formatting, and comes with LaCie Backup Assistant and USB Boost. Box Content : LaCie Hard Disk, Design by Neil Poulton, USB 2.0 cable, External power supply, Quick Install Guide, LaCie Utilities (preloaded on the drive): User Manual, LaCie Backup Assistant (Windows and Mac), LaCie Setup Assistant.

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Hitachi LifeStudio Desk 2TB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive 0S02666 (Black) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Maybe for some people this would be a great external.I could see some people liking it, but not me.
First, the hard drive is more like a second computer.It will do pretty much everything, from storing your pictures and video to surfing the web.That's right the external will surf the web for you.I get that it is a cool feature, but it's not what I want when I buy an extra hard drive to store information.

Second, and this is what really did it for me and made me return it.When you search for items on the drive (pictures, music, video...) instead of searching like you might when you open the C: drive, it searches by tabs along a wall.So you scroll along the wall until you find what you want.Which in itself isn't horrible, but there is no fast way to search, if you are looking for one item, say the Beatles, if you scroll there is no way to tell you have gone to far or not far enough without continually stopping and looking.In order to be able to see the whole wall close up you can not have more than three rows.Which, once again is fine if you don't have a lot of music.As soon as you have lots of music imagine trying to scroll through a wall, while still being able to see what your doing, when you have thousands of tabs to pick through.It would take forever and defeats the point.

Finally, the only good thing, and in my opinion is also a bad thing, is that the drive is essentially a back-up of your computer.Meaning whenever it is hooked up it is backing up your computer.I found no easy way to load my music onto the hard drive without also having to load it onto my computer. Which is exactly what i didn't want to do.I don't want two exact copies of my computer hard drive, I want to keep as much free space on my computer so it runs fast and move all my music onto the hard drive.Maybe there is a way to do this, but I never figured it out, as such am returning it and am extremely disappointed.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Hitachi LifeStudio Desk 2TB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive 0S02666 (Black)

Product Description:
The LifeStudio Desk external drive gives you plenty of capacity to easily find, automatically organize, share, and protect all your digital content.

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Fantom GreenDrive 2 TB USB 2.0/eSATA Desktop External Hard Drive GD2000EU Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've now had the Fantom Green Drive for about 3 months.Wanted to use it a while and try a few different things before writing the review.Also my G5 Mac tower did not at first have an eSATA card...If you try transferring a couple hundred GB over USB 2.0, you can pretty much start it and go to work, it may be done when you return.With the MAC, the set up was seamless and with the new Tempo Sonnet eSATA card (see my other review), the transfers were lightning fast.The fanless operation had me concerned for over-heating, but I have to say after leaving it on for over 60 days now and using it daily for automatic file backup and frequent storage & retrieveal of files - esp movie files sized 50GB+, I am astonished at the performance of this drive.No perceptible heat emanating either.Read- and write-times over eSATA are still leaving me with that stupid look you get when technology is ahead of your comprehension... you don't have to like being left behind, you just have to accept it. Plus it's 'green' - apparently hard drives can consume dumploads of juice, and this one saves a few greenback saving on power consumption, which is a huge plus.I'd spent countless hours trying to find the drive with the best combination of speed, reliability and value, and I have to say I'm gloating a bit right now with the Fantom Green Drive!

Click Here to see more reviews about: Fantom GreenDrive 2 TB USB 2.0/eSATA Desktop External Hard Drive GD2000EU

Product Description:
G-Force GreenDrive line of external USB and eSATA disk drives feature the latest advances in power saving technology and ROHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive) compliant materials and process. The G-Force Green Drive gives the consumer the ability to minimize his or her carbon footprint without sacrificing performance. Fantom Drives GreenDrive USB 2.0 Hard Drives are a power conscious step forward to provide maximum capacity and performance while reducing power consumption by up to 40%. The G-Force GreenDrive USB 2.0 Hard Drive family feature sturdy aluminum casing to provide maximum durability, fanless design for silent operation, and could be placed horizontally or stand vertically to allow maximum deskspace. Fantom Drives GreenDrives yield average drive power savings of 4-5 watts over competitors' drives while maintaining solid performance. That power savings equates to reducing CO2 emission by up to 60 kilograms per drive per year - the equivalent of taking your car off the road for 14 days each year, and saving up to $14 per year in electricity costs depending on the power-on-hours.

