Toshiba PH3100U-1EXB external drives provide extra 1TB storage for your ever-growing collection of files. Instantly add space for more files, consolidate all of your files to a single location, or free-up space on your computer’s internal drive for improved performance.
Set-up is straightforward, simply plug in the included power supply and USB or eSATA cable and you are ready to go. It is automatically recognized by Windows operating system, so there is no software to install and nothing to configure. Saving files is easy too, just drag-and-drop.
It’s not just easy to use, but it promises extreme safe with the password protected backup encryption solution. In addition, the internal dampening system protects your precious data from shock damaging. Built-in power management ensures energy-efficient operation.
High Performance Hard DriveThe Toshiba black external hard drive is equipped with high performance 3.5-inch hard drives with 8MB cache. The Toshiba features a total capacity of 1TB.
Hardware Encrypted DrivePassword-protected data encryption seamlessly encrypts all the drive data and you can even take out the drive without worrying about the data security.
Anti-shock DesignThe Toshiba black external hard drive features the internal dampening system to effectively prevent your data from damaging of drops and knocks.
Dual InterfacesThe Toshiba PH3100U-1EXB external hard drive features an eSATA port for ultra-fast data transfer speeds of up to 3Gbps and a USB 2.0 port for plug-and-play connectivity.
Pros: Attractive enclosure and stand, fast read and write, especially via eSATA, long rugged USB cable, lots of drive space, standard power supply, plug and play, doesn't break.
Cons: 1) The drive weighs a tad on the heavy side; good for desktop, so/so for travel. 2) The included software is on a 'virtual' drive. Password protection is only for proprietary encrypted backup, not for the drive itself, therefore the claim that this drive includes password protection is misleading. An actual CD of the software is not included or available on Toshiba's site, so when the virtual drive gets corrupted your encrypted backup will essentially be rendered inaccessible. Aside from this, the drive itself or any regular files cannot be password protected by the included software.
Overall Review: When it came time to get an external I bought Toshiba because in my experience they are an excellent company. If you're smart and you use your own straight forward backup software or simply copy the files yourself, this drive is a beauty. I highly recommend picking up an eSATA card and cable to take advantage of its top speeds. I'm using a simple low profile 1X1 Rosewill 1.5GB standard PCI card through which the drive reads and writes in less than half the time of USB. You have to admire Toshiba for having the guts to provide a non-proprietary power adapter so if it breaks down the road you can replace it anywhere easily. Plus if you go overseas you can buy a proper adapter there. I'd have rated it 5 stars if they didn't bother to include the distracting 'virtual' software drive.