Cavalry CAXB 2TB USB 2.0 / eSATA Black External Hard Drive CAXB3702T3

Pros: Price, performance, packaging

Cons: Seagate drive, mechanical issues, longevity

Other Thoughts: Great drive with good transfer rates via eSATA. Overall, it's performed well. Unfortunately, the mechanical components were lould from the beginning and now it sounds like the actuator is getting ready to die. The spindle was always lould when it spun up, but now it's REALLY loud. As long as the drive stays spun up, it seems to be fine, but I cross my fingers every time I need to boot the system. My last Seagate lasted over 6 years. What happened to the quality of drives?

Pros: * No-hassle Plug and Play with DirecTV HR20 DVR
* Storage for the Price
* Quiet

Cons: * Does not come with an eSATA cable

Other Thoughts: Despite opportunities to upgrade my DVR in favor of a model with more storage, I've resisted doing so because of articles I've read asserting that my HR20 is compatible with the widest array of eSATA drives on the market.

Sure enough, all I had to do was plug this in, turn it on and reboot my DVR and within minutes, I have two terabytes of available storage.

Pros: This is my 6th Cavalry drive but the first 2TB from them (the others are all 1TB). No problems with the drives after 2.5 years of light to medium use.

The 2TB I received has a HITACHI Deskstar 7K2000 inside. This HD is fast and quiet. I use the eSATA connector with a little utility called Hotswap! - it allows disconnecting an eSATA drive just like USB's "Safely Remove Hardware" option.

Cons: This 2TB drive seems to run considerably hotter than the 1TB ones from Cavalry. With an ambient temperature of 72F, the drive idles around 46C (114F). Feel quite warm to the touch compared to the 1TB ones that are barely warm to the touch even after extended use.

Other Thoughts: I'm sold on Cavalry external drives for my backup needs.
Definitely won't hesitate to buy another (as soon as the space on this monster runs out!)

About software - it doesn't come with any. But that's exactly how I want it - an NTFS preformatted drive with absolutely nothing on it (no pre-installed junk), and ready to go the moment I plug it in!

Pros: Good Drive, Runs Quickly and loads quickly.

Cons: Loud and Noisy when Browsing Folders.

Other Thoughts: When I purchased this Harddrive it was supposed to come with info on the Mail-in Rebate of $20, However after Opening the Box there was NO info on the Mail-in Rebate.

Also My eSATA doesn't work. I believe this is not the Drive's fault, but rather the card's Fault. When I have the eSATA Connected the Whole System Destabilizes and shuts down, and after This I have found that my Computer does not run as smoothly as it used to Prior to turning on the eSATA card.
Again all in all this Drive is Good but not what I was Hoping for or expecting.

Pros: It was a 2TB external with an eSATA interface for less than $130 (at the time) after rebate. Cavalry paid their rebate, too. I was a bit wary of getting something other than the Fantom drives, but for regular backup, this has been reliable and without problems. I also have additionally put video and other drive backup data on the same unit with no problems. It gets a little warm but it's pretty silent.

Cons: You could land aircraft using that front LED. The thing's bright. There's also (as others note) no "sleep/resume" mode that I can see. I have to physically turn the drive on and off before and after my machine.

Other Thoughts: Thinking about buying a second one for home.

Pros: It wasn't DOA. Feels better constructed than other Cavalry drives I've used. eSATA proves to be quick. Drive came void of useless bloatware and has worked with all backup programs I like using.

Cons: 1 con that kept it from 5 star and 1 con that was just me.

The AC adapter is hideiously long. It's a large rectangle in and of itself and covers 1 and a half (may as well be 2) plugs on my adapter. It's also a bit wide so even the side facing power strip loses a plug. Seems kind of pointless.

And it's heavier than I was anticipating so it will sit at home and just store back up images.

Other Thoughts: Don't expect any Cavalry drive to be plugged in 24/7. They heat up a bit and usually feel flimsy anyway. This is a more solid body constructed item and there's no hum or anything while it spins so that may not be the case. I'll update this in a couple months.

Pros: Best external hard drive I have seen. Have 3 and have had them for over a year and nothing has gone wrong with them whatsoever.

Cons: No Cons at all

Pros: Quiet, no fan, doesn't get more than warm, slim high quality enclosure, eSata is roughly 3 times faster than USB 2.0. Mine has a Seagate ST3200054AS drive in it and even when doing heavy seeks it's barely audible.

Cons: Knocked an egg off because it doesn't sleep. Even when you put the PC to sleep if the USB port is still powered, the drive spins forever. It also doesn't come with software which some might miss.

Other Thoughts: A nice drive. eSata speed is close to 100 MB/sec vs 30 MB/sec for USB 2.0. Big 2 TB drives seem to have more reliability issues than smaller drives. It's always been true the highest capacity drives are typically less reliable. So that might explain some of the failures others have posted. Seagate seems to be doing roughly as good of job as other 2 TB manufactures lately. The free software you get on some other external drives usually isn't worth much as it's often barely functional, buggy, and/or a "light" trialware version that nags you to buy the upgrade.

Pros: Very quiet, doesn't get more than mildly warm, no noisy fan to wear out in 3 months, as fast as any USB 2.0 drive (around 30 MB/sec). Doesn't come with a bunch of half baked software.

Cons: Doesn't seem to ever spin down and go to sleep unless you turn the PC off. So it loses an egg for that. Most newer external drives will sleep at least when the PC does, if not even from lack of use. Not USB 3.0 (but few have USB 3.0 ports). Some might want the free backup software other companies give you but in my experience you're not missing much.

Other Thoughts: Not sure what drive is in mine. It has a "warranty void if removed" sticker and it doesn't report the brand of drive in any utilities I have tried or in the Device Manager. The lack of included software isn't a huge deal. Most included software from other brands is usually either barely functional, buggy, or it's some light "trialware" version that's always prompting you to upgrade.

Pros: worked pretty well right up until a couple weeks after i reviewed it.

Cons: one of my two drives died after 5 months of packing with bluray images. losing one of my two drives after just 5 months represents an immediate loss of over three hundred dollars to me and i still have to replace the drive as well and i will have to start all over with ripping movies... this has caused a huge amount of undue exspense frustration and work in my life...

Other Thoughts: the second drive continues to work after about 9 months but now i don't trust it as far as i can throw it...