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Western Digital My Book Essential 2 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive WDBAAF0020HBK-NESN Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This drive is embedded with Western Digital's SmartWare virtual CD that will ALWAYS and FOREVER boot to your Mac computer. This Virtual CD cannot be disabled, unmounted, removed, eradicated, or partitioned away - EVERY!!!!! It says so right on WD's website buried in the tech support area, not on the box where this kind of "don't-buy-our-product" warning belongs. Western Digital has decided to embed their Virtual CD Smartware into this drive so that you cannot, under any circumstances, disable or remove the VCD. It will forever mount this unwanted intrusion to your Mac (Windows is no better apparently) and their website essentially tells you that you can do nothing about it.

Can you tell that I am upset?!? I own seven other Western Digital hard drives and I will not own this one. Nor will I buy another in the future out of fear of getting the same results.

Like many people, I have no need for their backup or security software as I just want external drivers for pure storage. If I were to buy more of these like I had planned, My desktop would be cluttered with a bunch of meaningless virtual CDs. This intrusion may not annoy Windows users as the Virtual CDs will just clutter up your "My Computer" window; but, on a Mac this type of unalterable intrusion is beyond unacceptable. I cannot believe that Western Digital could not see the alienation of every Mac user on the planet from ten miles away on this one.

Western Digital and other drive makers have, for a while now, put their software install packages onto the external hard drives that they sell; but, it has always been just stored on the drive where it can be deleted or is removed when the drive is reformatted - at worst it was on a separate partition that could be removed. But, not with this new version (version 3?) of the My Book Essential Drives where it is embedded into the drive's hardware and cannot be deactivated. Until Western Digital rethinks their strategy and changes this practice, their hard drives should be avoided and boycotted.

(For more information, see all of the review on the 1TB version of this drive.)

UPDATE: After returning the Essentials drive, I purchased two of Western Digital's Elements External 1TB Hard Drives; Exactly what I needed in the first place... an external hard drive that is built like a tank and is only what it is supposed to be: a hard drive. No "fancy" value-added software embedded in the hardware to muck up the works on this drive. I highly recommend the Western Digital Elements external hard drives for all of your storage needs!

Click Here to see more reviews about: Western Digital My Book Essential 2 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive WDBAAF0020HBK-NESN

Product Description:

Our best-selling My Book external drive is an elegant, high-capacity storage solution for all the chapters of your digital life. Our latest edition now features visual, easy-to-use, automatic, continuous backup software and drive lock security protection. At last, beauty, brains, and simplicity together.


Elegant design.


This book-like shape takes up minimal space on your desk and allows two or more My Book drives to nestle neatly together like volumes on a shelf.


See your life safe in one place.


WD SmartWare software - Avisual control center with a single screen view of all your data. From it youcan back up, retrieve, and secure your files.


Password protection.


An extra level of securitywith passwordprotection and 256-bit hardware-based encryption.











Features at a glance

• Automatic, continous backup
• Illuminated capacity gauge
• Password protection and hardware encryption
• WD SmartWare software
• 2-years limited warranty

Smaller, sleeker, more streamlined design - We've made these award-winning drives even smaller, sleeker, and more elegant. As always, this book-like shape takes up minimal space on your desk and allows two or more My Book drives to nestle neatly together like volumes on a shelf.WD SmartWare™ - A control center for your drive that gives youthe power to:-- Protect your data automatically- Relax, your data is secure. Automatic, continuous backup will instantly make a second copy whenever you add or change a file.-- See your backup as it happens - Seeing is believing. Visual backup displays your content in categories and shows the progress of your backup.


