Price : Too low to display
This external hard drive features Nero BackItUp Essentials software that allows full system backup and restore functions, the ability to schedule automatic backup by date/time and an encrypted backup option with password control. Save your precious photos, videos, graphics, music, data and more in ultimate safety with Verbatim.
This review is from : Verbatim SuperSpeed 2 TB USB 3.0 Desktop External Hard Drive 97415 (Black)
OK hardware faulty instructions . The instructions included with this unit are in two parts. First, they explain fairly well how to install the USB 3.0 card in your computer. This is not a job some people will feel comfortable doing, but is not difficult. Second, they explain the simple task of connecting power to the hard drive and connecting it to the new USB 3.0 card. I had no trouble at all following these directions. But the unit did not work. Windows 7 informed me that it found a new USB device, but needed a driver. I did try plugging the new drive into a USB 2.0 port and found the drive worked. But the idea was to get rapid file transfers with the new USB 3.0 card, so there was no point in using the new drive on a slow port.
I asked Verbatim for help and got an email saying to look on the card for a maker's website and then download the driver. The card had no maker's name, but I did find a model number (PU3020). Google took the number and led me to the maker's (Good Way Technology in China) website. They said the card would be shipped with a CD containing the driver. But they also had a driver available to download, along with a manual that revealed that the card was called an NEC (not Good Way) USB device. I was able to run the driver and get the card to work, in turn allowing the new drive to work.
Once I had the new drive running, I found the drive was preloaded by Verbatim with a folder called NEC that contained the driver for the USB card. The original instructions lead the owner to a chicken or egg situation. The card won't work because the driver is not installed. The drive won't work because it is plugged into the card. The instructions never mention that you need to load the driver or where to find it. So I think the installation instructions should have said to connect the new Verbatim drive to an existing USB 2.0 port and install the NEC USB 3.0 card driver before plugging the drive into the USB 3.0 card port. It would have been very quick and simple, saving lots of wasted time.
So now the drive is working fine, though I have no way to tell whether it is really ten times faster than if it was on a USB 2.0 port. So maybe it is a five star product, but the instructions certainly merit deducting at least one star.
OK hardware faulty instructions . The instructions included with this unit are in two parts. First, they explain fairly well how to install the USB 3.0 card in your computer. This is not a job some people will feel comfortable doing, but is not difficult. Second, they explain the simple task of connecting power to the hard drive and connecting it to the new USB 3.0 card. I had no trouble at all following these directions. But the unit did not work. Windows 7 informed me that it found a new USB device, but needed a driver. I did try plugging the new drive into a USB 2.0 port and found the drive worked. But the idea was to get rapid file transfers with the new USB 3.0 card, so there was no point in using the new drive on a slow port.
I asked Verbatim for help and got an email saying to look on the card for a maker's website and then download the driver. The card had no maker's name, but I did find a model number (PU3020). Google took the number and led me to the maker's (Good Way Technology in China) website. They said the card would be shipped with a CD containing the driver. But they also had a driver available to download, along with a manual that revealed that the card was called an NEC (not Good Way) USB device. I was able to run the driver and get the card to work, in turn allowing the new drive to work.
Once I had the new drive running, I found the drive was preloaded by Verbatim with a folder called NEC that contained the driver for the USB card. The original instructions lead the owner to a chicken or egg situation. The card won't work because the driver is not installed. The drive won't work because it is plugged into the card. The instructions never mention that you need to load the driver or where to find it. So I think the installation instructions should have said to connect the new Verbatim drive to an existing USB 2.0 port and install the NEC USB 3.0 card driver before plugging the drive into the USB 3.0 card port. It would have been very quick and simple, saving lots of wasted time.
So now the drive is working fine, though I have no way to tell whether it is really ten times faster than if it was on a USB 2.0 port. So maybe it is a five star product, but the instructions certainly merit deducting at least one star.
Verbatim SuperSpeed 2 TB USB 3.0 Desktop External Hard Drive 97415 (Black) Reviews
Excellent but tricks to installation . All in all this is an excellent package at a very attractive price.
The USB 3.0 interface truly can provide much faster transfers. A 510 GB system backup took a little over three hours, as compared with six for a similar Verbatim disc via USB 2.0. It would make less difference in some other cases where speed is dominated by disc seek times, however.
My experience with the high-end Verbatim discs suggests they are pretty well bulletproof -- which cannot be said of many other brands. I don't expect this one to be any different.
