Price : Too low to display
SimpleTech 120GB SimpleDrive Portable Hard Drive - Designed by Pininfarina
This review is from : SimpleTech SP-U25/160 SimpleDrive 160GB 2.5-Inch USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive (Red)
Drives Great - Needs Power . I found this beautifully designed drive at an amazing discount. ~50% less than equivalent-sized competitor products. It is small, fast, sleek ... and apparently needs an accessory AC adapter brick in order to draw enough power to spin up the drive consistently. I have tried connecting the drive to 6 very different systems I have here (a couple laptops, a compact desktop, a couple high-end workstations, and a server - all systems within 3 years of age, and one a brand new Dell model) and none of the systems was able to offer enough power through the USB ports to spin up the drive (whether one or both plug ends of the supplied USB Y-cable were used). One trip to Radio Shack and $30 later, it spins up like a champ. Does what it needs to do (except for the reduced portability). Until flash memory comes in 160GB units, I am satisfied with this.
Drives Great - Needs Power . I found this beautifully designed drive at an amazing discount. ~50% less than equivalent-sized competitor products. It is small, fast, sleek ... and apparently needs an accessory AC adapter brick in order to draw enough power to spin up the drive consistently. I have tried connecting the drive to 6 very different systems I have here (a couple laptops, a compact desktop, a couple high-end workstations, and a server - all systems within 3 years of age, and one a brand new Dell model) and none of the systems was able to offer enough power through the USB ports to spin up the drive (whether one or both plug ends of the supplied USB Y-cable were used). One trip to Radio Shack and $30 later, it spins up like a champ. Does what it needs to do (except for the reduced portability). Until flash memory comes in 160GB units, I am satisfied with this.
SimpleTech SP-U25/160 SimpleDrive 160GB 2.5-Inch USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive (Red) Reviews
Great looking drive at a great price . Folks, ignore that first review. This drive can absolutely be formatted for Macs to use. It's not really Simpletech's fault but rather Apple and Microsoft having incompatible data formats. All external hard drives will have this problem. This drive comes with NTFS default which makes sense since most people use XP. Other than that quibble, the drive is fast and efficient on my laptop. Very useful since it doesn't require an extra ac adapter.
Great looking drive at a great price . Folks, ignore that first review. This drive can absolutely be formatted for Macs to use. It's not really Simpletech's fault but rather Apple and Microsoft having incompatible data formats. All external hard drives will have this problem. This drive comes with NTFS default which makes sense since most people use XP. Other than that quibble, the drive is fast and efficient on my laptop. Very useful since it doesn't require an extra ac adapter.
SimpleTech SP-U25/160 SimpleDrive 160GB 2.5-Inch USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive (Red) Opinions
Flawless (& NO External Supply Required) . This model does NOT need external power. My guess is that some of the reviewers here are confusing this one with another model, SP-U35/160 (http://www.simpletech.com/parts/spu35160.htm), that looks exactly like this one, but does indeed require an external supply.
Our company, J.C.I., uses hundreds, if not thousands, of these. Scores of my colleagues and I have these units with HP laptops. They all work flawlessly.
Flawless (& NO External Supply Required) . This model does NOT need external power. My guess is that some of the reviewers here are confusing this one with another model, SP-U35/160 (http://www.simpletech.com/parts/spu35160.htm), that looks exactly like this one, but does indeed require an external supply.
Our company, J.C.I., uses hundreds, if not thousands, of these. Scores of my colleagues and I have these units with HP laptops. They all work flawlessly.
Decent backup storage . I have used this drive with Ubuntu and Windows XP. Presumably it will work with any operating system as long as it is formatted to a supported file system type. The only annoyance I have found is that when you disconnect the drive, if you do not unmount it (on Windows this would be equivalent to using the safe remove hardware utility) before disconnecting, you lose and corrupt data stored on it during that session. If you are used to using any type of flash media and simply disconnecting it from the computer, you cannot do that with this without losing data. Because of this, I just use it for backing up files rather than just typical everyday storing files.
Contrary to what others have said, I am able to power this device through the USB port with all 5 desktops/laptops I have used it with, including one that is over 4 years old.
EDIT: After about 4 months, my SimpleDrive is no longer functional. My computer detects the device, but the drive inside the device is no longer detected. I would not buy one of these again.