-- Bring back lost files effortlessly- Retrieve your valuable data to its original location whether you've lost all your data or just overwritten an important file.-- Take control- Customize your backup, set drive security, run diagnostics, manage the power settings, and more from the WD SmartWare control center.Find out more about WD SmartWare™Drive lock- Gain peace of mind knowing that your data is protected from unauthorized access or theft with password protection and 256-bit hardware-based encryption.Illuminated capacity gauge - See at a glance how much space is available on your drive.USB 2.0 interface- Powered directly from the USB port on your PC. No separate power supply is needed*.
* An optional cable is available for the few computers that limit power from the USB port.


Power miser - My Book external drives are designed to save energy. WD GreenPower Technology™ lowers internal drive power consumption by up to 30%, a sleep mode reduces power during idle times, and a power-saving feature turns the drive on and off with your computer.Planet friendly- We designed a small box from recycled materials to minimize waste. We encourage you to recycle it.Ready to plug-and-play with Windows PCs- If you're a Mac user, check out our Mac version of this product.


Ideal For

• Protecting your data with automatic, continous backup
• Retrieving lost data effortlessly
• Adding extra storage space for photos, videos and music
• Securing private or sensitive data

Compatibility


Formatted NTFS
Windows® XP, Windows Vista®, Windows 7
Mac OS® X Tiger®, Leopard®, Snow Leopard™ (requires reformatting)

Note: Compatibility may vary depending on user's hardware configuration and operating system.What's in the box

External hard drive, WD SmartWare software, USB cable, AC adapter, Quick Install Guide.



Backup software you'll really use � WD SmartWare


Five great reasons to love it:


1. It's easy - Data backup can be a chore, but it's your family photos, your movies, your music - your life - and it's important to protect it. So we made this software extra easy because we really want you to use it.


2. You can see your life safe in one place -
See your content displayed in easy to understand categories like movies and photos. Watch the progress of your backup as it happens with the instant-feedback color bars. Now you can truly be sure that all your stuff is backed up.

• A unique visual interface lets you see the drives connected to your computer.
• WD SmartWare will automatically scan your computer and find all of your personal files, including e-mail.
• Content category gauges show how much information you have to be backed up in each category. You can even mouse over a category to see a file count.
• Simply click Run Backup and WD SmartWare will automatically start backing up your files.
• As your backup is running the category gauges will change color showing you the backup as it happens.
• When finished, you'll see a status screen and information about your backup. You only have to do this once. After the first backup your files will be backed up automatically every time you change or add a file.

3. It's always on the job - WD SmartWare is always watching your computer, so when you change a file and save it, create new files, add new pictures, movies, or songs, WD SmartWare will instantly back them up.


4. You can bring back lost files effortlessly - If you ever accidentally delete an important file, or need to get an earlier version of a file, you can find and retrieve it in seconds with this easy-to-use interface.

• Restore files and folders by categories – photos, music, video, for example.
• Find a lost file with the search function.
• Go back in time to retrieve an older version of a file.

5. You're in control - WD SmartWare software is also a control center for your external drives. From it you can:

• Customize your backup
• Set drive security
• Run diagnostics
• Manage the power settings, and more...

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LaCie Starck 2 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive 301889KUA Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've got a macbook running OSX 10.6 and with Windows XP on a boot camp partition, so I was able to test the drive's software under both mac and Windows.

Physically this is a nice drive. The casing is solid metal and the drive is pretty heavy. I think it should work well as a "heat sink" but unfortunately there is no fan to reduce internal temperatures. The drive looks nice, but has a funky looking faceplate. The LED is a small orange light on the bottom left of the front panel. It isn't too bright, but is also easy to see.

The drive comes formatted into a small partition and is not usable without running the mac or windows setup utility on the drive itself. There is no software CD. You can bypass the built-in utility and partition/format it manually using the mac or windows utilities, but will need to download and install the software manually from the Lacie website.

