Customer Reviews

SimpleTech SimpleDrive 250 GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive

5 star:		(65)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(42)

 

 

If $160 for 250 gigs sounds too good to be true... it's because it is.

I bought this drive based on three solid reviews here. I wanted a drive for my Windows XP system to simply back up files (artwork, video and audio). I figured not having a firewire option might slow transfers down, but that really didn't concern me for this purchase. I just needed a good, large back up drive.

When I received my drive, I plugged it in and everything seemed fine. Upon closer inspection I noticed the green "activity light" was hard to see. This is because the bulb is not in position behind the black transluscent face guard. I can see that the green light exists and operates correctly with drive activity, but it's not where it should be (seems like shoddy construction to me). The red "power light" is where it should be.

The REAL issue is this: when I started transferring files (trying to at least) I ran into major problems.

I can transfer small bits of information SOMETIMES (text files, small images one at a time, etc... ), but when trying to transfer larger amounts of data (anything over 12MB or so, say, a folder of MP3's, or a photo directory) the drive hangs, and then causes my system to hang. At first I thought this might be an issue with transferring external hard drive data to another external hard drive, but it happens with ALL data, including data from my on-board hard drive. Often simply powering on the drive causes the system to hang (the system recognizes the device, but then freezes after trying to interface).

When I do get data to transfer, the exchange is pretty slow. I assumed this drive would be a little slower, but it's a LOT slower.

Sometimes there's a "clunk-sproing, clunk-sproing, clunk-sproing." Sometime's the drive seems to be reading/writing correctly(the green light is on --somewhere back there-- and the drive makes the right sounds) but nothing happens as far as data transfer goes. The system thinks it's transferring files, but it's just hanging there.

It's also a task to get the drive to show up. Various combinations of plugging and unplugging the drive, powering up and down, unmounting the drive, etc... will get you a drive letter, but sometimes it's a task. My system gives the "new equipment" alert when I power up the drive, or connect the USB, but it often doesn't show up in Explorer. I've never had this issue with any of my other USB drives. With them, it's "power on=immediate drive assignment."

Windows XP computer management tools state that the drive is "healthy," but who cares if the disk itself is OK if you can't send and retrieve data from that place?

I use computers everyday, so I am fairly confident that this is not an issue with my machine, or my tech knowledge.

I will be sending this back today (I've had the drive four days, and I'm finally giving up). I'm not looking forward to the hassle of the return.

Do yourself a favor and buy the Seagate 160 gig (I can't vouch for the higher capacity drives, as I've only got the 160's). I've got two and I've never had an issue with either. They're solid and fast (I record pro-audio straight to these external hard drives over USB OR Firewire).

*****

Not any discernible noise, unless you live in a Convent, perhaps. Just a gentle whir, when it's actually working. Doesn't get "hot", etc. I live in the real world, not whatever dream-scape some of these reviewers do, I guess. No it doesn't make coffee. No, I haven't timed the data transfers and am having a hissy-fit because it falls five nanoseconds off. This is my second one, earlier, smaller one has run for well over a year, never turned off, no problems.

THREE YEAR WARRANTY! Enough said. Most give you only one year, two max. Shows they have confidence in their product. The included software for backing up your computers main drives is VERY EASY to operate, and favorably reviewed at many sites.

I bought this unit for work with my new Windows Live OneCare. It will automatically back up your computer to an external hard drive, has anti-virus, fire wall and anti-spam. Yearly price ($19) is far cheaper than Norton or the others, and allows you to use it on up to three computers!

I have seen this priced at other places besides Amazon, for a few bucks cheaper, BUT didn't include the shipping, like Amazon. Amazon is the clear winner again!

I have used many simpletech products. Good company with good products & decent customer service. This one is the best price i can find & well built, no problems in installation. A decent one. Buy from Simpledirect through amazon to get best deal.

Buy this, connect to your computer & move all your files to this drive. Turn this drive off. This is the best way to stay away from spyware & hackers. When you turn this drive on, turn the internet off. Safest way to keep your files. No Norton/Mcafee is as foolproof as this idea.

I've always been mildly amused at the pace and scope of storage in personal computers. Back in the dark days of college, when I had a Mac (and this is not meant as a slight to Mac users!), I think my hard drive tipped the scales at a muscular 500MB, or .5GBs in today's accepted measurement. And man, did that 500 do the trick - research papers don't take up too much digital room.

I moved on years later to a Dell PC with a whopping 27GB hard drive. 27GB! "How will I ever fill that up!?" I wondered naively. Mere months later, I discovered how MP3s and .avi files and all their storage-y ilk take up lots of space in no time, and went out and got my non-space having self a shiny new 80GB internal hard drive to get some storage breathing room. Installing it was far from perfect (it didn't dock correctly, plus there were some recognition issues) and was far more effort than it should have been. To this day, the poor thing hangs at a 45 degree angle inside the computer tower, precariously balanced between the motherboard and the first hard drive.

Back in the present, my current Dell came with 240GB, a robust-sounding storage number. "Surely," I thought, "I will never fill that much space," About 25GB away from filling the whole thing up and perceiving my computer slowing down just to comprehend all the data, I needed an answer. And, through amazon.com, I was directed to the Simpletech 250GB external hard drive, and I have nothing (well, mostly nothing) but nice things to say about it.

Another reviewer here appeared to have a bad experience with his 250GB, and I feel for them - no one can ever expect technology to work flawlessly across the endless configurations out there in ComputaLand. But, if you have a system with USB 2.0 and Windows XP, I can't imagine an easier or more pleasant hard-drive experience than I had with this product.

