Customer Reviews

Buffalo Technology MiniStation DataVault Portable 320GB Hard Drive USB 2.0 with Full Disk Encryption HDS-PH320U2(Black)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is a sweet little USB powered, data encrypted 320GB hard drive. I have no idea of how long it is going to last, but so far I have been impressed. It works nicely with my MacBook Pro. I plugged in the drive, opened up the virtual CD that appeared on my desktop, and installed the secure driver software. I set up a password, and now I have a Time Machine backup for my computer in a small package, and with no fussing about with a power cable. The USB cable even wraps around the drive for storage. Even better, the drive is encrypted, so that is one less thing I have to worry about. This seems to be a great backup solution.

When you plug this drive in, it appears as a CD. If you are using XP or later (which is everyone), you have to figure out what to click on (the documentation is online or on the drive, but not in the box). If you click on the obvious looking "menu" program you will get a lot of utilities that you don't need and won't open the drive up. If you get lucky enough to click "login.exe" and read the fine print that was included in the box to know the default password is 12345... then you can use the drive! Until you reboot, logoff, replugin the drive, or any other number of reasons. Then it's back to the beginning... My Computer... Some CD drive... login... 12345... and presto. So easy... right? Um, no.

If you want to have this as a full time drive it sure isn't easy. You can't remove this feature (or even have a password less that 4 characters) on a PC (for some reason you can on a Mac) either. You have to live with it... Or return it like I did.

Okay... so there is the business case where you want you data hardware encrypted in case you lose it... But surely there's a better way than this convoluted process (like remember this PC... since you already authenticated onto it), or at least an option for no encryption.

I'm currently using this to back up my work PC, which is a 6 year old computer running Windows 7 64 bit.

When you initially plug it in for the first time, what you'll see is a CD drive called Utility. On it is documentation and stuff, but in particular a Password.exe and a Menu.exe. Password is the one that let's you set the password to unlock the device, you'll want to set it to something that isn't the default.

Once you set the password, the drive then shows up as another drive letter and you use it like any other USB drive, and what's nice is that it's automatically encrypting all the data.

So I agree with other reviewers, that the first 10 minutes of getting the password steps sorted out isn't very intuitive. But once you're past that, it is smooth sailing after that. The device is very light and quiet, and the USB cord conveniently wraps around and snaps into place when you want to transport it.

Haven't had any problems since (been using it for about 8 months now) - and I use the Windows Scheduler to synchronize a bunch of folders and files once a day to it (via DOS batch file with a bunch of robocopy commands).

Purchased almost a year ago. Worked fine with Leopard. I waited until now for the Snow Leopard update thinking most of the compatibility bugs would be worked out. The only problem I have had after updating was the this drive became useless. It crashes the computer. I will have to re-install Leopard to access my secure data, then buy something else. Customer support gave no indication that a fix was on the way. Wasted $99 and a lot of time. Thanks Buffalo.

I bought two of these drives to cycle backups. Starting on my Mac Leopard system, they worked haphazardly. I think the problem may be an insufficiently snug USB plug on the cord that comes with it. The instructions are confusing, and the software that ships with it is best not discussed in polite conversation. And the drives have another quirk -- they will not work if you are using Time Machine on your Mac. You have to not only shut it off but disconnect the drive from the machine!

The bigger problem arises when you upgrade to Snow Leopard, which, of course has been out on the market for months. Not only will these drives not work on Snow Leopard, but they crash the computer, not an easy task.

The Tech Support guys here in the US told me that the software and drives were designed in Japan and the engineers are in Japan. They have known about the problem for some time but neither delivered a fix nor let the US guys know when (if ever) to expect one. Makes you wonder if the Japanese operation is affiliated with Toyota.

I've been using this to backup two Windows XP machines for the past three months. It was simple to install, has the encryption feature I wanted, and has worked without a hitch so far.

Buffalo has given no timeline for when they will release new software for this drive, but it crashes Snow Leopard (OS 10.6) when you try to use the security unlock software. Other users are reporting the same issue on the Buffalo user forum.

Also, the way the USB plugs into the drive, it can easily get tweaked. I had the drive in my bag and the plug is now bent. I am worried that it's going to just give out one of these days.

Going to just move my data off it and look for something better.

I bought this product for TimeMachine backups, and it worked great...until it started failing just 6 months after purchasing. I was reluctant to send it back to Buffalo for RMA since it had my backup data on it, and I couldn't erase a bad drive. But it didn't matter, because Buffalo tech support never answered the phone to help me. I gave up trying to RMA the drive, but I won't be buying another Buffalo product again any time soon.