I figured most users would test the drive under Windows, so I ran the setup utility under OSX. The utility allows you to setup the drive as a single mac partition or as a split mac/windows partition. Unfortunately, it only allows you to setup the windows partition as a 32 mb FAT32 partition. This is unusual in that most other external drives can be setup as a single FAt32 partition to use their full size. In fact, most drives come pre-formatted as a single FAT32 partition.

I setup the drive with the split partitions and it did a fine job of partitioning and formatting the drive with OSX and FAT32 partitions. It installs the manuals and software on the FAT32 partition, so they can be accessed from both OSX and Windows.

I ran the drive manager under OSX and, after installing all the required software, it reported that no compatible Lacie drive could be found. This means I cannot use the gimmicky "touch sensitive" front panel to start programs under OSX. So, while the drive is very functional as an external drive for a mac, it doesn't perform the gimmick function that separates it from other drives. Since the drive is more expensive than other 1TB drives, mac users would be better off going with a cheaper drive, unless they are enamored of the funky front-panel appearance.

I rebooted into Windows and ran the disk manager utility. This time it recognized the existence of the Lacie drive and allowed me to setup the programs to be run when I touch the front panel. There are two functions available, one by a short press of the front panel and the other by a long press. To run a particular program, you can simply drag the icon into the disk manager utility. I dragged Windows Explorer into the short-press functionality and it seems to work properly. However, I don't really see the value of this functionality. I usually keep my external drives out of reach, so touching the front panel is a pain. I can more quickly locate the programs I want to run on my desktop and can click the icon to run them quicker than I can reach down and touch the front panel, even with the drive located within easy reach. Also, the ability to assign only two functions limits the value of the "touch panel" capability.

So, while it works with Windows, it is still a gimmicky function that has a very limited usefulness. Since the drive is more expensive than other 1TB drives (such as the Western Digital Elements drive) most Windows users would also be better off going with a cheaper drive option. This isn't a bad drive, it just isn't anything special.

Additional notes:

1. The drive has a mini USB connector on the back so you cannot use standard USB cables.

2. I did finally get the disk manager software to work on the mac, but again, it is pretty useless for my purposes.

3. While I was able to uninstall the software on the Windows side, I cannot find out how to get rid of the parts it installed on the mac, except the main utility program in the Applications folder.

Click Here to see more reviews about: LaCie Starck 2 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive 301889KUA

Product Description:
Encased in sturdy aluminum, the LaCie Starck Desktop Hard Drive offer the most robust choices for consumer hard drives on the market. The durable exterior protects the hard drives from shock and overheating, making them thoroughly dependable. The LaCie Starck Desktop Hard Drive features a status LED in the form of Starck's signature symbol. The symbol glows orange or green to indicate different activity. The LaCie Starck Mobile Hard Drive offers a built-in USB cable, uniquely placed for convenient storing and data accessibility. Complementing Starck's design philosophy is a touch-sensitive surface to open any application with the touch of a finger. The LaCie Starck Hard Drives come standard with the versatile USB 2.0 interface. In addition, the range comes with one of the most comprehensive software bundles on the market including LaCie Backup Assistant and LaCie Desktop Manager for formatting, back up and customization.

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Western Digital My Book Essential 2 TB USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive WDBACW0020HBK-NESN Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)First, the packaging.Western Digital (WD) does an impressive job of securely packaging this hard drive with a minimal amount of waste. There's no unnecessary plastic or cardboard.

This 2 TB drive has to be plugged into the wall socket as well as powered with a USB cable. One of my major complaints about electronics products are the ridiculously short power cables. This My Book Essential External Hard Drive has an impressively long power cable - which is a plus for any experienced tech user. WD figures the customer is smart enough not to accidentally strangle themselves with a long power cord. So many products I buy have a cord that is so short as to make the item almost unusable. 5 stars to WD for trusting the intelligence of the buyers of their products.

Here are the results I obtained after testing out this drive:

The drive did not have to be formatted before I used it. It worked with my Windows XP-based computer right out of the box.

