Toshiba 500 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Dive HDDR500E04XL (Liquid Blue)

by Toshiba

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 3.2 x 0.6 x 5 inches ; 1 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B002BW6DBU
• Item model number: HDDR500E04XL
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (601 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 14, 2004

Product Description

Capacity: 500 GB | Color: Liquid Blue

Toshiba’s Portable External Hard Drives make computer backup simple. Our drives take the complexity out of backing up your computer data by providing easy-to-use backup software for both Windows and Mac users. Powered by USB 2.0, you can take your files just about anywhere. Just one click and you’re on your way to creating a digital safety net to help protect your files. With Toshiba’s Portable External Hard Drives, you’ll enjoy mobile storage space for even the largest digital libraries. Our 500GB1 Drive is capable of storing up to 142,000 digital photos, or 131,000 digital music files, or 410 downloaded digital movies. Toshiba’s Portable External Hard Drives work with both Mac and PC computers and include software that makes backing up your computer simple. Note: The part number (P/N) that appears on the packaging is used to identify all the items in the box, including the hard drive (which has its own distinct model number), color, software, cable, user guide, etc. This number is used for ordering purposes. The model number that appears on the bottom of the hard drive is used to register the device with regulatory agencies (UL, FCC, etc) and identifies a specific mechanical and electrical design.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

361 of 367 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love Tosh drives, August 9, 2009

By 

Gadgester "No Time, No Money" (Mother Earth) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Toshiba 500 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Dive HDDR500E04XL (Liquid Blue) (Personal Computers)

I have half a dozen Toshiba portable drives and some of them have served me well for several years. They are reliable and fast -- with the 500GB portable drive I get about 20MB/s read and write speeds (tested on two recent HP laptops, one with Intel and the other with AMD both running Vista), which is half of USB 2.0 high-speed's theoretical max throughput. The drives can be used with the PS3 and Macs out-of-box, but for best results with XP/Vista/Win7 you can convert it to NTFS without reformatting or losing existing data via a DOS command: convert g: /fs:ntfs [where g: is the drive letter, or you can use a volume name like "tosh_500g" if your drive is already named tosh_500g].

Because this drive (like other portable drives) does not use a separate power line -- it draws power directly from the USB port -- your computer must have a powered USB port to use this. Almost all recent desktops and laptops have this feature, but if you experience any problem, it may be due to an insufficiently powered USB port (or USB hub), so try another port or another computer.

In addition to being a fast 5,400RPM drive, this Toshiba includes some valuable features:

- Backup software that backs up system files in addition to regular files and folders (great for system recovery!)
- Password-protect your data through encryption
- Drive space alert lets you know when free space is running low
- Toshiba's famous shock-absorbing technology, also used in iPods.

BTW, this drive is also a great value because at present a 320GB Seagate portable drive costs over [...], plus tax.

104 of 110 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very cool drive!, October 26, 2009

By 

Patrick Stirling - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Toshiba 500 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Dive HDDR500E04XL (Liquid Blue) (Personal Computers)

I've only just received this, listed as "Toshiba USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive" in the 500GB size. It has a very cool design, the case is similar to my 5G 30GB iPod - a smooth, flat front/top with a rounded back. It has a nice discreet blue activity light in one corner of the top (i.e. front) surface that is on for power and blinks for activity. The USB2 connection is a micro style and contrary to another review is a standard cable - this micro style is quite common, I have it on my GPS and camera so can use the same cable for all 3. The cable supplied is a short single cable (i.e. not a "Y"), and my Asus netbook powers it with a single USB port. The drive (like all of them) is just plug & play - plug it in, the computer sees it, and you're off. I reformatted it to a single large NTFS partition, 465GB (drives are always sold with powers of 10 "GB", i.e. 1GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes (10 to the 9th power), whereas computers use powers of 2 "GB", where 1GB = 1,073,741,824 bytes (2 to the 30th power). I don't like this sales speak, but Toshiba do clearly state the difference in the very short instruction sheet - to their credit.

The drive comes with NTI Backup Now EZ. I already have a backup strategy (using xxcopy, I recommend it!) so have no need for this. It's well reviewed though.

4 stars rather than 5 because I don't know its reliability yet, and it's not quite as fast as I'd hoped (but still fine).

The main reason I got this particular drive is that Toshiba have a 3 year warranty, and the others all have just 1 year. And $90 with free shipping is a great deal!

I also got the Kroo Portable Hard Drive EVA Case, it fits well - just enough space for the drive and short USB cable. It's a semi-hard case, but very little padding. Much better than leaving the drive naked but I wouldn't want to drop it!

73 of 77 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great product!, August 30, 2009

By 

Taeko McFadden - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Toshiba 500 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Dive HDDR500E04XL (Liquid Blue) (Personal Computers)

This hard drive is great! I had a previous clunker that took up a lot of space. The Toshiba 500 GB easily plugs into a USB port and doesn't require an additional power source. It is very small and easily fits into my computer bag. I recommend this hard drive for anyone looking for a way to store a lot of material and not take up a lot of space.

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