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76 of 77 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Portable Hard Drive, August 19, 2009
I got this portable hard drive recently to use for Time Machine with my MacBook Pro. Some notes and observations so far:
1) First off, the hard drive's ruby red color is not as bright as the Amazon photo. It's a darker red, which I prefer.
2) As with most portable hard drives, it is very quiet. Sitting a foot or two away from it, you should barely hear it, if at all.
3) This hard drive does not spin down after a certain amount of inactivity (unlike, for instance, a WD Passport, which spins down after 10 minutes or so of inactivity). You may or may not prefer this, depending on what you use it for. I use mine as a Time Machine, which backs up my hard drive every hour. I prefer the fact that it doesn't keep spinning down and spinning back up every hour (many argue that this is worse for a hard drive than simply leaving it on all the time, but there are varying opinions on this).
4) I wouldn't say the hard drive runs hot. It feels warm to the touch when idling all day like mine. However it may get hot if being used for constant data access. The only time it has felt somewhat hot is when I did the initial ~200GB backup of my hard drive.
5) This hard drive works well for daisy chaining. I have it connected to my MBP via Firewire 800, and I have a Firewire 400 external hard drive connected to the Iomega. NOTE: If you have the Iomega connected to your computer via USB, you cannot daisy chain a Firewire device.
6) Size-wise, it is a bit bigger than my (USB-only) WD Passport but it is still fairly compact.
7) The exterior feels like plastic, but the box says that the case is made from aluminum, so I'll trust that it is.
8) The light on the back of the drive is VERY bright. It actually projects light onto my wall. The color of the light may vary. I bought two of these drives from two different Best Buys... One has a blue light, the other has a white light. Either way, I found the light to be pretty annoying, so I simply covered it up with a small piece of black electrical tape. Works well.
9) Comes with a USB cable, Firewire 400 cable, and Firewire 800 cable.
10) One review noted: "No on-off switch, drive does not stop when computer sleeps, does not stop when computer turned off!". As far as bus-powered 2.5" portable hard drives go, I have not seen any with an on-off switch, although some may exist. If you want that, you will probably want to go with a 3.5" external desktop drive. HOWEVER, I think it is important to note that the Iomega WILL power down when the computer is sleeping or shut off. I was worried when I read this review because I thought the drive would keep spinning when I put my computer to sleep, but this is not the case. The only thing that stays on is the light. It will only turn off when you unplug the drive from the computer.
Overall, this drive works perfectly as a Time Machine. It is fast, small, quiet, not too hot, and unobtrusive. After the initial backup, you should barely notice successive backups (unless they are really big ones). The price is also great for a portable hard drive with three different connectivity options. The only thing I can't review is hard drive longevity... Only time will tell. Here's hoping that it lasts for a long time.
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