Iogear Ion 120GB Combo USB 2.0 Drive (GHE135C120)

by Iogear

Product Details

Product Manual [3.09mb PDF]

• Shipping Weight: 5.2 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000092YNU
• Item model number: GHE135C120
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #223,078 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: April 2, 2003

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

IOGEAR's 3.5" Combo ION Drive is the most stylish and practical solution for storing and protecting your documents, as well as audio, video and other media files. This attractive and small-footprint enclosure boasts both USB 2.0 and FireWire (a.k.a. iLink & IEEE 1394) compatibility. The ION Drive supports extremely high data transfer rates of up to 400 Mbps (FireWire) and 480 Mbps (USB 2.0) for blazing fast transfer of large multimedia files. It is also backward compatible with USB 1.1 specifications. This enclosure is very easy to connect to your PC or Mac desktop or notebook, is hot swappable and Plug-n-Play. The 3.5" USB 2.0 ION Drive is backed by IOGEAR's 3 year Limited Warranty.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From FAT32 to NTFS Drive, February 4, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Iogear Ion 120GB Combo USB 2.0 Drive (GHE135C120) (Personal Computers)

Configuration: Windows XP Pro. USB.

Windows XP reecognizes immediately the hard drive when you plug in via USB and so you're ready to go immediately.
The annoyance is that the device comes pre-formatted FAT32, resulting in multiple Drive Letters as FAT32 can't cope with such capacity.
So the trick is to use your computer management and then disk management to remove all drive letters and then reformat (quick) the whole device in NTFS format. Then a single drive with almost 120 Gb: Not bad !!
PS: You can not reverse to FAT32 afterwards and every data previously stored will be erased ! So if you wanna do this, do it immediately when getting the device

I give 5 Stars as the gear is OK, but for the documentation it's really poor ! a half star Max :)

3.0 out of 5 stars Backup Guy, July 22, 2004

By 

M. J. Bush - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Iogear Ion 120GB Combo USB 2.0 Drive (GHE135C120) (Personal Computers)

Just took the Drive out of box and went to instruction manual to install. It tells you to remove cover and take out retention bracket. You DO NOT need to do anything except plug it in. So shame on IOGEAR for not revising manual. Comes with four partitions but does not tell anywhere (web site, manual, etc.)how to reformat, except reviewer on amazon (thanks). Product is fast even though I am USB 1 on my home computers. There is slight vibration if u place the drive on same table as your PC. Having not purchased any other high capacity USB drives, I can't compare to the competition. It is a good value for the money and was shipped promptly via amazon/J&R store.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't waste your time.., January 6, 2005

By 

Cycleboy189 "Cycleboy189" (Pinole, California) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Iogear Ion 120GB Combo USB 2.0 Drive (GHE135C120) (Personal Computers)

The first drive I received was broken. Parts were rattling around inside the case. The second drive I received worked once then XP wouldn't recognize the drive at all. Shipped booth of them back. The owners manual is out dated and useless. It tells you that you have to open the cover and remove a retention bracket. Don't do it because you don't have to anymore and if you open the case your warrenty is voided! Drive case had a very cheap plastic feel to it. There is also a vibration if you put this on the same desk as your pc. I would suggest another company for a better hard drive.