Archos 20 GB USB 2.0 Mini Hard Drive (500455)

by Archos

Product Details

• Item Weight: 2.7 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0000B3ALH
• Item model number: 500455
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 16, 2003

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

ARCHOS, with a tag line 'Think smaller' introduces the ARCDisk, the world's smallest 20 GB external portable hard drive. With its ultra-fast USB 2.0 interface and extremely small size (76 mm x 77 mm x 8.8 mm), the ARCDisk is the ultimate portable hard drive.

Think smaller than the footprint of a 1.44 MB floppy disk. Weighing only 75 grams (2.7 ounces), it is equipped with the latest generation 1.8 inch hard drive. Usable without an external power supply (powered directly from the USB 2.0 port), it is ideal for traveling or carrying to and from work. This highly portable archive center can hold ALL your data plus some. The ideal solution for laptop PCs.

Product Description

The ARCDisk is the world's smallest 20 GB external portable hard drive. With its ultra-fast USB 2.0 interface and extremely small size (3" x 3" x 0.3"), the ARCDisk is the ultimate protable hard drive. Think smaller than the footprint of a 1.44MB floppy disk. Weighing only 2.7 ounces, it is equipped with the latest generation 1.8 inch hard drive. Usable without an external power supply (powered directly from the USB 2.0 port), it is ideal for traveling or carrying to and from work. This highly portable archive center can hold ALL your data plus some. The ideal solution for laptop PCs.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Lasted only 9 months; no response from manufacturer, September 29, 2004

By 

Dr. M. Goldman - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Archos 20 GB USB 2.0 Mini Hard Drive (500455) (Personal Computers)

This was an absolutely wonderful device, but only for the 8-9 months when it actually worked. Once it failed, it was impossible to get any response from the manufacturer, despite 12 month warranty. Too expensive for a nine-month rental hard drive.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cool little hard drive, February 16, 2004

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Archos 20 GB USB 2.0 Mini Hard Drive (500455) (Personal Computers)

I bought this hard drive to use as offsite backup for my home PC. I basically take it to work and leave it there, and it saves me from having to burn a dozen CD-roms. I use Drive Image 7.0 to create automatic backups to an external usb hard drive that stays connected at home. I then quickly copy the backup file to the arcdisk (15 minutes for about 7GB) and take it to work. It's so small and portable, I really like it.

As far as the drive itself, there's not much to it. It didn't need drivers for Win2K, and was really plug and play. If you're going to use it for large backup files, like I do, you'll need to reformat it from FAT32 to NTSF so that it will accept large files (over ~2GB). Also, depending on whether your usb ports are powered or not, you may need to use the included power cord. I thought my usb ports at home were powered, but I was getting strange error messages from Windows, telling me that I was out of available ports. Once I plugged in the power cord, this error went away. At my office, the arcdisk needed no power. The usb power from the main motherboard port was enough. This is why I'm giving it 4 stars (doesn't work on all usb ports without adding power from its separate power cord).

Otherwise, it's very cool, very small, and quite functional. NB-- 20Gigs works out to only 18.5 GB, same as other drives (don't know why the mfrs don't just move to the same standard that consumers use.)

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I have a lemon, April 22, 2005

By 

N. Liu (IN, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Archos 20 GB USB 2.0 Mini Hard Drive (500455) (Personal Computers)

Its a cool and fast drive except that the usb port failed after 5-6 months, when I open it up, guess what, they secured the port with only a piece of tin... surprise if it deosn't break off after like 100 plug and unplugs. I had it fixed but after a few months it went wrong again, archos makes some nice looking toys but they are not for your work.