Toshiba HDDR250E03X 250GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive Reviews

• Toshiba HDDR250E03X 250; The Review

  
  By A33DXT3AD5DHCB on 2008-07-03
  I am using a Dell Dimension 8400, PIV, 4GB RAM, XP Pro SP3.
  
  FIRST IMPRESSIONS; An attractive product, thin, stylish, one happy blue "I'm Working" light on the face. Very light, overall, a very slick package. Please note; Amazon's size information is completely wrong. The unit's measurements are 0.65"(H) x 3.2"(W) x 5.0"(D).
  
  OUT OF THE (exlicative deleted) BLISTER PAK; The blister pak is, as always, a total pain. In this case, the product was double blister paked, I assume not only to deter theft (the primary aim of this unfortunate developement of the late 20th century), but also to provide shipping protection. I am grudgingly grateful for the strong packaging as Amazon did not pad the shipping box. The pak contains the unit, a USB2 cord, and a warranty card. My two primary reactions to the "out of the box" experience were a strong feeling of irritation at the length (or lack thereof, more on this further on) of the USB cable, and a curiosity as to where the software was.
  
  INSTALLATION; Ok, No software and a REDICULOUSLY short USB cable, 12"!? Useless to ANYONE who isn't using this unit with a laptop who wants the hard drive to be RIGHT next to their work. If you want to do ANYTHING else with this HDD other than put it on the floor next to your desktop (if it's on the floor), have it BEHIND your desktop (if your puter's on the desk), or literally RIGHT next to your laptop, BUY ANOTHER CABLE IMMEDIATELY. The short cable is an excellent example of today's engineers being completely out of touch with the user's needs. Since there was no disc, I just plugged it and played it. Installation was fast, and completely trouble free. I immediately started to copy a folder of 54.1 GB of photos. The copy took about 2 hours. Not bad. CNET lists this unit's write speed @ 77Mbps, and 152 Mbps read speed. According to CNET, the unit's write speed is slower than some of the other pricier comparable units on the market, and the read speed is about the same as the others.
  
  NAGGING THINGS; I took a look at the drive's health using Diskeeper 2008 Pro Premier. I was surprised to see that the drive is formatted as FAT32, not NTFS. I do not know why, and I have an e-mail in to Toshiba technical support to find out if it's cool to reformat the drive. I didn't buy this HDD to do scheduled back-ups, but when I was on the Toshiba site, I noticed that their other mini HDDs have back-up software. My unit didn't come with any software. I felt robbed, but, upon futher investigation, discovered that this unit comes with Toshiba's back-up software pre-loaded. I will see how it works later, and if I don't like or need it, I will remove it.
  
  PROS; Small, stylish unit, good read/write speed, VERY GOOD PRICE POINT.
  
  CONS; Most users will NEED to get a new cable for comfortable use.
  
  ERRATA; I purchased the Caselogic PHDC-1 Small EVA External Hard Drive Case that was offered as a "bundle" from Amazon. I found the case to be a PERFECT fit. A nice semi-hard case with a pocket for your cable.
  
  
  

• USB Drive Will NOT Work Without A Very Special Cable

  
  By A3S8MDWEC0P3QV on 2008-05-13
  I purchased this drive and plugged it to 3 different Windows XP PCs. None of them was able to get the drive to work. It turns out the drive requires a special USB power cable from Toshiba (yes only from Toshiba). BUT, currently Toshiba does not have such a cable in stock. And worst of all, Toshiba storage technical support has no idea when such a cable might be available. This drive might work a VERY new PC or Mac with USB 2.0 ports. Any other computers that are slightly older (than a year) should not use this drive. I am returning it. I can't believe Toshiba fools consumers like this - sell a drive without a proper cable.
  
  

• Great BUY !!!

  
  By A13QOK3SKIT9QL on 2008-04-12
  This hard drive is simply the best. It is very light and fast. The price couldn't be better. My only regret is that I bought the 250 GB insted of the 350 one. When my work mates saw it they order one for themselves.
  
  

• Toshiba portable hard drive

  
  By A3ISJJZATA1FOC on 2008-10-13
  This hard drive is exactly what I needed to back up my large LP record files. I especially like the included software that keeps all selected files current with any changes or additions that I make. I was quite happy with the price and delivery on this item.
  
  

• Toshiba 250 GB

  
  By A17NCDTKKDI6M0 on 2008-05-18
  Fast, compact and silent. I like the fact that it's USB powered as well, no need for an AC adapter. Not *exactly* 250 GB which is to be expected, no other complaints. - recommended.
  
  
• Decent
  By A16KZCGHQ32TI1 on 2008-06-01
  This little drive does it's job well. The colorful design is nice and makes the drive stand out and easily recognizable amongst other drives. It feels a little flimsy compared to the Western Digital Passport models which are very similar in size and function. Good value for the price.
  
