SimpleTech by Hitachi SimpleDrive 500 GB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive SP-U35/500 (designed by Pininfarina)
by SimpleTech
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List Price: Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of SimpleTech by Hitachi SimpleDrive 500 GB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive SP-U35/500 (designed by Pininfarina)
Customer Review: Black 120 Gb flavor, owned for one year, no problems, picks up as XP drive plug-n-play.
Summary: 5 Stars
I have two of these SimpleTech Pininafarina portable devices in the solid black (no blue ring) 120 Gb flavor.
I have had one of them for about a year and so far no problems. But I only use it to backup my data files once every couple of weeks or so - it's not getting 'heavy' usage. (Some of the reviewers around have lodged some failure complaints.)
Looks very cool. Simple to use. Red light for power, blue light for read/write. Comes with some software on a disc that I trashed. XP recognizes it as a drive no problem-o. I didn't do any formating nor did I have to install any drivers. I can't speak to speed since I am actually running USB 1.1 on my machine right now. No case provided, but I picked up black Case Logic PDHC1 Portable Hard Drive Cases for about $10 each. The drive and the cable fit easily.
The thing runs off of USB plug (just as advertised, not requiring AC current as one reviewer says). They have a plug in the back for a 5 VDC, 1.0A external power adapter (not provided) if you want to use that. The USB 2.0 to mini-B wire that does come with it actually has TWO USB 2.0s on it, strung in series. The instructions say that if the first USB is not giving up enough power, then plug the second one in for additional juice. I used wire ties to tie off the second USB plug. It is power only and if you use it by mistake as the primary plug, you'll be wondering why the thing is only working halfway. For me, the thing runs just fine powering off the one primary USB.
Perhaps the earlier reviewer bought a larger capacity version of this drive that requires AC adapter use. Or perhaps the reviewer bought the non-portable version and it requires AC usage. That version is physically larger, but the style/shape is exactly the same. SimpleTech has a website, so anyone unsure can go check the specs on any flavor of the product.
I respect Seagate quality, but it comes with software and I couldn't tell from the box whether I HAD to use it or not. It sort of reads as though I might. I just wanted an easily recognized drive to burn my data folder onto. (I rotate 'em - one off site, one on site, so if one fails, I basically still have another set of backups spread over time on the other one to fall back on.) That - and the fact this drive was about half the price - caused me to pass on the Seagate. If I were using the drive on a routine basis or for critical application, I would have tried to rely on Seagate quality first (and hoped the software was non-essential) without price being a concern.
But, again, so far this thing has worked without a hitch.
Customer Review: Best External HD around
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm a graphic designer and need to have multiple backups of everything I have. I've purchased many popular brand name HD's in the past and had issues(segate, western digital). SimpleTech so far has been the best yet. Others are loud and get way too hot but this drive is super quiet, super cool and turns itself on and off only when backups/auto backups are happening. Many other drives stay on 24-7 (like the cavalry) which kills the drive after time plus they heat up where you need a hot mitt to touch it.
Its very small and compact in size, does get a lot of finger prints on it but other then that its a great external drive. It has a cool blue oval ring of LED lights that show activity and also act as a capacity meter showing how much space is used. Its also a 7200 rpm drive which is much faster then many others that are more expensive and hold less. You also can't beat the price for a 500 gig drive! I recommend this drive!
Customer Review: Great drive for backup w/ sleek design.
Summary: 5 Stars
A while back I got a great deal on this 500GB hard drive (not at Amazon). The drive is very sleek and comes in cool colors. I have the black unit and matches in well with the rest of my PC and A/V components. I use this drive as an external archiving device for my Dish Network (DN) ViP622 HD receiver. Recently, DN has enabled this feature on their ViPs. I was coming close to filling up the DVR and this simple and painless upgrade has been awesome. The receiver detected the SimpleTech with ease, formated the drive in 2 minutes, and from that point on I have about 490 GB worth of extra DVR space. Playing archived video either in SD or HD format is no different vs. playing direct from the receiver. Outstanding quality/no complaints! This drive comes in 750GB and 1TB capacities and should be a worthy upgrade for PC/Mac backup as well. FYI, There is another variation of this unit with also a FireWire port.Customer Review: Hurricane Recovery
Summary: 5 Stars
I own this exact drive and during Hurricane Gustav my house flooded and it fell over into the water. The drive was unpowered at the time at least. I took apart the whole unit and let it air dry for two weeks. I purchased a new external HD case because I was scared to use the Simpletech one and I dont have a PC with a SATA interface and guess what! I was able to extract every bit and byte of data from my drive. not a drop of water entered the drive. I don't know if there are cheaply sealed drives verses well sealed drives but the one in my Simpletech External 500 USB was watertight. I had to put the data on a few different computers since it was so much and none of my PCs had that much room. I am about to order another Simpletech 500 Gig drive to put it all back on. I can't say they are all watertight but mine was. So they have my trust.Customer Review: Simpletech 500 GB is great
Summary: 5 Stars
It doesn't do tricks or get me a cold soda, but it does have a neat flashing light as it stores new data. Lets face it, storing data is what's important and this 500 GB hard drive does just that. With USB 2.0 connectivity, what could be easier! To be totally honest, I bought this one as a back-up to my first one(Identical unit) because I had to send the first one for repair of a burnt out power board inside the drive. Customer service was outstanding in that when I spoke to a representative I told him I did not want to ship the actual hard drive from inside the case, so he told me to remove it and only send the case (with the burnt board inside) and the wall transformer. After testing, he replaced the bad board and shipped it back to me free of charge.
So those are my experiences with these units.