I have half a dozen Toshiba portable drives and some of them have served me well for several years. They are reliable and quick — with the 500GB portable guide I get about 20MB/s read and write speeds (tested on two recent HP laptops, one with Intel and the other with AMD both running Outlook), which is half of USB 2.0 high-speed’s theoretical max throughput. The drives can be used with the PS3 and Macs out-of-box, but for best results with XP/Outlook/Win7 you can convert it to NTFS without reformatting or bringing up the rear existing data via a DOS mandate: convert g: /fs:ntfs [where g: is the guide letter, or you can use a volume name like "tosh_500g" if your guide is already named tosh_500g].

Because this guide (like other portable drives) does not use a separate power line — it draws power directly from the USB port — your notebook must have a powered USB port to use this. Very nearly all recent desktops and laptops have this feature, but if you experience any problem, it may be due to an insufficiently powered USB port (or USB hub), so try another port or another notebook.

In addition to being a quick 5,400RPM guide, this Toshiba includes some valuable features:

- Backup software that backs up logic files in addition to regular files and folders (fantastic for logic recovery!)
- Password-protect your data through encryption
- Guide space alert lets you know when free space is running low
- Toshiba’s well-known shock-absorbing technology, also used in iPods.

BTW, this guide is also a fantastic value because at present a 320GB Seagate portable guide costs over [...], plus tax.

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I’ve only just received this, listed as “Toshiba USB 2.0 Portable Hard Guide” in the 500GB size. It has a very cool point, the case is akin to my 5G 30GB iPod – a smooth, flat front/top with a rounded back. It has a nice discreet blue activity light in one corner of the top (i.e. front) surface that is on for power and blinks for activity. The USB2 connection is a micro style and contrary to another review is a standard cable – this micro style is quite common, I have it on my GPS and camera so can use the same cable for all 3. The cable supplied is a small release cable (i.e. not a “Y”), and my Asus netbook powers it with a release USB port. The guide (like all of them) is just plug & play – plug it in, the notebook sees it, and you’re off. I reformatted it to a release large NTFS partition, 465GB (drives are always sold with powers of 10 “GB”, i.e. 1GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes (10 to the 9th power), while computers use powers of 2 “GB”, where 1GB = 1,073,741,824 bytes (2 to the 30th power). I don’t like this sales speak, but Toshiba do visibly state the difference in the very small instruction page – to their credit.

The guide comes with NTI Backup Now EZ. I already have a backup strategy (using xxcopy, I recommend it!) so have no need for this. It’s well reviewed though.

4 stars rather than 5 because I don’t know its reliability yet, and it’s not quite as quick as I’d hoped (but still fine).

The main wits I got this particular guide is that Toshiba have a 3 year warranty, and the others all have just 1 year. And with free shipping is a fantastic deal!

I also got the Kroo Portable Hard Guide EVA Case, it fits well – just enough space for the guide and small USB cable. It’s a semi-hard case, but very small padding. Much better than leave-compelling the guide naked but I wouldn’t want to drop it!

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This hard guide is fantastic! I had a previous clunker that took up a lot of space. The Toshiba 500 GB straightforwardly plugs into a USB port and doesn’t demand an additional power fund. It is very small and straightforwardly fits into my notebook bag. I recommend this hard guide for anyone looking for a way to store a lot of material and not take up a lot of space.

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