It took approximately 70 minutes to copy 35 GB of data from my old external drive to this one. This is impressively fast. The manufacturer claims it should take seven minutes and 42 seconds to copy 2000 standard MP3 songs onto the hard drive. These times are using the standard USB 2.0 technology. The drive is also designed to accommodate USB 3.0.

I didn't check out or try to install the backup software or the other extras that came with the product - these installation files are located already copied onto the drive. Another 5 stars to WD for not forcing this software onto the computer user with an automatic installation setup. My impression is that WD trusts the intelligence of the consumer to make their own decisions about how to best use the product. A toll-free international help line is available for anyone who does need some assistance with the installation of the hard drive.

The outside of the package mentions that the data on this drive is capable of being secured with a password and also comes with a 2-year limited warranty.There's almost no product literature included inside the package - only a small fold-out booklet which refers the customer to the company's website for a user manual.

A drive with this many features should probably come with more basic literature inside the box - such as, there is a physical cable lock port option - you can secure this drive with some kind of an external lock (the locking device isn't included with the drive) and there are no other clues inside or outside the package to explain this security option.

So this drive was easy to install right out of the box and it worked without any difficulties or technical headaches. I would definitely recommend this product.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Western Digital My Book Essential 2 TB USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive WDBACW0020HBK-NESN

Product Description:
2.0TB My Book Essential 3.0.Put your digital life on the sleek, high capacity My Book Essential external hard drive. With WD quality and USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 connectivity, this drive is designed for today with tomorrow in mind.Visual backup software and password protection with hardware encryption ensure your data is protected. Lightweight and easy to carry, this drive is ideal for fast storage to go.

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Western Digital My Book Elite 2 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive WDBAAH0020HCH-NESN Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This drive is primarily for backups - it has a simple, almost one-click backup program (WD-Smartware) and a really unique "E-Label" that uses the same technology as the Amazon Kindle. Note: The power does NOT have to be on, and the unit does NOT need to be plugged in for the label to be visible! It's a really handy feature - I have a LOT of externals, and it's much nicer and more permanent than post-it notes!You only have 12 characters, but with some creativity you can say a lot.

It also automatically displays free space with text and a capacity bar.

Backup software:

- Automatically backs up files when changed or added
- Simple interface
- Uses 112,500 K of system memory on my computer while backup is running, and 18%-45% of the CPU

Ideally a complete/initial backup should be run when the PC is not in use. This is true of ANY backup software. When it spikes the CPU at 45%, it slows things down considerably. Again, only a consideration while doing a large backup.

It's an external drive, not brain science or rocket surgery.

It's also VERY quiet and runs reasonably cool - after constant writing for 5 hours it's only slightly warm to the touch.

What I don't like:

The ONLY way to label the drive is to install the backup software.This is the main reason I did not give the drive 5 stars.WD makes it a pain to use the coolest feature of the drive.

Initial install is not intuitive. You'll see two new devices: the drive and a virtual CD drive. The virtual drive contains the software.An update allows you hide the virtual drive, BUT this also eliminates the ability to wun the software.Oh my XP system it autoinstalled. On my Windows 7 the install did not run. Running the installer manually generated an error.I downloaded the update and ran that - the update is actually a complete install, and that ran just fine in Windows 7.But for the non-technical this could be a pain.Newer models should have the updates software so this should not be an issue in early 2010.

If you only plan on using this as an external drive, none of this is a big deal - but you're probably looking at this because of the E-Label. My bet is that WD will make a small app available to edit the E-Label.

It's one of those really cool tech toys no geek should be without.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Western Digital My Book Elite 2 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive WDBAAH0020HCH-NESN

Product Description:
Premium backup and storage.
My Book Elite is now smarter and sleeker than ever featuring a customizable e-label, automatic, continuous backup, and a new smaller size to fit snugly on your shelf or desktop.
The best-selling My Book Elite external USB drive now features a customizable e-label to identify what's on your drive, visual automatic, continuous backup software and drive lock security protection. The new sleeker design brings beauty and brains together.
Smart display - Create your own personalized drive label to remind you of what's stored on each drive. You can even view the label when the drive is unplugged. The display also includes available capacity and security status.
Smaller, sleeker, more streamlined design - We've made these award-winning drives even smaller, sleeker, and more elegant. As always, this book-like shape takes up minimal space on your desk and allows two or more My Book drives to nestle neatly together like volumes on a shelf.
WD SmartWare - See your life safe in one place.

