Customer Reviews

SmartDisk USBFLB40 40 GB FireLite USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I was happy to find a name-brand external drive that would connect via a single usb2.0 slot. The price after rebates was higher than the brand-x alternatives, but I wanted to deal with what I considered to be a "Real" company.

The drive was fast, quiet, and trouble-free. I used it on a variety of systems to move data around and to backup critical files.

After 6 months the unit refused to work. No lights, no sound, no data, nada.

The tech support staff was quick to answer, but their answers weren't really helpful. I was to send the drive back and they would send a replacement. However, if I sent the drive back, then the data, which is worth a heck of a lot more than the drive, would be gone.

To get my data, I opened up the drive container and found a Samsung drive inside. I put the Samsung drive into a "brand-x" 2.5" drive enclosure and connected it to my laptop. The Samsung drive fired right up and I got my data back. This indicated to me that the problem was not with the drive component, but with the firelite drive enclosure. To test this, I put a fujitsu drive into the firelite enclosure and it failed to work. The problem was obviously with the firelite enclosure.

When I sent this information to the smartdisk support staff, their response was as follows:

Hello:

If you opened the drive up, there would be no warranty.

Regards,

Chee Lo
SmartDisk Technical Support


So now I have a working Samsung drive and a dead firelite enclosure. For this combination I paid a premium price.
I could have bought a bare drive and a brand-x enclosure and saved a LOT of money.

Given that the only part of this product designed by smartdisk is the part that doesn't work, and the idiotic return policy that prevents data recovery, I woul never buy another product from this "Real" company again.

Repeated emails to tech support and customer service go unanswered.

If your data is important to you, get a different product. If it's not, then why are you backing it up?

Its small form factor makes this USB-powered 2.5 inch hard drive an excellent travel companion. If your laptop provides (sufficiently) powered USB ports, you will not need an optional separate power supply for the drive.

While the drive comes packaged with a power chord that would be fed from a PS/2 port, this would not help users such as me who don't have a PS/2 port on their laptop; luckily mine provides enough power on the USB port to operate the drive.

One thing missing in the package is a basic backup/restore/sync utility, i.e. a stripped down version of LinkPro PowerSync; other manufacturers have already started to pay consideration to this common use of external hard drives.

While it may be cheaper to burn a couple dozen CDs for a backup, it is time consuming, does not provide for the convenience of instant access, and would result in a lot of extra weight to be carrying around while travelling.

If you need to backup large files (over 2GB) under Windows, you will have to convert the drive from its native FAT32 to NTFS. Converting the format is pretty straightforward if you're using Windows XP's "convert" utility [go to the command prompt, type in "CONVERT /?" and you'll see all the options].

People looking at this item probably have searched for a numerous external hard drives. And also have looked at an item called "GigaVault" made by Sony. (Or at least heard about)

1. This device does not have a AC Adapter because it does not need one. It's amazing how the unit is able to get enough power from USB while having a 40 GB hard drive.

2. It's compact and stylish design makes easy to carry around. The size is smaller than adults' palm.

3. Sony "GigaVault" is battery powered with same capacity and speed, but it is about 100 dollars more. That's ridiculous. This drive is powerful enough, that it does not need a external power.

The price might be a little steep comparing to other hard drives. But in the long term, you will say it was smart investment.

I bought this unit a little over a month ago. I wanted to use this as a back up for my data stored on my computer hard drive. That way I could travel with it to work and also to use on my laptop. I hooked it up to my desktop, which was very easy to do. Being cautious by nature, I only transferred a few files over a 3 week period to see if the drive would work. It did, perfectly. I then decided to transfer all my data to the FireLite because I wanted to do some "clean up" of my files and programs on my computer hard drive. When it came time to transfer the data back to the desktop, I only retrieved 4 files when the light on top of the unit flashed and I got a message that I needed to format the external hard drive. None of my files were retrievable; they were gone for good. I tried everything I know to get those files back. Nothing worked. Finally, I decided to format the unit to see if I could use it again. The message I get now is that it can't be formatted. The SmartDisk FireLite is a piece of junk - don't waste your money.

I've ordered a Seagate external hard drive because the reviews I've read about it are pretty good and there are a few at work that have proved to be dependable. I should have done that in the first place! Order a Seagate, Maxtor or Iomega, but don't order a SmartDisk FireLite.

This is a great unit for putting in notes, financials and other stuff you want to keep seperate from your hard drive. I've stored things I don't want to risk in case of hacker attack on my PC and other stuff that's just stuff; thoughts, musings and open ended pieces of writing. Several people have cautioned me about storing photographic images since they would lose something by bringing them out again and again. Then again, I've also been told by another knowledgeable person that this just ain't so. I error on the side of caution and use CD's for this.
The unit is so compact, you can just slip in a little drawer or lay it aside on your desk so it's within reach without taking up much space. The speed is just great; plug and play. I've been doing an audio diary so may use it to store this too rather than have CD clutter and also run the risk that others may use them for coasters for their martinis! Heck kids, why I can remember clear back to those days when 40 gigs WAS your hard drive and that was all we had in them thar years for ALL our stuff. Why, this is real luxury to have another whole 40 gigs you can just carry around and fill up with all kinds of crazy non-necessities just for the heck of it. Phuewee!!

Quit after about 1 year. Tech support no help...out of warranty. Would not/did not replace it with another Smartdisk product. Hard drive works, but enclosure with USB power kaput.

Fast, small and light, however, two samples of this product have totally crashed making it completely unreliable for its main purpose, accurate backup. Cannot recommend.

I work as an author and seminar/training class instructor. Due to this I travel a lot and am frequently asked to review hardware. I have tested Maxtor, Seagate and these SmartDisk FireLite models. In my opinion, the FireLite is the best external hard drive for those who travel because of its small size and light weight.

The drive does not have the shock resistance of the larger cases and this should be kept in mind. You'll want to be careful with it as evidenced by another review elsewhere related to these devices.

My biggest suggestion: Don't consider any USB drive a permanent backup solution for your data. They are just hard drives. If you have any data that is important to you, it should always be in two, or more, places at the same time. This is true with any storage medium.

Tom Carpenter, Senior Consultant - SYSEDCO

If you buy a fine extern hard drive disk for backups, and this is the most frequent way to use a extern hard disk, you expect the hardware were accompanied with friendly software. Well this is not the case of the Fire Lite 2.0 USBFLB40. The version of "BounceBack Express" software is a cheep one that is very difficult to use.

I recently bought a second 40gb..the exact same one

THe nice big blue light is nice to see if the HD is being accessed.

Its durable, but the HD does stick sometimes...I either plug it back in, or a "SMART" Tap on the top does the trick.

Even though I'm not the most gentle person to it..it still works great!