Luv the drive, but not the price.
936089
I own several drives on my personal computers. Specifically, I use the Intel 330 (120GB), the Samsung 840 Pro (128GB), and a pair of Intel 530 (180GB) drives on my personal machines. I also installed a Samsung 840 (non-Pro 128GB) drive on my 85 yr. old father's computer.

UPDATED: The Intel 530 180GB drive is no longer sold at the introductory price, but it's still very price competitive with Samsung's 840 Pro. To get 50% more space for about the same price, consider the Intel 530 180GB, drive only --&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Intel-530-180GB-2-5-Inch-Internal-Solid-State-Drive-Drive-only-SSDSC2BW180A401/dp/B00DTPYRKC/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Intel 530  180GB 2.5-Inch Internal Solid State Drive (Drive only)SSDSC2BW180A401</a>.

As an IT manager, I appreciate the benchmarks that my Samsung Pro drive produces, but I cannot tell the difference between my drives during my daily use. Since I'm 52 yrs. old, I may be well past my years of working overtime to optimize every drop of speed out of my system. I can see a significant difference of about 5% in time on my backups, but since my backups are automated on a weekly basis this difference is inconsequential.

More important to me is reliability and durability, and that means looking at program/erase cycles (p/e cycles). By doing a quick search for the reviews on my drives, I quickly found the following:

Samsung 840 (non-Pro) ~ 1,000 p/e cycles;
Samsung 840 Pro ~ 3,000-5,000 p/e cycles;

Intel 330 ~ 3,000 p/e cycles;
Intel 520/525 ~ 5,000 p/e cycles (I do not own this drive, but included it for comparative purposes);
Intel 530 ~ I couldn't find the p/e cycles, but I assume it to be between 3,000-5,000 p/e cycles; maybe it's too early for the reviews to have this info yet or maybe Intel just doesn't want to show that they can't keep the 5,000 p/e cycle standard that they established for earlier 5-yr warranty drives.

While I hope my father's drive lasts several years with the ~1,000 p/e cycle Samsung 840 (non-Pro), if it doesn't, I'll just transfer my Intel 330 to it.

For me, reliability is king. Since I don't use any of my computers as dedicated servers, I expect to get at least 5 years (my computers go obsolete before they fail) from all 4 of my computers. Having reliable parts (especially the motherboard and SSD) is key to reliability. The other keys to reliability is clean electricity (get a UPS if necessary) and a reliable backup plan.

After reliability, I have a need for space. Unfortunately, the Samsung 840 Pro is more expensive now than when I bought it in February. Currently, the Intel 530 (180 GB Drive Only,&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Intel-530-180GB-2-5-Inch-Internal-Solid-State-Drive-Drive-only-SSDSC2BW180A401/dp/B00DTPYRKC/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Intel 530  180GB 2.5-Inch Internal Solid State Drive (Drive only)SSDSC2BW180A401</a>) is almost the same price. UPDATED: The Intel 530 180GB (drive only) is still very competitive, but no longer about the same price.

There is no brand that I trust more than Intel, so, while I still luv my 840 Pro, and appreciate Samsung for helping to lead by creating class leading SSD solutions, the drive is losing it's price competitiveness with the Intel 530 (180GB Drive Only).
1248342
The LaCie d2 Blu-Ray 12x USB 2.0 and FireWire Drive (301906U) does the job, but like others have said, is overpriced. Having read David C. Franklin's very helpful review from June 6th, 2011, I decided to follow his recommendation to buy the same Pioneer Blu-Ray drive that LaCie uses in their d2 Blu-Ray writer and install the drive in a LaCie 22X d2 DVDRW DL Lightscribe USB2.0 and FireWire (301484U) enclosure (link #1 below). Rather than use the Pioneer BDR-206 that David recommends, I decided to use the updated version of the drive, the Pioneer BDR-207DBK (link #2 below).

Link #1:&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/LaCie-301484U-22X-d2-DVDRW-DL-Lightscribe-USB2-0-and-FireWire-US/dp/B001P5C9S0/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">LaCie 301484U 22X d2 DVDRW DL Lightscribe USB2.0 and FireWire US</a>
Link #2:&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Pioneer-Electronics-USA-Internal-BD-Writer-BDR-207DBK/dp/B0075WEPJI/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Pioneer Electronics USA Internal BD Writer (BDR-207DBK)</a>

Provided you have some basic skills, disassembling the LaCie 22X d2 DVDRW DL Lightscribe USB2.0 and FireWire (301484U) and installing the Pioneer BDR-207DBK Blu-Ray writer is a relatively simple process.