See your backup as it happens - Seeing is believing. Visual backup displays your content in categories and shows the progress of your backup.

Protect your data automatically - Relax, your data is secure. Automatic, continuous backup will instantly make a second copy whenever you add or change a file.

Bring back lost files effortlessly - Retrieve your valuable data to its original location whether you've lost all your data or just overwritten an important file.

Take control - Customize your backup, set drive security, run diagnostics, manage the power settings, and more from the WD SmartWare control center.

Drive lock - Gain peace of mind knowing that your data is protected from unauthorized access or theft with password protection and 256-bit hardware-based encryption.
USB 2.0 interface - A simple connection that offers convenience and compatibility am

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Western Digital My Book Elite 2 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive WDBAAH0020HCH-NESN Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)This drive is primarily for backups - it has a simple, almost one-click backup program (WD-Smartware) and a really unique "E-Label" that uses the same technology as the Amazon Kindle. Note: The power does NOT have to be on, and the unit does NOT need to be plugged in for the label to be visible! It's a really handy feature - I have a LOT of externals, and it's much nicer and more permanent than post-it notes!You only have 12 characters, but with some creativity you can say a lot.

It also automatically displays free space with text and a capacity bar.

Backup software:

- Automatically backs up files when changed or added
- Simple interface
- Uses 112,500 K of system memory on my computer while backup is running, and 18%-45% of the CPU

Ideally a complete/initial backup should be run when the PC is not in use. This is true of ANY backup software. When it spikes the CPU at 45%, it slows things down considerably. Again, only a consideration while doing a large backup.

It's an external drive, not brain science or rocket surgery.

It's also VERY quiet and runs reasonably cool - after constant writing for 5 hours it's only slightly warm to the touch.

What I don't like:

The ONLY way to label the drive is to install the backup software.This is the main reason I did not give the drive 5 stars.WD makes it a pain to use the coolest feature of the drive.

Initial install is not intuitive. You'll see two new devices: the drive and a virtual CD drive. The virtual drive contains the software.An update allows you hide the virtual drive, BUT this also eliminates the ability to wun the software.Oh my XP system it autoinstalled. On my Windows 7 the install did not run. Running the installer manually generated an error.I downloaded the update and ran that - the update is actually a complete install, and that ran just fine in Windows 7.But for the non-technical this could be a pain.Newer models should have the updates software so this should not be an issue in early 2010.

If you only plan on using this as an external drive, none of this is a big deal - but you're probably looking at this because of the E-Label. My bet is that WD will make a small app available to edit the E-Label.

It's one of those really cool tech toys no geek should be without.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Western Digital My Book Elite 2 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive WDBAAH0020HCH-NESN

Product Description:
Premium backup and storage.
My Book Elite is now smarter and sleeker than ever featuring a customizable e-label, automatic, continuous backup, and a new smaller size to fit snugly on your shelf or desktop.
The best-selling My Book Elite external USB drive now features a customizable e-label to identify what's on your drive, visual automatic, continuous backup software and drive lock security protection. The new sleeker design brings beauty and brains together.
Smart display - Create your own personalized drive label to remind you of what's stored on each drive. You can even view the label when the drive is unplugged. The display also includes available capacity and security status.
Smaller, sleeker, more streamlined design - We've made these award-winning drives even smaller, sleeker, and more elegant. As always, this book-like shape takes up minimal space on your desk and allows two or more My Book drives to nestle neatly together like volumes on a shelf.
WD SmartWare - See your life safe in one place.

See your backup as it happens - Seeing is believing. Visual backup displays your content in categories and shows the progress of your backup.

