Fantom Drives GreenDrive Pro 2TB USB 2.0 / eSATA External Hard Drive GDP2000EU

Pros: Nothing

Cons: Crashed computer and lost all of my data.

Pros: This is just one of several Fantom drives I own. I does what it's supposed to do, store files.

Cons: It seems lately that HD manufacturers believe they do not need to make hard drives compatible in the FAT-32 format as like the other formats as they once did. I bought this drive specifically because I thought I could re-format it as a FAT-32 drive as I have with other Fantom drives previously. My video equipment can only play files/videos from FAT-32 formatted storage devices. Does this company think they should decide what formats we should use? If not, then I suggest Fantom start providing the format types their drives use in their advertising and specifications info. NewEgg would also do well to provide this information in their sales description. It might save them allot of RMA requests and returns. Had I known about this limitation, I would have purchased another drive with FAT-32 format capability.

Other Thoughts: This is a standard usb 2 drive. Speed is typical for usb 2. It looks and acts like all the other Fantom external drives they sell with the exception that it also has an eSata socket.

Pros: Worked great for about years

Cons: My drive has recently stopped working. I bought it in 2010, and I went to turn it on one day and the computer said the device was not recognized. No warning, it just won't work. I have tried it on my Windows 7 64 bit desktop, two Windows 7 32 bit net books, and a Windows XP machine at work. Nada. Swapped out cables, the light is no different then it was before. It just refuses to work. Kind of a bummer when your backup dies.

Pros: Fast! When connected with eSATA this drive is very fast! Perfect for external storage or backups. Spins down after period of inactivity.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: Very Quiet

Pros: This is my second order of the Fantom GreenDrive Pro 2TB external drives. Although I prefer the regular Fantom 2TB external drives over the "GreenDrive" version, I do not notice any difference in the performance, except that one "2TB GreenDrive Pro" from a previous order was DOA. I haven't had any failures with the standard Fantom external drives that I've had for up to 4 years. With that one exception, I've found them to be very reliable, with quiet operation and minimal heating of the exterior case, at a reasonable price.

Cons: The LED indicator in the front of the unit is very bright and the fact that it's green makes it seem even brighter than the blue LED indicator of the standard Fantom drives. Also, for reasons unknown, the eSATA connector has been reversed so that it is opposite of all my previous Fantom external drives. This means I now have to "twist" the eSATA cable to connect it to the computer. This is not ideal since eSATA connectors are somewhat fragile and eSATA cables are fairly stiff, so this results in mechanical strain on the eSATA connector if you aren't careful.

Other Thoughts: I am, personally, pleased with the overall quality, performance and price point of Fantom's external HDDs to the point that they are the vendor of choice for my external HDD needs. Since I have had one "GreenDrive" arrive DOA, I do also recommend that you test your drives upon receipt, even if you don't plan to use them immediately (i.e multiple units ordered as spares).

Pros: I have purchased 8 Fantom external drives, 4 of which are the GreenDrive Pro 2TB USB 2.0/eSATA variety (GDP2000EU), in the past 4 years. They are proven themselves to be pretty reliable, especially given the relatively low cost. They are very quite and, despite the lack of a cooling fan, the case only gets a little warm. I prefer the standard Fantom 2TB external HDDs but have not noticed any difference in performance from the "GreenDrive Pro" versions.

Cons: The only issue I have with this particular purchase is that one of the two "GreenDrives" ordered was a "spare", which I only recently (3/2/13) opened to discover that it was DOA, right out of the box. So, I've had to request an RMA for that unit.

Other Thoughts: Fantom's RMA process is a bit different from the typical. You create a "Trouble Ticket" to explain the problem and wait for a response, rather than submit an RMA request. However, Fantom was quick to respond and an RMA was issued within 2 business days. So, I am very satisfied with the process, so far.

Pros: Nice housing
Rebate came through without a problem

Cons: -Shaky Customer Support
-The back USB port is a bit loose.
-Louder than my WD External
-Purchased in May 2010, Failed in January 2012. My WD 1TB External was purchased in April 2009, was used more frequently than the Fantom, and is still going strong.

Other Thoughts: After my drive crashed, I emailed customer support in May and said I wanted to spend time trying to get my files off the drive. The drive was only two days out of warranty at the time, which apparently wasn't a problem for them. They said "Once you pursued data recovery (or decided not to) please let us know and we can issue repair authorization."

I had to manually take these files off my drive 10 at a time over my summer break (windows would recognize the hard drive until it fully spun up, then it would fail. So I usually had time to move about 10 files or so each time I powered on the drive). Data recovery software did not work. A few months later when I was finished (there were obviously still hundreds of lost, unrecoverable files), I emailed customer support again and received a response stating that the drive is out of warranty and "Repair authorization does not depend (or require) warranty coverage". After telling them why it took so long, they offered to waive return shipping and labor, but would not offer warranty replacement.

I wish they would have told me to hurry up and send the drive to them in May. I would have forfeited my 1000 or so photos instead of having to pay $120 for a full replacement cost. After paying $15 to ship the drive back to them and having them tell me what I already suspected (complete drive failure, no way to repair), I told them to just scrap the drive instead.

Yes, I should have gone through the return/repair process in a more timely manner. But as a student working on a bunch of current projects, salvaging a bunch of old projects was not high on my priority list.

This was an incredibly subpar customer support experience, and I will not be buying a Fantom drive again.

-When I was sent a repair quote, MicroNet listed the potential replacement drive as a Toshiba DT01ACA200. I have no idea what my original drive was; I never opened the casing in order to preserve warranty coverage. Womp Womp.

Pros: High capacity, eSATA 3gb/s & USB 2.0, reasonable price

Cons: Failed almost immediately after warranty expired

Other Thoughts: Got this drive as a gift for x-mas 2010, summer 2011 drive had a hickup and wasn't working. Requested RMA, tech support wanted me to run preliminary diag to ensure defective product, problem went away for no apparent reason. Seven months later, new problem arises, computer takes more than 5 minutes to boot if the drive is plugged in and turned on. If Windows explorer manages to read the drive, it only works for a few minutes then it disappears from the Disk Manager. It's a SAMSUNG HDD inside, so not entirely Fantom's fault but still...STAY AWAY FROM THIS DRIVE!!!

Pros: Fast! When connected with eSATA this drive is very fast! Perfect for external storage or backups. Spins down after period of inactivity.

Cons: A little noisy, but not noisy enough to knock it an egg.

Other Thoughts: It'd be nice if these things had the ability to turn off the light on them. My room glows blue when the lights are off!

Pros: Solid construction, lots of space.

Cons: It died after a year and a half while my other older external drives live on.