Contrary to what others have said, I am able to power this device through the USB port with all 5 desktops/laptops I have used it with, including one that is over 4 years old.
EDIT: After about 4 months, my SimpleDrive is no longer functional. My computer detects the device, but the drive inside the device is no longer detected. I would not buy one of these again.
Great drive . Those of you criticizing SimpleTech for formatting this drive with NTFS by default need to consider something. The alternative file format (FAT32) has a 4gb limit on file size. If you are trying to store video or other large files, you would be required to reformat the drive. They might also have gone with some of the common file systems used by linux, but I've only encountered one other drive that did that, and it was a NAS solution, not an external USB drive.
As far as power goes, I have to use both USB plugs on my Dell Inspiron laptop, and only one of the plugs on my Dell Optiplex workstation. I'm glad they provide the Y cable with this drive, I had to purchase one separately for a competitor's product.
The only thing I've found lacking is a carrying case, to keep the drive and USB cable together in a nice package when I hit the road.
As far as power goes, I have to use both USB plugs on my Dell Inspiron laptop, and only one of the plugs on my Dell Optiplex workstation. I'm glad they provide the Y cable with this drive, I had to purchase one separately for a competitor's product.
The only thing I've found lacking is a carrying case, to keep the drive and USB cable together in a nice package when I hit the road.
Good product missing details. . This external drive is fast as far as USB2 goes, and as you can tell is well put together and looks great. It also comes with a short Y-cable for dual USB connection, a fact which I would have appreciated knowing beforehand. If your USB ports are on opposing sides of your computer (as they are on mine, a PowerBook G4), you'll need to either get a small USB hub or some other external power supply for the drive itself, as it needs both USB cables to be plugged into the computer to function without external power.
Aside from that irritating fact, which I imagine is only a problem for a small percentage of customers, this drive looks good and functions as advertised. It comes already formatted for PCs, but includes clear and simple instructions for reformatting so it can be read by a Mac.
Aside from that irritating fact, which I imagine is only a problem for a small percentage of customers, this drive looks good and functions as advertised. It comes already formatted for PCs, but includes clear and simple instructions for reformatting so it can be read by a Mac.
Things to Watch Out For . The drive comes in a huge bubble pack which states that the device is USB powered. Take it out of the box and things get a little more complicated. Turns out, one USB connection may or not supply adequate power to run the device (I was lucky - mine did). So they provide a kludgy "Y" type USB cable so you can tap power from two USB ports. And, if that still doesn't do the job, there is a port for a 5 Volt - 1 amp. external power supply - it's up to you go find one if you need one.
Also, no CD came with the package - apparently, the software was preloaded on the hard disk. But, with no documentation - who wants to try it (not me!). So, I formatted the disc (took two hours) and now have a clean hard drive good for about 150 GB. So far - so good.
But, note, as someone said, do not remove it from your computer without running the system's "safely remove hardware" program. The documentation, minimal as it may be, does warn you about that.
Also, no CD came with the package - apparently, the software was preloaded on the hard disk. But, with no documentation - who wants to try it (not me!). So, I formatted the disc (took two hours) and now have a clean hard drive good for about 150 GB. So far - so good.
But, note, as someone said, do not remove it from your computer without running the system's "safely remove hardware" program. The documentation, minimal as it may be, does warn you about that.
I really like it . So, I have only been using it for about 2 weeks, but I love the size and weight - it fits easy into my handbag or laptop case. It weighs virtually nothing. I finally have a nice device to keep my music and photos on an and back-up my files from time to time that is not cumbersome. I take it my harddrive with me everywhere now. I do realize that I can use up 160GB pretty quick though. I believe I will have to upgrade to a larger capactiy at some point.
Cons Review
Nothing but nightmares!! . I purchased this drive last year hoping it would do exactly as it said it would. I use a MacBook Pro and travel often.
This drive has been nothing but a headache. Pretty to look at, but so far it has required me to use 'DataRescue' 4 x in the past 6 months alone just to find the files I have stored on it.
It seems a regular occurrence to be shown the dreaded 'drive not recognized' error when I attach via my USB port. My feeling is that it is far too fragile to travel with, despite advertising to the contrary and within that somewhat attractive exterior lies a VERY defective interior.
If you do choose to purchase this drive, you may wish to use it as a unique paperweight then back your data up with another device - one that actually works and doesn't lose everything on an all too frequent basis.
