Maxtor ONE TOUCH II 250 GB External Hard Drive with Firewire and USB 2.0 ( E01G250 )

by Maxtor

Product Details

• Item Weight: 6 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 6 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0004HPY28
• Item model number: E01G250
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 10, 2004

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Maxtor improvews its "pushbutton" approach to data backup with the OneTouch II external hard drive, which offers added data protection along with enhanced backup capabilities and a simplified user interface. This 250 GB external drive. It comes with an exclusive version of Dantz Retrospect software for easy backup, Maxtor's exclusive DriveLock security feature for added data protection and more powerful restore capabilities, including historical backup recovery.

New features of the Maxtor OneTouch II external drive include:

• Simpler backup: No complex menus or commands or in-depth technical knowledge are required to set up the Maxtor OneTouch II drive. The new click-through installation asks a few simple questions such as the user's name and preferred language, while configuring the software in the background to automatically back up all locally connected drives and files on the computer every day. This powerful, yet simple, default setting backs up virtually everything on the local drives including all Microsoft Outlook emails, address books, Internet favorites, My Documents folder, operating system, applications and more. Once installed, the Maxtor OneTouch II drive runs quietly and automatically. Users do not even have to close an application or a file for the drive to back up the saved versions.
• DriveLock security: The Maxtor OneTouch II also offers Maxtor's new DriveLock feature for added data protection. This feature allows users to password-protect the contents of the drive, keeping important data safe from unauthorized users. Once a consumer powers down the computer, or the drive is removed from the system, access to the drive will be automatically locked until the correct user defined password is provided.
• More powerful restore: If data is lost, restoring a backed up copy from the Maxtor OneTouch II drive to the source system is simple. With historical backup copies, users can restore their entire system to its backed up status from yesterday, two days ago or even two weeks ago. The user is simply guided though a three-step process that includes clicking on the desired point in time, selecting the files or folders to restore and then choosing the destination for the restore. The drive also self-manages its storage space and deletes older backup versions as the drive fills up.
• New user interface: Maxtor has redesigned the graphical user interface from the ground up so that installation and setup are easier than ever. The wizard has an exclusive design that combines storage, security and backup in a single solution, in contrast to other offerings that only drop in software without integration
• Mac bootability function: Mac users have the option to create a fully bootable backup copy of their main system drive. Once a bootable backup copy is made, users can restart their system quickly using their Maxtor OneTouch II drive as if it were their system drive. Nothing needs to be moved or disconnected.
• New look: The Maxtor OneTouch II drive sports a new, sophisticated, contemporary look that suits a home or office setting and distinguishes it from competing products.

Product Description

Includes: USB 2.0 cable, 6-to-6 pin FireWire cable, AC power adapter, vertical stand, & software. Maxtor OneTouch II 250GB External Hard Drive - Backing up your data is an essential chore in the digital age, but how can you do that easily when you have thousands of files spread over Gigabytes of hard drive space? With the Maxtor OneTouch II, that's how! This external hard drive has push-button functionality that lets you backup not just your important files, but the entire computer in one fell swoop! With 250GB of storage space, it's hard to find a system it can't backup. Just look at the amount of control & options you get with this drive: Saves historical backup versions Full system restore to an earlier version Simple diagnostics check the health of your drive with a single click Tuneable drive performance Hot-Swappable Customizable Maxtor OneTouch Button Power management and on/off switch Bootable copy of your entire system with the push of a button on Mac OS X Kensington security lock slot Connects to a PC or Mac via USB 2.0 or FireWire 400

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Utter and complete trash!, December 30, 2005

By 

Beach Guy - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Maxtor ONE TOUCH II 250 GB External Hard Drive with Firewire and USB 2.0 ( E01G250 ) (Personal Computers)

As a former Microsoft software engineer who assisted in the development of the FAT and NTFS file systems, I can confidently say that this drive's backup software is one of the biggest pieces of trash I have ever encountered in the retail market. The bottom line is simple: it DOES NOT WORK as advertised. Among its many deficiencies, the developers have foolishly developed their own user interface, depriving customers of the standard interface they have come to expect in Windows applications. As a result, the backup software is unnecessarily difficult to use. To make matters worse, I have encountered file-copy errors each and every time I have attempted to use this product(these seem to be bugs in the backup software, not problems with Windows or the Maxtor drive itself), and the user interface is so impoverished that it cannot properly describe the problem. Worse, the application does not respond properly to various simple commands: such as start, stop, etc. In short, my experiences with this product have been totally unsatisfactory. The quality of the backup software is so low that it feels like it could have been developed by 14-year-olds working in their bedroom. Maxtor should be ASHAMED of itself for shipping such a poorly engineered and badly tested piece of junk! Like you, I work hard for my money -- so I hate it when I find I've been tricked into spending it on a product that can't live up to its marketing hype!!!

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bad boy back up device, for a price, February 5, 2005

By 

Charles Bittner "Disabled comedian & gamer!" (New England USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Maxtor ONE TOUCH II 250 GB External Hard Drive with Firewire and USB 2.0 ( E01G250 ) (Personal Computers)

Here is a review of the 200 gb drive

go to digitalvideoediting.com to see there review

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Enter the OneTouch II from Maxtor, which ships complete with software that's been upgraded to Danz Retrospect Express HD. It's a great improvement, and much more sophisticated than the earlier version. Like the earlier Retrospect Express software, you can automatically back up your files every night, but now the software can create restore points similar to Windows System Restore, allowing you to fully restore your entire drive choosing from whichever date you would like. The software continues backing up versions and showing you their restore dates until the entire drive is full. Of course, you can restore individual files as well, and if you want, you can still back up your system the way the previous software did where it makes an exact duplicate of your hard drive without compressing anything. That's versatile. I was impressed with this new software, and began using it every night soon after I installed it. If you'd rather do it yourself, you can use the much-touted OneTouch system, where all you have to do is push one button and it backs up everything you specify. Another great attribute of this one-button feature is the ability to set it so that any other software backup package of your choice is launched when you push the OneTouch button.
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They point out that the firewire transfer speeds are slow, just and FYI. also the software is much improved over version 1 one touch drives.

Have fun and get it done

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I've purchased my last Maxtor product, November 29, 2005

By 

Jeff Wiley (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Maxtor ONE TOUCH II 250 GB External Hard Drive with Firewire and USB 2.0 ( E01G250 ) (Personal Computers)

I bought two of these within three years, one 80GB and one 200GB, each to be used exclusively for backup purposes. Each died shortly after the one-year warranty elapsed. The second one overheated so badly, that I literally had to unplug the device, and wait about 30 minutes before I could even touch it. I figured that the first time was a fluke; two in a row, though, is probably not.

The Retrospect software was also completely unreliable. I had configured the script to run automatically twice a week, and with each drive the software would mysteriously remove the scheduled script about once every two months, and I would have to reconfigure the software at that point. While I'm completely comfortable doing so, many people would not be, and those are the people that Maxtor, among other manufacturers, are targeting with these types of products. People want overall ease of use with technology products, and the Maxtor external backups were never as such for me.

I purchased a Seagate external backup drive after my Maxtor 200GB fried, and I've owned it for almost a year. The software has never failed, and the backups have always run as scheduled. The backup software is also far more user friendly than Retrospect. The only positive I'd give the Maxtor drives over the Seagates are that the former is quieter, but that isn't a dealbreaker for me. I work in information technology, and have for 15 years. I'm not one of those I.T. guys who always swears by one manufacturer's hard drive, but at this point, Maxtor has lost me as a customer.