The drive itself is not small or large, resembling a Steven King hardcover in size (but not in content - out in bookstores now! King's latest masterwork, "Hard Drive of Sorrow"! Only 800 pages!). Handy mounts are included for those wishing to place the drive on its side, a la Playstation 2, so space should not be an issue, even on a crowded desk. It can also do nicely as a paperweight in a pinch. The readout on the face of the drive is simple and functional. The HAL-like red LED lets you know it's on - the green LED let's you know it's doing stuff. Simple...tech. Yep, pretty cut and dry on the outside. Wire-wise, the drive comes with its external power source and USB cable, so it's ready out of the box to plug in.

And here's the beauty of it, at least for XP users - the drive is truly plug and play. Although the package came with two CDs of drivers and whatnot (including a tiny, rectangular CD with some kind of "data sync" software I haven't used), Windows recognized the drive immediately, no questions asked. No drivers to install, no installation wizards, no nothing. Boom - ready to go and store huge amounts of data.

I'm no tech expert, so I don't know if the stated transfer rate of 480 MBS is high or low as industry standards for external drives go, but for the casual user, I saw no problems with the drive's speed. It took me perhaps 20 minutes to move close to 60GB of info, but I didn't sit there the whole time watching the progress bar. It seems quick enough, unless time is of the essence.

The final positive is the on/off switch in the rear. As another reviewer astutely noted, by turning the thing off you're pretty much ensuring the safety of the info stored on the drive, though to be 100% safe, I think you'd need to disconnect the USB entirely. It's a nice feature to have, regardless.

The couple of negatives for the drive are minor to me, but might be important to others. The green LED is slightly recessed and a little harder to see in the face of the drive, but it's visible. The drive also tends to make a high-pitched, but soft, whining noise when idling for a while. Those not disposed to soft, high-pitched whining noises should be aware of this, but I found it easily solved by some music or...the off button. Brilliant use of existing options, I say.

So, even though I'm unable to comment on Simpletech's customer service or the long-time life of the drive, it does what it says it will do - store lots and lots of data in a timely manner and allow you to retrieve it. And, at the price, you simply can't go wrong. Pun intended.

This product worked fine for a few months. It was little loud but very passable.

The problems began when it suddenly had so many bad sectors that it wouldn't work at all. It didn't respond to re-formatting or host of other disk repair tools I attempted to use. That's okay, these things happen. The real problem is the SimpleTech support team is absolutely non-existent.

Here's what I tried:
- Calling the support line. Result: Infinite Hold with no person ever available.
- Using their email form for an RMA request. Form results in a case number and instructions to fax some required info (product id numbers, original sales receipt, etc).
- Fax the forms and wait for contact from the Support Team.

Nothing. Never any response at all. This thing is now a paper weight and a lesson in dealing with 3rd rate suppliers.

The funny thing is they keep sending me their "special offer" emails - as if I would buy from them again. I wish there was a zero star option on Amazon.

Not sure what all the complaining is about for this drive...I was at first put off by all the reviews that mentioned failed drives, loud whining sounds and problems transferring large amounts of data, but I haven't had any of those problems at all. Out of the box, I simply plugged the drive into my WinXP system, it was recognized immediately, then I copied a 50 GB folder of MP3s to it. Transfer was fast and without incident, and the drive is quiet as a mouse. I am very happy with this purchase!

I got this hard drive becuase of the low price and for back ups and could never get it to work. My computer, a Dell Dimension 3000, kept giving me messages saying that this device was malfunctining. I contacted SimpleTech Tech support and had another bad experience. I filled out their online tech support request form twice and never heard from them. When I finally reached them on the phone, they told me I needed an updated driver for my USB Controller. I tried, but was never able to find an update so I shipped it back and will try a Western Digital.

I originally had a Simpletech externalhard drive for Christmas and it worked brilliantly. It was fast and so simple.

It was exactly what I wanted it to be, you plug it in, it pops up in My Computer, you open it up, drag your files into it, and DONE! So simple, and it was fast with all my huge video and animation files, and I could run programs off of it.

Unfortunately, I accidentally fried it bringing it overseas, the machine cannot handle 240V.

I replaced it with an Iomega, and I REGRET IT EVERYDAY. The Iomega doenst even work! (see my review in Iomega NAS 110d harddrive)

I really really wish that I hadnt rushed to replace it, and that I mailed it back to have it fixed because it was a really great performance harddrive.

I purchased this drive with great expections. From the outset, it looked good, worked right away when plugged in to Windows 2000. I purchased this as an extra storage, so i moved my data over and created a network share on it. It worked nicely, I could connect from another computer. So far so good.

A day passed; i tried to use the share drive again; no where to be found. When I tried to use the drive from the connected computer - page fault error!. I had to reboot the machine to get the darn thing being recognized again So now everytime I need to use this darn drive after a day or two, I had to reboot the machine.

Don't buy it if you want to use it as an extra on-line stroage. Buy Western Digital is better!

I read other reviews and decided to take a chance. Glad I do not live in Vegas as I would be broke. This machine was horrible. The plug and play went fine and then the fun stopped there. The 3rd file I went to transfer locked my whole sytem up and did not let go until I killed the power to everything. I tried it again and boom!, once again - LOCKDOWN! Packed it up, sent it back and now have an Iomega drive and it is awesome!