The included Renesas 2-port USB PCIe card appears to work well, but takes some care in installation and may need some extra cables to interface with your system. First, of course, you need an open PCIe slot. But this is a high-power device that needs external power from your power supply, like a disc or optical drive. The power connector is a four-pin Molex, and unless your system is pretty old it is not likely that you have Molex cabling. The card comes with an adapter that will convert from a SATA power connector to Molex, so as long as you have an open SATA power cable you are OK. If not, you need to get a splitter. In my case, the open SATA cable was too far from the PCIe slot and so I needed to get an extension. Molex connectors are interference fit so count on high seating forces -- and it really does need to be fully seated.
Before you can use the disc as a USB 3.0 device you need to install the card. But before you can use the card you need to install the driver -- and that comes on the disc. So you have to connect the disc as a USB 2.0 device, install the driver, shut down the system, install the card, and then reconnect the disc via the USB 3.0.
For some reason the disc comes formatted for FAT 32, a completely impractical format for so large a disc. So you need to reformat it as NTFS. This is easy and quick, but you wipe out the card driver and the included Verbatim backup software in the process, so you may want to copy them to someplace else first.
The included USB 3.0 cable is very short, so you need to get a longer one if you want to locate the disc any distance from the computer.
Excellent but tricks to installation . All in all this is an excellent package at a very attractive price.
The USB 3.0 interface truly can provide much faster transfers. A 510 GB system backup took a little over three hours, as compared with six for a similar Verbatim disc via USB 2.0. It would make less difference in some other cases where speed is dominated by disc seek times, however.
My experience with the high-end Verbatim discs suggests they are pretty well bulletproof -- which cannot be said of many other brands. I don't expect this one to be any different.
The included Renesas 2-port USB PCIe card appears to work well, but takes some care in installation and may need some extra cables to interface with your system. First, of course, you need an open PCIe slot. But this is a high-power device that needs external power from your power supply, like a disc or optical drive. The power connector is a four-pin Molex, and unless your system is pretty old it is not likely that you have Molex cabling. The card comes with an adapter that will convert from a SATA power connector to Molex, so as long as you have an open SATA power cable you are OK. If not, you need to get a splitter. In my case, the open SATA cable was too far from the PCIe slot and so I needed to get an extension. Molex connectors are interference fit so count on high seating forces -- and it really does need to be fully seated.
Before you can use the disc as a USB 3.0 device you need to install the card. But before you can use the card you need to install the driver -- and that comes on the disc. So you have to connect the disc as a USB 2.0 device, install the driver, shut down the system, install the card, and then reconnect the disc via the USB 3.0.
For some reason the disc comes formatted for FAT 32, a completely impractical format for so large a disc. So you need to reformat it as NTFS. This is easy and quick, but you wipe out the card driver and the included Verbatim backup software in the process, so you may want to copy them to someplace else first.
The included USB 3.0 cable is very short, so you need to get a longer one if you want to locate the disc any distance from the computer.
Verbatim SuperSpeed 2 TB USB 3.0 Desktop External Hard Drive 97415 (Black) Opinions
Verbatim 2TB USB 3.0 External Drive - Excellent Drive . As others have noted, installation is a bit tricky. Just be sure to connect the new drive as a USB 2.0, copy the driver/software app to your system, then connect the drive to your new USB 3.0 card. You'll be fine.
This is a Samsung drive internally - very happy with that. On an XP-pro 32-bit system I'm getting write speed to the drive of 6 GBytes per minute. Read speed from the drive is better than 6 GBytes per minute. I'm using an NEC USB 3.0 card.
I bought two of these drives, use them for archiving video files. They are extremely quiet and reliable. I searched far and wide for 2TB external drives (both Firewire and USB 3.0), read many horror stories from customers who bought all the big names in drives and experienced many reliability problems, and this Verbatim drive is the answer to my search.
Verbatim 2TB USB 3.0 External Drive - Excellent Drive . As others have noted, installation is a bit tricky. Just be sure to connect the new drive as a USB 2.0, copy the driver/software app to your system, then connect the drive to your new USB 3.0 card. You'll be fine.
This is a Samsung drive internally - very happy with that. On an XP-pro 32-bit system I'm getting write speed to the drive of 6 GBytes per minute. Read speed from the drive is better than 6 GBytes per minute. I'm using an NEC USB 3.0 card.
