Freecom 56057 1TB Tough Drive USB 3.0 2.5 inch External Hard Drive

This is now my 4th Freecom Tough Drive. I have stuck with them for years now as they are self-powered, have the cable built in and are very resistant to drops, being thrown about, being shoved in bags etc.Should something go wrong with it, as happened to one of mine when I confused the hell out of it by installing all sorts of partitions all over the place, Freecom customer service replaced it for free in an efficient and timely manner.Now for the useful information the speed tests!TEST PROGRAM: Blackmagic Disk Speed Test (5GB Stress Read/Write averaged over 5 minutes of testing)MACHINE: 15" 2.7GHz Quad-Core i7 Retina Macbook Pro /w 16GB RAM at 1600MHz and 2x USB 3.0 Ports(56151) Freecom USB 2.0 Tough Drive 1TB: Read 23.2 Mbps / Write 21.4 Mbps (Old Model)(56057) Freecom USB 3.0 Tough Drive 1TB: Read 71.1 Mbps / Write 60.0 Mbps (New Model)As you can see the USB 3.0 Drive performs roughly 3x better than the older USB 2.0 model.Aesthetically I find the USB 3.0 version more appealing as instead of the logo on the drive and garish flashing blue LED inside the USB cable the rubberised case itself is smooth and unbranded and the bright LED has been replaced with a softer white glowing light akin in the sleep indicators on the older generation of MacBook Pro's.All in all for the difference in price I would thoroughly recommend the USB 3.0 version of this drive compared to the older one as it is not only nicer to look at but also faster and even if you don't have a USB 3.0 enabled computer now you can see it as future-proofing yourself against feeling the need to upgrade to a faster model when it comes time to upgrade computers.N.B. Please note that if your computer does not have USB 3.0 ports this HDD will be no faster than the previous model.

I have now bought three of these drives over the last two years, and have several friends who have bought them on my recommendation. The protective casing ensures that when the drive is accidentally dropped it does not break. I have a 16 year old son who still hasn't managed to break one of these after a year and a colleague who is still using the 500GB version he bought 5 years ago which he confesses to having dropped several times over the years.Other Ext HD's I have used in the past have always had an issue with breaking when accidentally dropped, but the rubberised protective case on these drives provides excellent protection.The transfer speed of USB 3 is as fast as you would expect and I use these drives for storing and running up to 6 virtual machines on from my laptop and they are more than adequate for this heavy data transfer load.The only minor issue is the shortness of the built in rubberised USB connector cable as this can sometimes cause the drive to disconnect when plugged in and laid on the desk next to a laptop, however this is easily fixed by using a standard USB extension cable so don't let that put you off.Whilst these drives are a little more expensive than other models the robustness and reliability will end up saving you money over time.If your after a reliable, robust high performance external portable hard drive then get one of these.

I've just bought another one of these drives. I bought it due to the cable. Yes it's a bit short but it's very stable. A lot more stable than a mini usb port.The drive that packed up was an extreme tough drive. I see that Freecom doesn't do them anymore so that says it all.With regards to a mini usb connection. I've got a WD 1TB with a min usb drive. The connection broke after a year of daily use thus I've just bought my 5th Freecom Tough Drive.Would high recommend these drives as they are very tough and the cable is very stable and with the other 4 Tough Drives I've had for about 6 years. I've taken them around the world and they are still going strong. Like many drives the older ones are just a bit too small these days but excellent Disaster Recovery and daily commute drives.

The drive's main enclosure has a velvety-smooth rubbery-plastic finish, and has a black plastic section at the end which houses the in-built plug lead. There are no power or USB secondary sockets. The lead 'hinges' courtesy of its own flexible material, so I don't feel comfortable bending it too much. So, unless the drive is on your desk next to your PC's USB socket, you're sure to end up needing a USB extension lead. In the lead's closed position, it's held in place firmly by friction and by a magnet that grips the metal USB 'A' plug. The light-blue status LED is solid-ON when nothing's happening, and phases on/off smoothly when there's data transfer. On that front, it's totally silent in operation.The drive takes 36 seconds to appear on my USB2 laptop, and copying from internal drive via USB2 runs at 14.6 MegaBytes/s (I copied a single 500 MB file). Also, it works fine on my little USB-to-TV media player. I have an older USB1 PC with a USB2 PCI card installed and, on this, the drive appears then disappears, with errors popping up on the screen, despite all other USB2 devices working fine.I'm giving it 4 stars because, despite all its merits, I think the lead's 'hinge' is a weak point, the drive is slow to appear on my desktop, and it's the only thing that doesn't work on my USB2 card. Besides, my Silicon Armor A70 got 5 stars because there was no 'but' when I reviewed that drive, and the Freecom attempts to occupy the same market space, so I can't give it the same rating. Of course, if you're after a USB3 drive that's going to sit quietly on your PC, connected via a USB extension lead, then it would get 5 stars; assuming USB3 works, which I couldn't test.

reliable, but the short USB cable make it difficult to use.

disco arrivato venato esternamente.il programma di gestione si blocca e bisogna riavviare il pc.non e' chiaro come funzioni la cifratura hardware.

Fonctionne très bien.Pas très rapide.On aurait aimer le même mais avec un embout usb c universel.

Buy the item in perfect condition

Es 3.0 por lo que va muy rápido. Todavía no se me ha caído pero tiene pinta de aguantar golpes.Lo de tener el USB integrado es realmente cómodo.

Disque costaud, facile d'utilisation.Le câble est intégré dans le disque et même s'il est un peu court, c'est un plus pour le rangement du disque.