Iomega eGo 320 GB USB 2.0/FireWire 400 Portable External Hard Drive 34418 (Jet Black)
by Iomega
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List Price: Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Iomega eGo 320 GB USB 2.0/FireWire 400 Portable External Hard Drive 34418 (Jet Black)
Customer Review: Portable data backup and transfer for a mobile world
Summary: 5 Stars
These days, we seem to be traveling a lot more and are carrying lots of mobile devices with us when we do --- laptops, Kindles, iPods, etc. Each one of these devices carries precious memories, important information, and/or data that is simply impossible or difficult to replace.
We can find useful packs in which to safely carry all this equipment with us, but the fact remains that we are carrying a lot of data that is very susceptible to damage or loss. This calls for a prudent backup strategy, but making timely backups might not be convenient if you travel a lot.
Enter the Iomega eGo 320GB Hard Drive. This great little drive is light and rugged enough that you can just throw into your pack and go, so that your extra data and backup ability are never far away.
This drive is quiet too. Even better, this unit is powered by the data transfer cable, so you don't need to carry around an additional external AC/DC power source. Finally, due to massive increases in drive memory capacities and drops in prices, units like this (available in a variety of colors --- jet black, ruby red, and alpine white) make for very reasonable data storage and backup solutions. In fact, there aren't many valid excuses for why you *don't* get something like this and backup your data. Just do it.
(review by Kendall Giles)
Customer Review: Iomega eGo 320GB
Summary: 4 Stars
I have had this for almost 6 weeks. So far it is working great. It comes with both a firewire cable and a usb cable. I mostly use it on my desktop XP machine, with the firewire cable. I have also used it on my laptop (Vista), with the usb cable.
As other reviewers have stated, it does run very hot. In fact, it is uncomfortable to pick up and hold in your hand after it has been plugged in for a while. It is a little worrisome, but I can't comment on the durability after only 6 weeks of ownership.
Usuability comments: Comes with 2 separate cables as mentioned, usb & firewire. The cables seem to be about 2 feet long. Does NOT come with any software. You need to go to the Iomega website and download their "Retrospect" backup software (you get a d/l code in the box when you buy the drive). I did this, but I HATED the software. I uninstalled it almost immediately. Instead, I went to microsoft.com and downloaded their free "synctoy" backup software, which works fantastic and easy, and gives you several choices.
Also, I was told that the drive comes formatted for windows, but that was not the case. I had to initialize the drive, and then format it through the Disk Management feature of windows. I couldn't figure out how to do it in Vista on my laptop, so I did it with XP on my desktop.
Customer Review: Its a decent drive!
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this for use between a bunch of macs (of varying age) at work in a recording studio. It plugged in and worked immediately with all the macs (G4 through new Macbook Pro.) Have not used this drive on my PC.
Though its not advisable to do - I've this drive to track audio (digihardware>protools>firewiredrive) and it hasn't had any problem dealing with some big protools sessions.
THIS DRIVE GETS HOT!!!! Though I'm told that's pretty common with palm-drives.
Construction is not great - mine arrived with one of the four case screws rattling around loose in the box. Also, the Amazon box that it came in had NO PACKING to stop the inner box sliding/crashing around (!!! they pad books - why not drives???) Nevertheless, I needed to use it right away, popped the screw back in and had no further issues.
Cheap, big and fast. Recommended.
Customer Review: Defective drive needed replacement; requires 2 usb ports
Summary: 3 Stars
I had to send it back after 1 week when it stopped working. Hoping the replacement drive will be more reliable.
My biggest problem is the fact that it seems to REQUIRE 2 usb ports, no matter what. A powered hub doesn't get it done. Since I wanted to use it in the field for photography and sometimes I can only get one outlet, I need devices that can be powered from my laptop, and ports are at a premium - the demand for two ports on the laptop, or two ports on a powered hub, or a dedicated power cable are all showstoppers for me.
If I had known about this, I would not have bought it (I like Iomega's non-portable external drives). Compare Toshiba and Western Digital which are just as inexpensive and portable and don't have this issue (I have one of each).
When I get the replacement, it will be demoted to a non-field device.
Customer Review: Quiet and minimalist data flask
Summary: 5 Stars
Note: I have only used this for a few days. I am using the 320 GB jet black model with Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard)'s "Time Machine" backup software that comes with the OS.
The drive comes with both FireWire (IEEE 1394) and USB cables. Drive is powered by either cable's inherent power and, while it has a DC-in port, that goes unused. This thing will get a little hot (who cares?) if you leave it plugged in, but I just backup my MacBook once in a while, unmount the drive, and unplug it.
The twin FireWire ports on the back allow you to "pass-through" to any other FireWire devices you have. Running the Mac's "Time Machine" software, this thing backed up my drive's 120 GB of data in 2.5 hours via FireWire. As the other reviewer said, it looks like a flask! I heart it a little bit extra because of that.