Portable HardDrive

Perfect
Having the drive in an area where I work quite a bit I was very concerned with fan noise. The promotion on this drive emphasized its quietness and it is as quite as one could hope. I have it connected to an iMac and utilize Time Machine. When the scheduled back-up occurs, you can hear a slight amount of light drive noise as it spins up but otherwise, nothing. Well built case too.

Reliable, a bit heavy but good looks
I know, I know - your Western Digital's Passport is quite lighter than my Iomega. It's also less bulkier. But mine looks pretty with the steel casing ends and the metallic color. OK, I confess - I bought this one because it was cheaper () than Passport - happy?

But yeah - this is quite reliable, no problems in the past month that I have used it. Alright - I understand, a month's time is pretty short to know if it's going to be my friend for long. But at least today we're going smooth.

Also, since my 250GB buddy's 'portable,' it means it does not need an AC adapter to run it - it just runs on USB. So make sure when you choose your buddy, it is a 'portable hard drive' and not just 'external hard drive'.

The free (I like the sound of 'free') backup software from EMC is good too. Very simple to take automatic backups. Ting! But remember that it backs up in a single data file. So you cannot browse the folders within the backed up data file in Windows Explorer. If you want to frequently access the files on the hard drive (e.g. songs, pictures, documents), you should copy them directly using Windows Explorer instead of the backup software.

OK - so in short - get this one if you consider looks more than smaller size. That will save you a few bucks for your coffee too.

Pretty Good
This is a cool little harddrive. I really like the portable aspect and the fact that you don't have to plug it into anything but the USB port and it's good to go. I use it to hold external old files and it's handling them nicely. Compatible with my MacbookPro June07. The only problem I have with this harddrive is that it occasionally disconnects itself.

Great Product
This product was as it was advertised. Came in very nice packaging, delivery was timely & worked as described. I want to reformant my hard drive with out losing all of my music & photos.

This proved to be an ecnmomical & convenient way to back up my data.

Rugged. Reliable. But I wanted it for my XBOX 360
This thing feels strong and reliable. However, I bought it hoping it would work with my XBOX 360 and it doesn't. But that's okay. I've repurposed it for something else and bought another hard drive. Everything worked out in the end - but it would've been nice for this to work in my XBOX 360 for videos and pictures and music.

It's got that double ended USB plug - so depending on how you feel about that you should know. I have Western Digital drives that are the same capacity that only have one USB - again whatever your preference.

But this sucker feels tough - so I trust that my data is secure on it.

WD HDD is awesom1
It's such an awesome product tho i wished i'd had enough money to have bought the 320gb one.

Very nice portable hard drive
Western Digital My Passport Essential 320 GB USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive WDME3200TN (Midnight Black)

This product exceedes my expectations. It is quiet, petite, and pretty amazing! It handles a tremendous volume of work quickly. Highly recommended!

Great with my Mac, but not on Vista
I consider myself to be very knowledgeable about electronics and computers so I was a little annoyed that I couldn't figure out how to get this to work with Vista. My plan was to back up all my photos on the external hard drive before I send my PC in to get downgraded to XP. I spent 2 hours trying to get this to work but all I could figure out was how to install their Google Desktop (spyware) software and back up emails and documents that were sent and received with Outlook, a program I don't use. I gave up after talking to tech support for 1/2 an hour.

On the other hand, I plugged this into my iMac and it works beautifully! No setup, no spyware, no worries.

Very Nice Unit
It's always nice when something works the way you expect it to, with no esoteric drivers or configuration problems. It's a breeze to pop the drive in your pocket and have 160GB of quick, portable HD space. Much faster than a flashdrive.

If I were to say anything bad, it would be that the drive came formatted FAT32, requiring an immediate reformat to NTFS.

Good for once in a wile use
Its very light and small, so its good to take with you. Has a slower data transfer speed that normal external hard drive, so keep that in mind.

Great Speed
This Iomega Portable HD is great, its small, sleek, and fast. It has some integrated shock absorbers that make this portable since they proctect if from the wear and tear of travel. However if you are a traveling student that needs to switch between mac and pc, you will need to partition and format this for Mac, once you partition one side for Mac and the other for PC you will have no issues using this on the two machines.

Flawless External HDD
I have Time Warner service and DVR Explorer 8300HDC (with OCAP OS). I have this product for about 3 weeks now; no reboot, reset or estrange behavior whatsoever.