Protect your data automatically - Relax, your data is secure. Automatic, continuous backup will instantly make a second copy whenever you add or change a file.

Bring back lost files effortlessly - Retrieve your valuable data to its original location whether you've lost all your data or just overwritten an important file.

Take control - Customize your backup, set drive security, run diagnostics, manage the power settings, and more from the WD SmartWare control center.

Drive lock - Gain peace of mind knowing that your data is protected from unauthorized access or theft with password protection and 256-bit hardware-based encryption.
USB 2.0 interface - A simple connection that offers convenience and compatibility am

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Western Digital WD Elements 2 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive WDBAAU0020HBK-NESN Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I work for Computing support at Arizona State University, and I have enough technical knowledge to be certified as a TECH JUNKIE :).

I am a photographer too, so I have tons of Photos (about 160GB), Videos, Software, Movies and Documentaries. I was looking for a simple external hard drive without any backup software included, I am smart enough to do manual incremental backups with file tree structure intact (I use GOODSYNC to backup, its very simple and easy to use and free).

I have looked at many many external HDDs and narrowed down to two models "Samsung Story 1TB - very good one too" and this one (I wanted it to be cheap too - got this for $85 on [...]). I did not go with other WD models because of their annoying Backup Software.

Coming to the WD Elements 1TB: Its much smaller than I expected. It is dead silent, I had to touch it to convince myself that it was running, when I first turned it on. Its not too heavy either. The indicator light is placed at the rear, which is a very good thing (I find these LED's annoying, especially at night).

After I did the first setup, I copied 383GB of data (931GB was total space). It took about 4hr 47min, speed varied between 20MBps to 37MBps. This is pretty good speed for USB 2.0. It was just a bit warm (my old segate hard drive would be very very hot for this amount of data transfer).

I would recommend it to beginners or pros alike. I am very happy with this purchase!UPDATE:

After about three months of heavy usage, it never gave up on me. Its still dead silent and works flawlessly. It never got even warm!!

Follow these steps to get GOODSYNC for FREE:

In the beginning GOODSYNC was free, later they made a paid version as it gained popularity..

but there is a way to get PRO version for free...

1. go to good sync website
2. signup for a trial offer and you get PRO serial for free (I signed up for eMusic trial)
3. Once you get the serial, end the subscription before the trial expires...

NOTE: The above mentioned procedure may not work anymore:(

UPDATE: 07-28-2010

I sold my WD Elements 1TB and got a 2TB one a couple of months ago(as my data is on rise all the time), couldn't be happier :)
I bought it from TigerDirect for [ ... ] and got [ ... ] cashback via [ ... ] ...awesome!!

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Product Description:
2TB WD Elements USB 2.0 Ext desktop External Hard Drive

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LaCie 2big Quadra 2 TB 2-Disk RAID Hard Drive 301352U Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I bought this drive to replace a Maxtor 2-disk RAID drive that recently stopped working after one of the disks failed.The RAID did it's job though - I was able to recover all the data from the good disk after I had to take apart the enclosure to remove it.This new drive has quite a few advantages over my old Maxtor.In addition to more disk space, it has a fast eSATA interface, a cool "mixed" RAID mode that gives you one "safe" partition and one "big" partition if you don't want to use the whole drive in "safe" (mirrored) mode, and removable drives so I don't have to take the whole thing apart (and replace the unit) if one of the drives fails.The "auto" power on/off mode is also very nice if you use the USB connection.The enclosure itself looks very nice and is built very solid (in a good way).Both the fan and the drives themselves (Hitachi in mine) are definitely on the noisy side at times, but I'm hoping the extra airflow will help the drives last longer than the Maxtor.The printed "manual" is also extremely short and unhelpful, but I didn't have any problems setting up the drive on my PC (I am a computer professional).