I bought two of these drives, use them for archiving video files. They are extremely quiet and reliable. I searched far and wide for 2TB external drives (both Firewire and USB 3.0), read many horror stories from customers who bought all the big names in drives and experienced many reliability problems, and this Verbatim drive is the answer to my search.
Good USB 2.0 Drive . 'Performs well as a 2TB USB 2.0 drive, but I have been unable to access it through USB 3.0, even with various PCIx USB 3.0 adapters that work well with other drives. Also, the PCIx adapter that accompanied the drive has never worked, and included an internal power cable that was defective with pushed-back pins that would not seat. While questionable for applications requiring fast transfers, this is probably suitable as a USB 2.0 drive where speed is not a major issue.
7yr warranty and great package deal . Package deal, drive, card and cable.
PROS:
1. 7 year warranty. Some companies only offer 1 year warranties, usually I buy an external enclosure and add my own internal drive (BYOD). Most hard drive companies offer 3 year and a few 5 year warranty model hard drives. I think its a great plus to have 7 years as a warranty backed by Verbatim. Curious what drive is inside the enclosure.
2. PCIe 2 port USB 3.0 card. I bought a low end 1 port USB 3.0 card about 6 months ago after reading they improved USB 2.0 performance and overall I did get about 30% increase in USB 2.0 device speed. Running Ubuntu 11.04 "sudo hdparm -t /dev/sd_ " I averaged 23MB/sec on USB 2.0 vs 36MB/Sec when running USB 2.0 drive on USB 3.0 card. My original card started dying so getting the 2 port USB 3.0 card was a great deal since I only have one USB 3.0 card and two USB 2.0 drives.
3. Overall Verbatim 2TB USB 3.0 drive scored 103MB/sec vs. my 7200rpm eSata and SATA drives 111MB/sec and 121MB/sec. Formatted to FAT32, but no problem partitioning reformatting to EXT4 and FAT32 using Gparted. 64 bit Linux has no problem recognize the USB 3.0 card and running drive at full USB 3.0 speed. VirtualBox also recognizes card.
CONS:
1. Include software on drive, no disk. Just plug in and use as USB 2.0 drive to transfer/use software provided.
2. Short cable.
Run a cost analysis on: USB 3.0 enclosure, 2 port USB 3.0 PCIe card, 2 TB over 100MB/sec hard drive, USB 3.0 short cable and 7 year warranty. Hard to beat the Verbatim 2TB package.
PROS:
1. 7 year warranty. Some companies only offer 1 year warranties, usually I buy an external enclosure and add my own internal drive (BYOD). Most hard drive companies offer 3 year and a few 5 year warranty model hard drives. I think its a great plus to have 7 years as a warranty backed by Verbatim. Curious what drive is inside the enclosure.
2. PCIe 2 port USB 3.0 card. I bought a low end 1 port USB 3.0 card about 6 months ago after reading they improved USB 2.0 performance and overall I did get about 30% increase in USB 2.0 device speed. Running Ubuntu 11.04 "sudo hdparm -t /dev/sd_ " I averaged 23MB/sec on USB 2.0 vs 36MB/Sec when running USB 2.0 drive on USB 3.0 card. My original card started dying so getting the 2 port USB 3.0 card was a great deal since I only have one USB 3.0 card and two USB 2.0 drives.
3. Overall Verbatim 2TB USB 3.0 drive scored 103MB/sec vs. my 7200rpm eSata and SATA drives 111MB/sec and 121MB/sec. Formatted to FAT32, but no problem partitioning reformatting to EXT4 and FAT32 using Gparted. 64 bit Linux has no problem recognize the USB 3.0 card and running drive at full USB 3.0 speed. VirtualBox also recognizes card.
CONS:
1. Include software on drive, no disk. Just plug in and use as USB 2.0 drive to transfer/use software provided.
2. Short cable.
Run a cost analysis on: USB 3.0 enclosure, 2 port USB 3.0 PCIe card, 2 TB over 100MB/sec hard drive, USB 3.0 short cable and 7 year warranty. Hard to beat the Verbatim 2TB package.
Works great as expected. . This hard drive works perfectly. It's a Verbatim product, and mine has a Samsung hard drive inside. It's comforting to know the seven year warranty is in place, and I hope I never have to use it. The only thing that makes me not "love" the product is its plain, boxy design.I heartily recommend the product to anyone.
Fast Backup Drive . I use this hard drive as a back up to my back up. I pull it out of a fire chest very 3 to 6 months to run a backup job. It is faster than the other USB 2.0 drive (FD Green Drive) even when plugged into the same USB 2.0 controller. So though I cannot comment as to its longevity as I could with a drive that is always plugged in, it has been a solid and fast performer.
