Question 1

Several reviews on this product mention the extremely short USB cable.  Exactly how long is it?  And is it possible to have a longer cable sent instead, if that seems too short?  How much more would that cost?  Thank you.. I hope for a quick response as I would like to order this  soon.

Accepted Answer

The cable is about one foot long. When I ordered this I also got a six foot cable for  around five dollars also from Newegg. The cable is that short because this unit is ment for extreem portability.  The drive is awesome (I use mine on my Asus router for network media storage) you will not be disappointed.

Question 2

what is the length of the cord?

Accepted Answer

I'd say 6" to 8" tops. The cable end that plugs into the drive is not a standard USB either. Not a problem really. You can extend length with a USB extension cable. Great drive so far. Have it 3/4 full. Works well.

Question 3

Is this product compatible with XP,Vista & 7?

Accepted Answer

I have Windows 7 and Vista on my laptop and it worked great, as for XP it should be the same it may just need a driver update or download and that should be it, but i used this EX HDD as a Back up for my files. Hope this helped. =)

Question 4

will all laptops recognize the usb 3.0?

Accepted Answer

Can't answer for all laptops but have used it with Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 10 and Mac OS.  Only downside is proprietaty cable but as long as you keep it with the drive it's a non issue.  Love that it powers off of usb connection with no need of a second plug and it is slim and portable.   A+ in my book.

Question 5

is this formatted for Linux, Ubuntu, win 7, win 8. etc?

Accepted Answer

I am not using other OS but windows 7 and 8. It was formatted when connected to my computer. You do niot need to do anything. As far as other systems you mentioned I do not know.

Hope I answered your question.

Question 6

Can this HD be partitioned to accept both Windows and Mac files, each in separate partitions?

Accepted Answer

It's a thorny question. It's possible, but a pain and complicated. Almost everyone chooses a format that works with both operating systems. However, this is problematic as well, as no format is ideal for both Windows and Mac.

First as to dual Windows - Mac partitions: Boot Camp can create a PC partition on a Mac Disc which is formatted as HFS+. The drive needs to be designated as a boot drive and the PC partition is formatted as FAT32 (MSDOS), which only accepts files up to 4GB. It's automatically changed to NTFS if you try to install Windows 7 on it with Boot Camp. There's possibly commercial 3d party software that does this more easily, but if it exists, I've never used it. HFS+ doesn't have the 4GB file size limitation and it's Journaled, so if your system crashes your data should still be retrievable, but it isn't accessible on a PC without 3rd party commercial software.

NTFS is currently the default PC formatting option and it doesn't have the 4GB file size limit, but while you can read from an NTFS volume on a Mac, you can't write to it without modifying your Mac. OS X supports the option to read NTFS-formatted drives, but has not supported writing to these drives by default. Typically you need to use a commercial third-party driver such as Paragon NTFS or Tuxera NTFS on your Mac for full Read/Write NTFS support. OS X does support writing to NTFS, but the feature isn't enabled, so you have to work within Mac OSX's Terminal's command line structure to enable writing to an NTFS drive, which is too complicated for many.

There's also PC exFAT formatting. However since I hate it I'm not going to go into it. A choice of some is to bypass both Mac or PC formatting and use ext3, or third extended filesystem, a Journaled Linux file system. It's fully accessible on a Mac because of the commonality of Apple's Unix BSD core and Linux Kernel. It's not automatically readable on a PC, but there are open source drivers available for Windows systems. HTH.

Question 7

One review stated this uses a unique cable.  Isn't it just a normal USB 3.0 cable?

Accepted Answer

The connector on the end of the cable (which came with the Matsunichi drive) that attaches to the hard drive is a micro USB 3.0.  The micro USB 3.0 is wider than the older micro USB connections.  The connector on the other end of the cable to attach the drive to the computer is a standard USB 3.0 connector.  The cable that came with the Matsunichi drive is the same type of USB 3.0 cable that was included with my Seagate passport hard drive, so it appears to be fairly standard for these types of USB 3.0 portable hard drives.

Question 8

error in data transfer while sending huge files ??

Accepted Answer

Anytime you get an error with large file transfers, it may indicate a problem with the drive.  Could be bad sectors, could be speed/mechanical issue.  Often a sign that drive is failing.

Question 9

how much does thsi weigh ?

Accepted Answer

Really?!?!?
Not very much is all I can tell you. Same as any other USB drive.

Question 10

CAN THIS EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE BE USED WITH AN IMAC (21.5" - LATE 2013)?

Accepted Answer

while i do not own a iMac, its specs are for 4 usb3.0 ports with usb2.0 backwards compatibility. based on where the ports are on the picture the short cord for this product may not allow you to lay it flat without an extension cable, and the extension must not exceed 2 inches or the device will not power up.  (i have 2 extension cables for usb one was short and that one worked fine for me) keep in mind it must be a usb type a female to type a male to be the right cable and again no more than 2 inches. the reason i mention this is that the device has a proprietary interface on one end, and the cord is about 2 inches long.  why they didn't design it with a 4 inch cable is beyond me but i fortunately had two type a female to type a male from previous devices...

Questions & Answers