Click Here to see more reviews about: LaCie 2big Quadra 2 TB 2-Disk RAID Hard Drive 301352U

Product Description:
The LaCie 2big quadruple interface professional 2-disk RAID delivers fast speed, large capacity and data security. With eSATA 3Gbits, FireWire 800, FireWire 400 & Hi-Speed USB 2.0, it provides complete universal compatibility with any PC or Mac. The easy-to-use 2big Quadra comes with two extractable, lockable and hot-swappable disks for a user-controlled solution. With four RAID levels, it meets your storage needs, whether it-s security, capacity, speed or a combination. With burst transfer rates as high as 165MB/s** (eSATA), it-s ideal for audio/video projects (DV and SD video playback or 2D/3D imaging). The sturdy heat sink metal design provides 60% more surface area for natural heat dissipation. The 2big Quadra comes with Genie Backup Manager Pro software with disaster recovery for Windows users and Intego Backup Manager Pro software with disaster recovery for Mac users. It also features Triple Power Management and the LaCie Shortcut Button, which can launch any application you choose in one push. Box Contents: LaCie 2big Quadra, eSATA-to-eSATA (3Gbits) cable, FireWire 800 (9-to-9 pin) cable, FireWire 400 (6-to-6 pin) cable, Hi-Speed USB 2.0 cable, Power supply kit, Quick Install Guide, LaCie Utilities and User Manual on CD-ROM. System Requirements: eSATA, FireWire 800, FireWire 400 or USB ports, Windows 2000/XP or Vista, Mac OS X 10.3 or higher, Minimum free disk space: 600 MB recommended

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LaCie 2big Quadra 2 TB 2-Disk RAID Hard Drive 301352U Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I bought this drive to replace a Maxtor 2-disk RAID drive that recently stopped working after one of the disks failed.The RAID did it's job though - I was able to recover all the data from the good disk after I had to take apart the enclosure to remove it.This new drive has quite a few advantages over my old Maxtor.In addition to more disk space, it has a fast eSATA interface, a cool "mixed" RAID mode that gives you one "safe" partition and one "big" partition if you don't want to use the whole drive in "safe" (mirrored) mode, and removable drives so I don't have to take the whole thing apart (and replace the unit) if one of the drives fails.The "auto" power on/off mode is also very nice if you use the USB connection.The enclosure itself looks very nice and is built very solid (in a good way).Both the fan and the drives themselves (Hitachi in mine) are definitely on the noisy side at times, but I'm hoping the extra airflow will help the drives last longer than the Maxtor.The printed "manual" is also extremely short and unhelpful, but I didn't have any problems setting up the drive on my PC (I am a computer professional).

Click Here to see more reviews about: LaCie 2big Quadra 2 TB 2-Disk RAID Hard Drive 301352U

Product Description:
The LaCie 2big quadruple interface professional 2-disk RAID delivers fast speed, large capacity and data security. With eSATA 3Gbits, FireWire 800, FireWire 400 & Hi-Speed USB 2.0, it provides complete universal compatibility with any PC or Mac. The easy-to-use 2big Quadra comes with two extractable, lockable and hot-swappable disks for a user-controlled solution. With four RAID levels, it meets your storage needs, whether it-s security, capacity, speed or a combination. With burst transfer rates as high as 165MB/s** (eSATA), it-s ideal for audio/video projects (DV and SD video playback or 2D/3D imaging). The sturdy heat sink metal design provides 60% more surface area for natural heat dissipation. The 2big Quadra comes with Genie Backup Manager Pro software with disaster recovery for Windows users and Intego Backup Manager Pro software with disaster recovery for Mac users. It also features Triple Power Management and the LaCie Shortcut Button, which can launch any application you choose in one push. Box Contents: LaCie 2big Quadra, eSATA-to-eSATA (3Gbits) cable, FireWire 800 (9-to-9 pin) cable, FireWire 400 (6-to-6 pin) cable, Hi-Speed USB 2.0 cable, Power supply kit, Quick Install Guide, LaCie Utilities and User Manual on CD-ROM. System Requirements: eSATA, FireWire 800, FireWire 400 or USB ports, Windows 2000/XP or Vista, Mac OS X 10.3 or higher, Minimum free disk space: 600 MB recommended

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