When I connected the HDD to the DVR eSATA interface, the DVR automatically recognized it and ask for formating. After clicked OK that was the last configuration that i did.

Recommended

Big, quiet, and reliable....so far
Nice, solid and unusually quiet 1TB drive. Easily boots up and disconnects from the Vista PC I'm using at work. This drive was highly recommended in a number of forums and it's been reliable to date. Will amend this review if that changes.

Good Product!!
I like this one very much. because the same price, but you get eSATA & UCB. very smooth.

Amazing drive
Whisper-quiet and incredibly fast with the included eSATA card.

Most good motherboards bought in the last 2-3 years will have an extra eSATA slot on the motherboard (same slot your hard-drives plug into) or the newer computers will even have an eSATA port already on the outside of your computer.

Either way, this drive is still very easy to hook-up and no drivers are needed with XP or Vista. Remember you don't need an actual PCI, AGP, etc slot open as it plugs directly into an eSATA slot on your MB - you just need an open spot where the card can be mounted.

Spend the extra 20$ or so on this drive and get a good one.

Excellent HD for external storage!
Excellent HD for external storage!

One thing I like from this product is that you have the option to connect it using the USB or eSATA (10x USB 2.0 speed). What I can't find the option of add/remove it using eSATA port as a hot swap; I think this is not possible at this time. Bad things are: it has a bright blue light (you can use tape) and it does not have the option to turn off automatic after certain time of not use. Overall great product.

Fast and runs cool
This External HDD runs like a charm.

Did test hooking it up in both USB and SATA. Both work at their max speeds.

This HDD runs very cool drive run from 32c to 40c which is very good for a drive.

Only con is the power supply cable is on the short side (3 foot looks like).

This is a solid buy.

DOA and how you can fix it!
I purchased this drive a few months back and never got around reviewing it. The fact is, mine arrived DOA. Yes, it wouldn't turn on, yet the voltage measurements indicated everything was alright with the cable, but for some reason it wouldn't power on.

So being desperate, and RMA-ing not being an option because of the time constraints I had at the time, I risked losing the warranty and the money I paid for it, and decided to open it up and see what could be the problem.

Upon tearing the warranty strip on one of the screws and pulling out the cheap metal enclosure, I immediately noticed the cable connecting the board to the power switch was unplugged! It must've come off during shipping, and once I plugged it back in, the drive worked without a single issue.

To this day (almost 6 months after purchase), I am very happy with the drive and enclosure, and have used it extensively for backup purposes via USB (still haven't tested the eSATA interface). The transfer rates are pretty high, and the drive is a standard SATA Western Digital HD (the model name escapes me and I'm not near the product ATM). Aside from that, the enclosure actually feels cheap, and is quite heavy (all metal), which makes it cumbersome for portable use.

The fact that it arrived DOA because of such a negligible issue tells a lot about Cavalry's care of its products. Despite the drive working fine now, I was very aggravated to be forced to void my warranty, which is the reason why I'm deducting 2 stars from my rating. I would definitely *not* purchase another product from this company.

Nerdy girl does her homework
I run a business helping creative entrepreneurs create a fun and funtional home office. I had been asked by several clients how to protect their data. Being a novice techie myself, I did research at CNet, PC Magazine, Amazon, and other sites to find out what external drives performed the best, had superior customer service, and had the fewest user complaints.

This drive was my final choice.

Backing up is a breeze, even with the "slow" USB connection. It took minutes to copy and store my 4 years of notes, audio, documents, and images. It's set to back up regularly now and I don't even think about it.

Admittedly, the instructions that come with this drive are sparse, so be willing to figure out how to connect it and schedule backups. Honestly, it's not rocket science. Using this drive is a shade more sophisticated than using a floppy disk and not as challenging as burning a CD.

I ordered from Amazon (not a secondary company) and all the parts arrived as promised. The sparse instructions included Cavalry's phone number. I haven't needed to call it, but it's sure nice to have if I do.


Yes, Western Digital "My Book" and the Maxtor "One Touch" are popular choices (and sometimes cheaper), but from all my research, the Cavalry CAXM is the best 500G external drive for the price.

The peace of mind that comes from knowing your cherished stuff is backed up: priceless.

I'm thrilled to have this product in my home office so I can get back to work. Good luck in your search!