In this day and age, who has time for this?
This drive has been nothing but a headache. Pretty to look at, but so far it has required me to use 'DataRescue' 4 x in the past 6 months alone just to find the files I have stored on it.
It seems a regular occurrence to be shown the dreaded 'drive not recognized' error when I attach via my USB port. My feeling is that it is far too fragile to travel with, despite advertising to the contrary and within that somewhat attractive exterior lies a VERY defective interior.
If you do choose to purchase this drive, you may wish to use it as a unique paperweight then back your data up with another device - one that actually works and doesn't lose everything on an all too frequent basis.
In this day and age, who has time for this?
Good for a Temp Fix but Not the Most Reliable Hard Drive . I've had this hard drive for about a year now and have used it cross platform on any one of several computers I utilize during the school year.
(I'm a digital art major- all of my work consists of large file sizes and working between windows and mac OS alternately.)
It has served its purpose in that I have transported it daily from work to school to home to school again for the last 11 months. However, I'm having some recent problems that make me fear the safety of my data. (Two years worth of intensive digital art is NOT something I can afford to lose!)
1) Data has started to "ghost" when I work cross-platform. Not sure how common this is with external drives in general- friends have told me this happens sometimes. This is when your files start multiplying and showing up as semi-transparent duplicates of the original. I don't like it, and it's annoying to continually delete "ghosts".
2) On my "geek" computer at home, plugging in this hard drive now causes the computer to crash 98% of the time. The hardware is all high-end and surpasses my other computers, so I'm confused as to why this started happening. Randomness.
3) Most of the macs in our school computer lab will randomly not recognize the drive-- I have to play musical chairs to find one that will read it. This only started after reformatting the disk to FAT32.
With these above listed symptoms popping up within the last month or so, I just purchased a Lacie 1000GB ext. hard drive for perm. backup. I'll use this little guy for transportation as much as I can before it dies- but it seems to be getting very quirky, very quickly.
I can't trust this disk with my most valued data-- and that makes me very, very nervous.
(I'm a digital art major- all of my work consists of large file sizes and working between windows and mac OS alternately.)
It has served its purpose in that I have transported it daily from work to school to home to school again for the last 11 months. However, I'm having some recent problems that make me fear the safety of my data. (Two years worth of intensive digital art is NOT something I can afford to lose!)
1) Data has started to "ghost" when I work cross-platform. Not sure how common this is with external drives in general- friends have told me this happens sometimes. This is when your files start multiplying and showing up as semi-transparent duplicates of the original. I don't like it, and it's annoying to continually delete "ghosts".
2) On my "geek" computer at home, plugging in this hard drive now causes the computer to crash 98% of the time. The hardware is all high-end and surpasses my other computers, so I'm confused as to why this started happening. Randomness.
3) Most of the macs in our school computer lab will randomly not recognize the drive-- I have to play musical chairs to find one that will read it. This only started after reformatting the disk to FAT32.
With these above listed symptoms popping up within the last month or so, I just purchased a Lacie 1000GB ext. hard drive for perm. backup. I'll use this little guy for transportation as much as I can before it dies- but it seems to be getting very quirky, very quickly.
I can't trust this disk with my most valued data-- and that makes me very, very nervous.
Feature SimpleTech SP-U25/160 SimpleDrive 160GB 2.5-Inch USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive (Red)
- 160 GB 2.5-inch USB 2.0 portable hard drive for fast, reliable desktop or laptop storage
- 5400 RPM spin rate; 8 Mb buffer cache; transfer speeds up to 480 Mb/s
- Powers via USB connection
- Designed by Pininfarina, the designer of Ferrari sports cars
- 1-year limited warranty
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HDD Enclosure (5Gbps)
Product Details
EAN : 0705487165340UPC : 705487165340
MPN : SP-U25/160
Brand : SimpleTech
Color : Red
Weight : 1 pounds
Height : 3 inches
Length : 9 inches
Width : 6 inches
Binding : Personal Computers
Hardware Platform : PC
Manufacturer : SimpleTech
Model : SP-U25/160
Publisher : SimpleTech
Size : 160 GB
SKU : 811-53429-1
Studio : SimpleTech
Where To Buy
You can buy SimpleTech SP-U25/160 SimpleDrive 160GB 2.5-Inch USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive (Red) on Amazon . Click here to Read More