Not really Mac compatible . The box says it's Mac compatible as a USB 2.0 drive, but beware: You cannot boot from this drive if you're using it as a backup drive in case of main Mac HD failure. I was able to install MacOS X 10.6 on it with no reported problems, but it won't boot (yes, Intel Mac, GUID partition). I called Verbatim support who confirmed this is not possible.
Background: [...]
It works great as a non-bootable backup device, very quiet.
Background: [...]
It works great as a non-bootable backup device, very quiet.
goes into sleep mode and dies... Updated . Installation was straightforward (I bought and installed the USB 3.0 card separately). Windows found the right drivers and I was up and running in no time. The speed is noticeably faster - although far cry from 10x. When I copied large files (200-300MB), it was 5-6 times faster than copying the same files to USB 2.0 drive; when I copied many small files (1-10MB) it was 2-3 times faster.
The big problem with this drive is that it goes into sleep mode after a few minutes. I don't think it's configurable. If I access the drive through Windows Explorer, it wakes up (it takes about 10 secs, but oh well!). Unfortunately, many programs just hang trying to access the drive. For example, Windows installers (.msi and Windows updates) are creating temp folders on the drive with the largest amount of free space (and this is the one!). Also, my video editing program, and podcast client also hang. The only workaround is to turn off the drive and then turn it back on.
Another (relatively minor) problem - the cable is very short (about 1'). So, you have to keep the drive very close to the chassis. Wouldn't be a big deal, if I didn't have to reach behind the drive to turn it off and back on on a regular basis.
UPDATE: The culprit was not the drive, but USB 3.0 card. Not even the card, but the faulty driver. The card (IOCrest SY-PEX20041) came with Fresco Logic driver ver. 3.0.89. Once I updated to 3.0.114 the problem went away.
In the process I had a chance to talk to tech support. As it often happens, Level 1 is clueless. However, Level 2 tech was knowledgeable, gave a few troubleshooting suggestions - and pointed me to the right direction.
The big problem with this drive is that it goes into sleep mode after a few minutes. I don't think it's configurable. If I access the drive through Windows Explorer, it wakes up (it takes about 10 secs, but oh well!). Unfortunately, many programs just hang trying to access the drive. For example, Windows installers (.msi and Windows updates) are creating temp folders on the drive with the largest amount of free space (and this is the one!). Also, my video editing program, and podcast client also hang. The only workaround is to turn off the drive and then turn it back on.
Another (relatively minor) problem - the cable is very short (about 1'). So, you have to keep the drive very close to the chassis. Wouldn't be a big deal, if I didn't have to reach behind the drive to turn it off and back on on a regular basis.
UPDATE: The culprit was not the drive, but USB 3.0 card. Not even the card, but the faulty driver. The card (IOCrest SY-PEX20041) came with Fresco Logic driver ver. 3.0.89. Once I updated to 3.0.114 the problem went away.
In the process I had a chance to talk to tech support. As it often happens, Level 1 is clueless. However, Level 2 tech was knowledgeable, gave a few troubleshooting suggestions - and pointed me to the right direction.
Cons Review
LOW QUALITY . This drive will no longer mount after two months of intermittent use, click click click, that's the sound of all your data being scraped away. We were using this drive as a Time Machine backup, it never left home, so there is no reason this should have stopped working.
Feature Verbatim SuperSpeed 2 TB USB 3.0 Desktop External Hard Drive 97415 (Black)
- Capacity: 2 TB
- SuperSpeed USB 3.0 increases transfer speed up to 10x faster than USB 2.0
- Backwardly compatible with USB 2.0 ports
- Includes Nero BackItUp software
- Backed by a 7-year limited warranty
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SP010TBPHDS10S3O (Orange)
Product Details
EAN : 0023942974154UPC : 023942974154
MPN : 97415
Brand : Verbatim
Color : Black
Weight : 4 pounds
Height : 4 inches
Length : 10 inches
Width : 8 inches
Binding : Personal Computers
Manufacturer : Verbatim
Model : 97415
Publisher : Verbatim
Size : 2 TB
SKU : SY-97415
Studio : Verbatim
Where To Buy
You can buy Verbatim SuperSpeed 2 TB USB 3.0 Desktop External Hard Drive 97415 (Black) on Amazon . Click here to Read More
