Hitachi SimpleTOUGH 500 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive
Tough enough for just about anything a typical day throws your way, with a cool topside LED for the nightlife, the SimpleTOUGH(TM) Portable Hard Drive is backed by a 3-year warranty for ultimate Hitachi quality and reliability. Designed with a rough and tumble lifestyle in mind, the SimpleTough drive from Hitachi features award-winning drive design in a tough-as-nails skin. 59 lbs (267 grams) "The Hitachi SimpleTOUGH is by far the most indestructible external hard drive we've tested. Hitachi Global Storage Technologies develops an innovative range of advanced hard disk drives used to store, preserve and manage the world&rsquo. ll find Hitachi hard drive technology inside more and more leading-edge electronics devices from companies worldwide who put their trust in our heritage and reputation. The concept of a good ruggedized portable USB hard drive for the consumer market is LONG overdue. DO NOT BUY - ALL UNITS ARE DEFECTIVE By RW ***** WARNING: THIS DRIVE IS GARBAGE - DO NOT BUY - DO NOT BUY - DO NOT BUY - DO NOT BUY *****I picked up one of these a couple of weeks ago. Shock and Water-Resistant body for inadvertent bumps and splashes Rubberized, ergonomic sides for Grip-on-the-Go 2GB FREE Online Backup Service - Hitachi Local and Ultimate Backup(TM) online service for maximum protection Joggle(TM) Digital... With a built-in USB cable, two-tiered data security package, and an impressive three-year warranty, we have no issue recommending this external hard drive to shoppers looking for space and security. 59 pounds Memory: 8MB Hard Disk: 500GB Plug n¿ play simple for instant USB drive access Keep your data intact ¿ no reformatting required Rugged pocket-sized design Velvety smooth texture for a secure grip Durable and made for travel. This is ridiculous especially in this day and age where portable hard drive technology is MATURE AND WELL ESTABLISHED. 2/8/10 - UPDATE - HITACHI, YOU NEED TO REPLACE THESE DRIVES. HITACHI - *RECALL* THESE DRIVES before someone forces you to do so legally. Best yet, you¿ll never have to carry a USB cable again, SimpleTough¿s cable is integrated, flexible and, yes, rugged too. The 500GB SimpleTough worked fine the first few times I used it, plugging the fold out USB ribbon cable into a laptop or desktop. I can't say all of these drives are bad since it was just this one, but if you buy one of these KEEP YOUR RECEIPT AND ORIGINAL PACKAGING. UPDATE:12/7/09 - Opened support case with Hitachi's Storage support (aka their SimpleTech division)[. and was faster than any other external USB drive of its size that I've ever used. ]12/9/09 - no reply from Hitachi support, not even an acknowledgement of my support issue that I filed through their portal. The drive may be ruggedized, but clearly the ribbon cable is a serious Achilles heel. The stars are the first (and sometimes only) thing people look at. 11/4/09 - NO STARS, Amazon, how about giving us negative star review capability. I predict Hitachi will not have an external storage business at this rate, and will spin SimpleTech back off as an "unprofitable" venture. So during my last attempt I was going to give up, box it back up and return it. I started to reach to unplug the drive and lifted it up off of my desk a little bit. Now all of a sudden I start getting "Device Not Recognized", no matter what laptop or desktop, USB port, or even USB hub (powered) that I plugged it into, and regardless of OS (using XP or Vista). Size: 500 GB Color: CarbonFiber Brand: Hitachi Model: ST/500GB Number of items: 1 Dimensions: 3. got a replacement SimpleTough 500GB, so far it is working great. I have treated this drive with kid gloves and it never got any kind of abuse, period. I am never recommending anything made by Hitachi to anyone. - Tried emailing Hitachi about this issue, no response. After being used for very light duty (probably have copied about 100GB+ data to it that was read statically off and on afterwards, not much writing/deleting after that), and being treated like a fine piece of delicate glass artwork for a few... bad USB ribbon cable, and bad workmanship. For now, it's definitely a 1 star (0 star) product in my opinion. Most helpful customer reviews 244 of 256 people found the following review helpful. But if I gently tilt the unit to a 45 degree angle, magically the USB cable works.