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Western Digital My Book Essential 500GB External USB 2.0 Hard Drive

Childrens Toy Shop > Electronics > External Hard Drive
from: Western Digital

November 25, 2007
A very good hard drive that has been backing up to computers (a Macbook and an iMac) for at least 6 months now with no problems at all. The hard drive does make a bit of noise- but being my first hard drive I could not tell you if it was loud compared to the competition.

The hard drive works seamlessly with Time Machine (Apple's backup solution for macs). Another point to note is that I move this hard drive quite a bit across the room, so it has had a couple of 'knocks', but fortunately nothing seems to be affected. But since I do move it, I find the fact that it doesn't power itself purely through the USB annoying as I have to unplug it every time.

In terms of data transfer, it is quick and fast, but since it powers ... Read More:

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Western Digital My Book Passport Essential 250GB USB

Childrens Toy Shop > Electronics > External Hard Drive
from: Western Digital

February 13, 2008
Great Product to use. Trouble with long usb cable to power device,

THE ONE SUPPLIED IS SHORT AND WORKS GREAT.

Format as fat32 to use on xbox360 or ps3 for movies or music.
Format software for fat32 you download would not work on vista but works on xp.
Device is preformated as fat32, i changed between mac htfs+ NTFS and FAT32 to test.

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Caselogic Small Hard Drive Case, EVA Outer, Black

Childrens Toy Shop > Electronics > External Hard Drive
from: Caselogic

June 24, 2008
Recently bought this case for my Trekstor pocket g.u. Provides good protection for the hard drive when travelling, if just a little oversize for the pocket drive.

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Western Digital Elements 500GB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive

Childrens Toy Shop > Electronics > External Hard Drive
from: Western Digital

March 25, 2007
I bought a 250 Gig version about a year ago and it was fine until last week when I started getting I/O errors, I have one of this model too, which is trouble-free, but I use the 250 Gig every day, and the 500 Gig as a backup, so although they are very good value for money it might be worth checking the opposition as well before buying.

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Freecom Mob.DriveClassic 2.5" 120GB USB2

Childrens Toy Shop > Electronics > External Hard Drive
from: Freecom

December 27, 2007
Having previously been stung by a Freecom 8GB memory stick I have a slight thing against Freecom but this looked like it was what I wanted for what I wanted to pay and it is indeed a very neat wee unit.

Plugged straight in and off we went. 111GB usable.

Backed up loads of photos and transfer speeds quite acceptable too so lets hope it behaves better than its memory stick wee brother. So far, so good.

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Western Digital My Book Passport Essential 320GB USB

Childrens Toy Shop > Electronics > External Hard Drive
from: Western Digital

February 12, 2008
This was delivered last week. It looks very nice (although it gets grubby fingerprints on it when you look at it). It should really come with a case but I found it fits like a glove in my Archos case which I had replaced.

I have not bothered with the software but as a drive it is quiet and quick and HUGE. All my photos, music and video backed up in minutes.

I have not a bad word to say about this product. This is not really a terribly sexy area of technology but I am quite excited to own this.

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Freecom Mobile Hard Drive Classic 2.5" 160GB USB2

Childrens Toy Shop > Electronics > External Hard Drive
from: Freecom

December 27, 2007
I wanted a portable hard drive with reasonable capacity as I generate a lot of huge files from movie recording. Having bought a freecom hard drive many years ago that worked brilliantly (it only let me down after I clumsily dropped it down the stairs) and seeing so many positive reviews, I went for this 160GB Freecom drive.

The verdict? This is a fast hard drive with 1GB files quietly copied across in about 60 to 80 seconds. The unit works without a lumbersome power cable (power comes from the PC via the USB cable) which is a major, major plus. There is a Freecom software CD supplied but you don't need it as the drive is instantly recognized by XP and Vista computers. It's also really light and compact, about the size of one's palm. It fits ... Read More:

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Seagate FreeAgent Desktop 500GB External Hard Drive EU & UK 3,5" 7200RPM 8MB USB2.0

Childrens Toy Shop > Electronics > External Hard Drive
from: SEAGATE

February 04, 2008
Purchased 6 weeks ago to backup up movies and files from my PC ,works quickly and smoothly with absolutely no problems virtually silent too!
Sleeps when my PC sleeps and wakes together so I cannot fault at the moment.

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Western Digital My Book 2 Essential 1TB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive

Childrens Toy Shop > Electronics > External Hard Drive
from: Western Digital

October 07, 2007
I have now got four of these drives. That should be all that needs said. I bought my first one of these terabyte drives over a year ago and have never had the slightest problem with it. The drive works great as soon as it's plugged in. I use these drives to store music, videos, photographs and software and have never had a problem or lost any data. The lack of a cooling fan is very good as it lets the drive run almost completely silent. The drive spins down after a few minutes of idleness but takes only a few seconds to get back up to speed. Only has about 930GB of space but it's normal to not get the full capacity that's advertised.
A few pointers to get started with it though -
- Reformat the drive before using it (to NTFS if you want though ... Read More:

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Freecom Hard Drive 500GB External USB-2, silver

Childrens Toy Shop > Electronics > External Hard Drive
from: Freecom

February 01, 2007
Only recently received mine, so I can't speak about longevity yet (will post back if anything breaks), but from first impressions it's a beautiful looking thing, and while compact, feels nice and solid. The aluminium case is great.

It's near-silent: some people might hear more humming noise than others depending on the surface on which it sits, and from what I can tell that's down to vibration rather than anything else. (ie. if you place it on a mouse mat, you'll notice the sound disappears.)

It seems to be well-sealed too, so less chance of dust getting in. There's no bracket with this drive, so while it's sturdy enough to stand on its side without wobbling, you should make sure it's not placed somewhere where it might get knocked.
... Read More: