Fantom Drives 500GB USB 2.0 / eSATA GreenDrive External Hard Drive GD500EU

Pros: Quiet, reliable, easy to install and use. Will also work with USB2 ports and not require sacrificing one of the 3 ports.

Cons: well, it does take a sec or two to wake up but that is to be expected with a "green" drive. That is the only con I can think of, honestly.

Other Thoughts: This drive has been working for me for over 3 yrs. It was subjected to plaster and insulation dust for over 2 yrs and just keeps working. Yes, you have to wait a sec or 2 for it to come awake but that's why it's labeled "green". I love it and am afraid to try another brand. I own cats, live in a house with no air filter on the furnace and it keeps running. There are lemons in every product. It took me 3 tries to get an Asus motherboard that worked. They just had a bad batch.

Pros: non

Cons: Purchase this drive to replace a USB drive used for backups causing backups to take forever. Installed the following adapter on the Windows 2003 system:
SYBA SD-SATA-1E1I PCI SATA Controller Card
This card completely supports the eSATA interface speeds. The OS discovered the PCI card and we installed the drivers but even after different reboot scenarios to see the drive Windows would not recognize the drive. Spent 3 hours trying to get the drive to work but no luck.

Pros: Use this as a unsupported time capsule hooked to my airport extreme, is "on" 24/7 , been using for a year. Fast and reliable. Drive spins down and sleeps after about 10 mins of no activity.

Cons: None yet.

Other Thoughts: Need to buy me a few more.

Pros: The drive came in a perfectly working state. At the time the price was good as well (about the same as it is priced today). Quiet and Cool. I have used it extensively on BOTH USB and eSATA they are both good eSATA is fast!

Cons: The green leave design on one side was unusually fragile. Little parts of the "branches" came off with in the first week! this made me kinda sad because the design on the side was one reason I chose the drive, it looked awesome! That is why I took off one egg.

Other Thoughts: Like many people have said I didn't receive my rebate. I didn't know about it at first it took my like 6 months to figure it out. When I relized what had happened I emailed Fantom and the Imediatly sent a check to my house!! Awesome, that made me happy (no eggs removed)

So if you want a functional drive this one is great

Manufacturer Response:

Thank you for your feedback. That is very strange this is the first time we have heard of anything like that happening. Please contact our support department and we will happily replace the shell for you. Please call 1(800)800-DISK select option #2 for Technical Support or email support@micronet.com

Pros: Cheap, fast drive and great service from NewEgg as always.

Cons: Drive died after about 8 - 10 months of very light use.

Other Thoughts: This drive was used as a backup and was turned on once per week to run the backup. There is no reason it should have only lasted 8- 10 months. Looking elsewhere for something a bit sturdier.

Manufacturer Response:

If you haven't already done so please go to our website and fill out an RMA request form so we may repair/replace your drive for you. If you have any questions please call us at 1(800)800-DISK(3475) select option #2 for Technical Support or email us at support@micronet.com

Pros: Works as expected.

Cons: Bought on 10/3/2008. After 1 year still have no rebate. Will not buy Fantom again.

Manufacturer Response:

Most rebate issues can be solved by simply sending an email to help@promoprocess.com they should respond to your inquiry within 24 hours. If you would like us to contact them on your behalf please call us at 1(800)800-DISK and we will get this matter resolved for you immediately.

Pros: Excellent addition to my computer.

Cons: Loads slow when I try loading videos or stuff off it after not using it for a while, but it's not a big deal.

Other Thoughts: I got this drive for my birthday last year, and I've had nothing wrong happen with it. It's simple, powers down when it's not in use (which is why it takes some time loading stuff off it after some idle time), but otherwise it's a great drive. I got it back when all I had was a 40gig hard drive... so yeah, I'm sure you know what it's like to have so much freedom with computer space.

Pros: The drive itself works fine; the GreenDrive seems to be a little quieter than the regular drive (which I also purchased)

Cons: REBATE PROBLEM! If you are buying this with a rebate involved, then you might want to think twice. I bought this drive and another Fantom drive back in February (it is now July), and submitted all of the rebate paperwork promptly. When I check online it tells me that the rebate has been approved and is "awaiting final approval by the manufacturer". It says to allow 10-12 weeks. It has now been 22 weeks and the web site still says it is awaiting approval. I'm not holding my breath. Newegg says they will make good on it if the manufacturer doesn't, but because of this I would never buy a Fantom drive again. That is why I only gave it one star, even though the drive itself works fine. Very self-defeating policy on the part of Fantom. I was going to buy another one but now I will look elsewhere.

Manufacturer Response:

Thank you for your feedback. Please email help@promoprocess.com regarding your rebate. If they do not respond to you within 24 hours please call 1(800)800-DISK(3475) and we will contact them on your behalf.

Pros: Average external hard drive with decent write speed. The steel case design is somewhat appealing.

Cons: My client purchased five of these drives at once and one was bad. The OS would not recognize the drive as there was some mechanical failure in the drive. We returned the drive and got a new one. This new drive was also bad. Making a clicking noise and not formatting properly.

Other Thoughts: Newegg is fantastic. This is not Newegg's fault. I would recommend a better brand drive though.

Manufacturer Response:

We do apologize for the inconvenience. Please contact us at 1(800)800-DISK(3475) select option #2 for Technical Support or email us at support@micronet.com and we will do our very best to assist you.

Pros: Cheap and small form factor.

Cons: Does not include eSATA cable, not preformatted, only 8MB cache on WD HD. Bad reports on rebates.

Other Thoughts: I can not go into specifics on the issues with this drive, apparently, due to NewEgg policies. Suffice it to say, I would not buy it again.

Manufacturer Response:

GD500EU comes preformatted FAT32 allowing it to mount when connected to a Mac or PC. You may be interested to know GDII500EU & GDII1000EU both come with an eSATA cable and NTI Shadow 4 Backup Software.

Most rebate issues can be resolved by simply sending an email to help@promoprocess.com