Cool and Cold
Just like many here, I was somewhat reluctant to buy it because of the unknown name. But... It has turned out excellent! I love the fact that it comes with the eSata kit. I also love the blazing speed. It's quiet and the case is always cool, never hot and I have it turned on all the time. I use it constantly to access giant Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop files as well as HQ pictures and the response is very good.

Cavalry 500GB
Excelent product. Quiet, occupies very little space, it doesn't overheat at all, excelent looks. definitely not cons all pros.

so far so good
This is a solid unit that is truly plug and play. Super quiet as well.

compact size and easy to use
-comes in great colors
-compact, you can throw it in your purse and take with you whereever
-easy to use

ships quickly

Iomega
I'm not a techi by far but I am getting there. What can I say? I'm a girl who loves gadgets and I love the ease and functionality of the cool looking IOmega. I simply needed something to hold my itunes, pics and documents. And shall I say, I will have this for years to come. I highly recommend this. And Ladies, you will love the color that it comes in.

Very compact and robust disign
this hard drive has a very compact and robust design, easy carrying and a beatiful color.

Fast and runs cool
This External HDD runs like a charm.

Did test hooking it up in both USB and SATA. Both work at their max speeds.

This HDD runs very cool drive run from 32c to 40c which is very good for a drive.

Only con is the power supply cable is on the short side (3 foot looks like).

This is a solid buy.

DOA and how you can fix it!
I purchased this drive a few months back and never got around reviewing it. The fact is, mine arrived DOA. Yes, it wouldn't turn on, yet the voltage measurements indicated everything was alright with the cable, but for some reason it wouldn't power on.

So being desperate, and RMA-ing not being an option because of the time constraints I had at the time, I risked losing the warranty and the money I paid for it, and decided to open it up and see what could be the problem.

Upon tearing the warranty strip on one of the screws and pulling out the cheap metal enclosure, I immediately noticed the cable connecting the board to the power switch was unplugged! It must've come off during shipping, and once I plugged it back in, the drive worked without a single issue.

To this day (almost 6 months after purchase), I am very happy with the drive and enclosure, and have used it extensively for backup purposes via USB (still haven't tested the eSATA interface). The transfer rates are pretty high, and the drive is a standard SATA Western Digital HD (the model name escapes me and I'm not near the product ATM). Aside from that, the enclosure actually feels cheap, and is quite heavy (all metal), which makes it cumbersome for portable use.

The fact that it arrived DOA because of such a negligible issue tells a lot about Cavalry's care of its products. Despite the drive working fine now, I was very aggravated to be forced to void my warranty, which is the reason why I'm deducting 2 stars from my rating. I would definitely *not* purchase another product from this company.

Nerdy girl does her homework
I run a business helping creative entrepreneurs create a fun and funtional home office. I had been asked by several clients how to protect their data. Being a novice techie myself, I did research at CNet, PC Magazine, Amazon, and other sites to find out what external drives performed the best, had superior customer service, and had the fewest user complaints.

This drive was my final choice.

Backing up is a breeze, even with the "slow" USB connection. It took minutes to copy and store my 4 years of notes, audio, documents, and images. It's set to back up regularly now and I don't even think about it.

Admittedly, the instructions that come with this drive are sparse, so be willing to figure out how to connect it and schedule backups. Honestly, it's not rocket science. Using this drive is a shade more sophisticated than using a floppy disk and not as challenging as burning a CD.

I ordered from Amazon (not a secondary company) and all the parts arrived as promised. The sparse instructions included Cavalry's phone number. I haven't needed to call it, but it's sure nice to have if I do.


Yes, Western Digital "My Book" and the Maxtor "One Touch" are popular choices (and sometimes cheaper), but from all my research, the Cavalry CAXM is the best 500G external drive for the price.

The peace of mind that comes from knowing your cherished stuff is backed up: priceless.

I'm thrilled to have this product in my home office so I can get back to work. Good luck in your search!

Cool and Cold
Just like many here, I was somewhat reluctant to buy it because of the unknown name. But... It has turned out excellent! I love the fact that it comes with the eSata kit. I also love the blazing speed. It's quiet and the case is always cool, never hot and I have it turned on all the time. I use it constantly to access giant Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop files as well as HQ pictures and the response is very good.

Cavalry 500GB
Excelent product. Quiet, occupies very little space, it doesn't overheat at all, excelent looks. definitely not cons all pros.