  
• Well, this is a perfect external harddrive!!!
  By A7U22VRDJQKA0 on 2008-06-09
  I got mine today for 90 bucks. I think the price is ok for an external harddrive with actually 233 GB space. The cable comes with the drive is pretty short like about 3 inches? However, I already have so many cables, so it doesn't really matter to me. People with cable problems, the problem can be solved by using a regular USB cable with a big plastic thing ahead from the plug to the drive. Most USB cables don't have that thing, so they won't work on this drive. The drive is very small, and very portable. Even though it is 5400, a little bit slower than 7200. So far there is no problem at all.
  
  
• Great second drive
  By A12Z6VTGA6I357 on 2008-07-02
  This drive is great as a second drive. It is where I store all my digital music and photos to keep my internal drive free for operational use. Size and ease of use are perfect for portable use.
  
  
• Great External USB Drive For The PS3!!!
  By A2W1AN1XXC6TPL on 2008-08-14
  After doing some research, I didn't find a lot of information on USB HDD's compatible with the Playstation 3. However, based on all the great reviews of this drive and the great price, I decided to take a chance and buy it even though the technical specifications didn't list this drive as compatible with the PS3. Well I'm very happy to say that this drive worked PERFECTLY with my PS3! All that it comes with is the drive, a manual and an extremely short USB cable (not a problem for me since I've got the drive sitting right next to the PS3). It was just plug and play- First, I turned off the PS3 through the switch in the back of the unit. Then I connected the cable to the Drive, and then the other end of the cable to the USB port on the PS3. I turned the PS3 back on and instantly the PS3 recognized the drive. I backed up all my data (about 25G in about 30 minutes). Then I downloaded some content from the Playstation store directly to the drive and then played the content back directly from the drive- again, worked like a charm! The PS3 version that I've got only has a 40G Drive and that fills up fast, so this 250G back up is PERFECT!
  
  I highly recommend it for you PS3 users out there!!!
  
  
• pretty good
  By A1N9VP6ZAIQM1O on 2008-08-15
  its a good harddrive for its price....
  
  one negative though is that the cord is really short...
  
  cool sleek design... perfect for people on the go.... and for laptops
  
  
• Junk
  By AM21DT2373YF on 2008-08-25
  I used it one time, to back up my PC. The next time I tried to use the hard drive, it failed. Now I am unable to access or erase the data on the disk. While I do not doubt that Amazon.com would take care of me, I don't feel comfortable returning it as the drive has data on it. I guess I just bought an expensive paperweight.
  
  To add insult to injury, the drive went on sale at another retailer for $10 less than I paid for it at Amazon.com, shortly after I bought it.
  
  
• Easy to use
  By AE9TRP4GZOJR0 on 2008-09-15
  I originally bought this to replace my laptop hard drive. It was very easy to open up and get the hard drive out. I was then able to put my old laptop hard drive (80 GB) in the case and use that as an external hard drive. The only problem is the usb cord is only a foot in length, but I'm using it for the portableness. I was able to transfer a 5GB file in about 1 1/2 minutes when using both new and old hard drives.
  
  Other Information
  The drive is MK2552GSX which is Sata 300, 5400 RPM, and 8MB cache.
  
  
• Fast & tiny
  By A2V601AE4465ND on 2008-06-28
  This drive is little, light, pretty, and works great. No brick needed (but possibly a double USB cable). Love it!
  
  
• Toshiba's External Hard Drive
  By A2JTC1NSDVGFO4 on 2008-07-11
  This is a good hard drive brand. I recommend that if you need extra hard drive space, this is the brand to get, especially if you have a Toshiba computer.
  
  
• Great Product!!
  By A2FLEHQHOAEUNC on 2008-09-14
  -1 Star
  Supplied USB cable is too short. It's ok if you are always using it on a desk with your laptop but if you will be using it mobile with your laptop or on a desktop you will more than likely need a longet USB cable.
  
  Product is as described and transfer speed is not incredibly fast but is sufficient. No external power is needed and that is a plus. Case seems to be made of durable materials though i would not chance putting it in harms way. Disc is very quiet. Overall, i would buy this product again.
  
  
• i love this product
  By A2K5RTQ1J7UAY on 2008-09-19
  Works just fine. Easy to use. Came on time and it fits in a small safe.
  
  
• Toshiba Portable USB 2.0 250 GB Hard Drive
  By A1BAOQKU2U7COR on 2008-09-23
  While I've only had this drive for about a month, so far it has worked very well.
  
  
• easy, fast, perfect
  By A1QHECVCPDTTT9 on 2008-10-06
  easy to use, fast reading data, perfect to carry on the go. i love it!!!
  
  
• Excellent!
  By A23E9QQHJLNGUI on 2008-07-16
  This is my 2nd. Toshiba External Hard Drive purchase. Out of the box it works perfectly on either my Compaq Desktop Win XP, which I've also never had an issue with, as well as my HP Vista (not particularly happy w/Vista though). Got a great price too.
  
  
• Very good so far
  By A197YF3OTG4SAK on 2008-08-15
  It is working great so far. I like the design and the size. In did not give a 5 star because , as many other reviews say, the SW it uses is not flexible and can be a little bit annoying.
  
  

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