TOSHIBA 2TB USB 2.0 / eSATA 3.5" External Hard Drive PH3200U-1EXB Black

Pros: Looked nice, felt sturdy

Cons: DOA

Pros: High capacity, compact form factor, reasonable transfer speed (via USB), appears to be reliable and stable

Cons: Garbage included back-up software auto-installs without asking, turns itself completely off when idle, has a power switch (why???)

Other Thoughts: Seems to work reliably when it's on. When idle for a few minutes, the drive turns itself off - it doesn't enter a low-power sleep mode, but actually *turns off* thus disappearing completely from the computer system. The only way to get it back up and running is to reach over and hit the power switch inconveniently placed on the back of the device. I can tolerate this behavior since I'm only using it as archival backup, if I had to use it as a normal storage device, it would have flown through the window by now. (Note: I believe I purchased a new unit, not refurbished. Hard drives are just too delicate to waste time and money on refurbished units.)

Pros: Good capacity, fast transfer. When it's actually on, that is.

Cons: Will enter sleep mode in a strange way so that it may take over a minute to wake up. It also has a tendency to power down completely when not used for several minutes. Useless backup software on a virtual CD installs itself without asking.

Other Thoughts: If I were trying to use this for anything other than mass backup of files it would have been returned almost immediately. As it is, it's barely tolerable. And finally, why is there a power button on an external hard drive? If I wanted the thing to be turned off, I would disconnect it. (Note: This drive was purchased as a new unit, not recertified.)

Pros: I expect a hard drive to store data and thats about it. It did this for a little while.

Cons: I recently noticed that lots of data on the drive is corrupt. If I copy a large file to the drive and then off again, there is consistent corruption of the data ... The warranty was only for 1 month so I've just gotta eat the cost

Pros: good until it broke, running high end blue ray rips with no problem

Cons: it already broke

Pros: It was a great price.

Cons: It just wouldn't work. It turns on, but it won't register to my pc and the one time it actually did, it wouldn't allow me to format it to get it working. Even contacted Toshiba tech support and allowed them to take over and they couldn't get it to work. Bought it re-certified, so I didn't expect it to be the best, but I expected it to work.

Pros: Great drive, once you remove Toshiba's garbage virtual drive and such. Great price, as well.

Cons: Virtual CD drive and sleep function. It's easily fixed, though. On Toshiba's website, you can find Toshiba drive converter 1.10.exe which completely removes those annoyances. It does reformat the drive, however.

Other Thoughts: I ordered two of these, one had to be RMA'd because of a faulty AC Adapter. Newegg got it taken care of quickly without any hassle. The drives are functioning perfectly, I've been paranoid about checking for read/write errors. There haven't been any.

Pros: Easy plug and play for my laptop. Runs fast, does it's job.

Cons: -

Pros: This drive does what it advertises: Transfers data at SATA speeds. Real transfer rates are roughly 5-6 times faster than USB 2.0 - I have 2 drives and haven't had any problems with either going on 6 months now. Drive is also very quiet compared to most externals. Haven't used the included software.

Activity light seems just right for me - doesn't blow you away in a darkened room. Also has USB 2.0 connection.

Cons: - eSata cable not included. But you can pick one up for $4-5 online.

Other Thoughts: - You'll need an eSata connection to make full use of this drive's speed. If your machine doesn't have one built in you can purchase an adapter card for around $15-20 that fits into a PCIe 1x slot (you know, that tiny slot that's sitting empty?).

- I also tried out a USB 3.0 drive/adapter card, which is theoretically faster. But I got a little better transfer rate out of this drive..my guess is due to lack of overhead/translation (motherboard just sees it as another ATA drive).

Pros: Large capacity, affordable, and does not take up much space. Furthermore it has a convenient on/off button on the back.

Cons: I do not know if it is the eSATA port, drivers, or what, but this drive sometimes fails to be recognized.

Other Thoughts: Intio Chip Utility for Vendor software??? installed on my PC. I am researching if it is Kosher to remove. Also, software is sketchy because the firmware uninstaller is completely misspelled (pathetic) exact spelling is "Uninstall TOSHIBA FirmwrareUpdrade v1.03" I am skeptical of any product that has employees who do not use spell-check or a decent translation protocol.