Seagate Expansion 500GB USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive

Pros: I really like the fact that this is so small and only requires USB for power. It makes it very portable.

Cons: It's not quite as fast as the new version of this item. I have both and imagaing computers side by side shows a fairly significant speed difference.

Pros: I wrote a review previously on this product and said I would come back after about a month of use. Well a month in and NO bad things to say whatsoever. If you notice these reviewers almost ALL the 1 Egg reviews or less are NON-Verified owners. Meaning they have not purchased this item. A lot of Seagate haters out there! I have owned countless Seagate HD's at LEAST 25-30 and only had issues with 1 in my life. 2 even lasted 10+ years. This device is GREAT build quality! The cable is more than sufficient in length for an external drive, anyone crying about it not being long enough DO NOT know how to read about a product before they order! This does NOT deserve to get a lower review because YOU can't read details of a product! So far so good with my hard drive, no issues worked great right out of the box. Works with Mac AND PC even though it doesn't state it on the box. Just plug in and format to Mac OS Extended Journaled and you are good to go! Planning on buying another one next week!

Cons: Don't let the non verified owners mislead you, great product! Nice and thin profile, matte finish to keep fingerprints off. Great cable and build quality! Works efficiently and quietly. Honestly one of the best external HD's I've ever owned! Great job Seagate!

Overall Review: This drive is the best external I have owned. Always check the non verified owners first before letting negative false reviews keep you from a great product!

Pros: High transfer speeds on USB 3.0. Transfers run around 65MB/s +/- depending on the number of files and sizes.

Cons: Sometimes it takes a few seconds to "wake up".

Overall Review: I've been burned by Seagate quite a bit this past year. I've had to RMA around 6 hard drives and, even though it's been pretty painless, it still cost money to ship and then wait for the refurbished part to arrive. So far this device has been a great replacement to my USB 2.0 version of this (shiny case). I'm kinda bummed that I have to bring another cable with me (mini, micro, now usb3 cable) but it's small, and I don't mind that it is short. I've had it for around 4 months. No issues up to this point.

Pros: Great drive....

Cons: None

Overall Review: It is a really a great hard drive and works great with lots of space....

Pros: It was fast while it worked. I gave it a star for each month it worked.

Cons: I had 2 out of 3 of these units go bad in less than a year.

Overall Review: Don't buy it.

Pros: Quiet and relatively fast for USB 2.0 (haven't tested it with 3.0). Some bloatware is included that might be useful.

Cons: A power hog (see below). The USB 3.0 cord is too short. For an extra 10 cents, Seagate could and should have doubled its length. Runs warm. Seagate does not acknowledge this drive's power issue.

Overall Review: This was the first external PnP drive (out of 4) that posed frustrating problems for me. On three different PCs (2 of which were running Windows XP and one running Win 7 Pro), the drive would not be fully recognized by the OS when I connected it. In some cases, the entire machine would freeze, and in others, it would not boot up (very scary) if the drive was connected. After much research and some very poor support from Seagate, I discovered that the problem is directly related to this drive's need for power. All of my machines have USB 2.0, and even though this drive is "backward compatible," it does not play well with 2.0. The only way I could get this drive to be fully recognized and functional was to disconnect all other external USB devices. Once recognized, it worked fine, but what a pain to have to do that.

Pros: From the other reviews out there lots of great things to say, for some reason however it is receiving a LOT of negative reviews on Newegg. Every single bad review is either from someone who doesn't own one and is bashing seagate, or have "power" issues. Guaranteed 9 out of 10 of those issues are people who do NOT understand that for a single cabled USB external drive such as this one, if you plug it into anything other than a high powered high speed USB port you WILL have issues! You cannot plug this into a normal USB slot, this is why a large amount of external usb hard drives come with a 2 to 1 USB cable to provide extra power if needed. If you do NOT have a high powered high speed USB 2.0 or better port this will NOT work for you!

Cons: Not many other than people who either DON'T own one or just don't understand how USB power works.

Overall Review: Once I receive from Fedex I will report back periodically to update my experience with this product! From what other sites have said this has been a great product and @ 500GB for $70.00 it's a sweet deal w/free shipping no less! Luckily I live in South Jersey so I receive packages next day regardless of shipping type!

Pros: A small light weight portable drive which is fast when connected via USB 3.0 * Good performance * Quiet * Establish “Name Brand” maker with mature support procedures * Drivers automatically installed by Windows 7 * Bundled Backup software and tools (Untested) * Drive light located on top (towards rear) If you’re on the lookout for a fast portable storage beyond the capacity of a large flash drive then a portable USB 3.0 drive is your best option. At less than 14c per GB small drives of this type are inexpensive and combine plug and play convenience (USB 2 or 3) with pretty high speed.

Cons: *Short USB 3.0 cable (both drives use the same type of cable) Initially I considered the short cable an asset (thinking of travel) but when working with a laptop actually in my lap each time I moved I would enviably pull the drive by its cable – I fear failure may only be a few such pulls away.

Overall Review: I recently reviewed a WD 750gb USB 3.0 Passport portable drive and compared the two side by side with the following results. * Price per GB (inc shipping): WD = 12.6c S = 13.9c * Performance (Ave transfer rate MB/sec) WD = 84.7 S = 86.2 * Size: S > WD * Weight: S > WD >>>Conclusion<<<< These drives are very close but I favor the WD over the Seagate. While both have the drive mounted in ridged plastic boxes I found it easier to press the outer casing of the Seagate into the inner drive than with the WD. Why is this important? When packed in a tight bag I think the thicker WD with the rounded edges will survive better than the thinner Seagate with the pointy corners. Otherwise there isn’t much between them. >>>Troubleshooting Tip<<< If the drivers aren't automatically detected on your Windows 7 system then look for updated USB 3.0 drivers. I found this to be necessary on a refurbished laptop I picked up for a client. I plugged the drive into the laptop’s USB 3.0 port and it failed to load device drivers - I found new USB 3.0 drivers on the laptop manufactures website which corrected the problem.