Toshiba HDTB405EK3AA 500GB Canvio Basics 2.5-Inch USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive – Black

Reviews

1. by Koopa McBowser January 1, 1970

   I bought this because Toshiba is a well-known brand, it was low in price and I needed a basic-capacity hard drive to pair with my new Sony Bravia for recording things I was likely to otherwise miss rather than for storing a lot indefinitely. There were no set up instructions, but this is probably because most people will likely be using it to plug into a computer and this means you don’t require to navigate options on-screen as you would on a TV.The cable is very short and it was therefore difficult to stand at the back of the TV without the wire being pulled taut. What was worse, however, was that it made a beeping noise once every ten seconds that could go on for up to ten minutes or so, every time the TV was switched on. I tried to live with this even though I didn’t know what was causing it, but then the screen displayed the message: ‘high power USB device detected- please disconnect’, or words to that effect. The TV then switched itself off because the hard drive was taking power away from it. Part of the reason why I bought this over other models was on the understanding that a 500 GB, 2.5″ drive wouldn’t need its own power supply, yet this piece of crap still managed to take power away from the TV. I decided to uninstall it and disconnect it from the TV in case it caused this to happen again and returned it for a full refund. I then spent more than double the price on a WD Elements 2TB external hard drive, and I’m glad that I did.

2. by Pen Name January 1, 1970

   Decent build quality. Trusted brand in the hard disk industry. Respectable 2 year warranty.Effortless and quick setup with no glitches (Windows 7).Transfer speeds on USB 3 as fast as expected.Nice, subtle blue light is especially useful – stays on when connected, blinks during activity, and goes off when safely removed via operating system before physical disconnection.512GB meets my data backup needs. (Also, safer having two small disks rather than one large disk, because if there is a device failure there is a second device for rescue. It all depends on how much you value your data, I suppose.)Cable is decent quality at 43cm long, which is neat and for me is preferable to a longer, flimsier cable for this type of application.Rounded corners a plus point. Minor gripe (hence not 5 stars) is the lack of a protective pouch.Very quiet.Will be used for taking regular backups and not to be always connected, so expect durability and reliability not to be an issue, but it is too soon to tell.

3. by Amazon Customer January 1, 1970

   Bought to be used as the storage device for an LG 4k smart TV.Thought it was a punt as a regular flash drive could not be used by the TV for recording live tv.The drive was detected straight away, is compatible for the auto record of live tv (pause/rewind etc) and planned recording.The drive, tucked away behind the tv, looks ok, if it was placed in view.Was (£35) an ok price for the size of the drive.Very pleased so far.