Drive Removal:
1. Remove the two screws at the rear of the enclosure and remove the cover plate.
2. Remove the enclosure's two rounded plastic side pieces by gently pushing in plastic tabs (on side pieces).
3. Next, slide the top metal cover away from the front of the unit while gently lifting up.
4. Once the top cover is removed, unscrew the four (4) philips head screws from the sides of the enclosure.
5. Unplug the two wire connections at the rear of the drive.
6. Now that the optical drive is free, remove it from the enclosure by gently lifting it up and out (vertically).
7. Finally, carefully remove the two metallic foam strips/pads from the top sides of the optical drive.

Drive Installation:
1. Install the two metallic foam strips/pads, removed for the non Blu-Ray writer, on to the top of the new optical drive.
2. Insert the new Pioneer BDR-207DBK writer into the enclosure by gently sliding down and in (vertically).
3. Secure the drive in place by screwing the four (4) philips head screws into the sides of the drive.
4. Connect the two wire connections at the rear of the drive.
5. Next, slide the top cover of the enclosure back in to place.
6. Reinstall the enclosure's two rounded plastic side pieces by gently pushing them back into place.
7. Finally, reattach the rear cover plate of the enclosure (two screws).

The modified drive/enclosure is both physically and electronically identical to the LaCie d2 Blu-Ray 12x USB 2.0 and FireWire Drive (301906U). It costs a little more than half ($170.00) what the LaCie Blu-Ray drive costs ($320.00).

Conclusion:
Over the years LaCie has gained popularity by providing well designed and built products. Today, although the design of their products remain more or less consistent, the build quality has not. I have been buying LaCie products for years and I was shocked at how many plastic parts LaCie is now using to construct their drive enclosures. The LaCie 22X d2 DVDRW DL Lightscribe USB2.0 and FireWire (301484U) enclosure used in this modification is identical to the enclosure used for the LaCie d2 Blu-Ray 12x USB 2.0 and FireWire Drive (301906U). For this reason, there is no way for LaCie to justify the pricing of the LaCie d2 Blu-Ray 12x USB 2.0 and FireWire Drive (301906U).

Finally, save yourself some money and send LaCie the message that you will not be taken advantage of.
2280321
Got this HDD for about $140 because my old seagate gave out. I had been looking for a good deal on a 3TB drive for a few months now and when I found this deal I jumped all over it.
4056495
Killer USB 3.0 storage, low low price.  $49 bucks, but you can make payments for 5 years.  Less than a penny a day for years to come.
2709854
I bought this HD because I need more space for the DVD disc images that I back-up, plus I can mount the disc images on my Mac directly from the external drive and watch the the movies without using the discs; how great is that?! My other Seagate 1.5TB Ultra Portable External HD was almost full of data and my Mac only has a 320GB HD, which I can't use the full capacity of anyway because some is allotted for system use. So, this sleek 4TB Seagate drive was exactly what I needed. It may be expensive, BUT it provides tons of space for virtually anything. It also comes pre-loaded with a Seagate software bundle that you can use to format the drive to work with Mac or Microsoft operating systems, or use it for both interchangeably, which works great for people with more than one computer with separate Mac and Windows OS.

One think that happens with it (and other Seagate drives), is that it will fall asleep when it hasn't been used for a prolonged period of time; It will wuurrr back to life when you click on the hard drive icon to use it or drag something to the icon. It is also makes some minor noises when adding, deleting or moving files around (which actually isn't that surprising for such a robust piece of equipment). It also requires an external power source (which is included in the box); the power source is a two-prong AC adapter that can be connected to any common power outlet. The drive can be positioned vertically or horizontally as well (I prefer horizontally); when the drive is correctly positioned horizontally, the power indicator light should be closest to the surface that the drive is laying on (same with vertically positioned).

There isn't anything more to tell that you can't figure out on your own. I do recommended this drive to anyone with a good $200-$300 to spare who needs lots of extra space for their Mac or Microsoft computer. Thus far, it's working fine for my needs. Thanks for reading!
1939653
Since the external terabyte drive with the features I wanted was formatted for the Apple computer, I had to reformat.

It is delightful to have so much available storage space with the portability.

If I had one disappointment, it would be that I could not find an external terabyte drive that also had an IDE or high speed network connection so the read/write access time could be speeded up a great deal.

Also, time will tell how dependable this drive is, so I guess I should maintain backups on CDs or DVDs.
3607761
I love the sleek design, and nice finish. The product, even though very small, still seems very sturdy and well built. I'd recommend getting this drive for anyone who's traveling, or just needs a drive once in a while. It stores away nicely, and runs quietly. The only issue I ran into was the software. You get a disc with PowerDVD software, but your required to install, then upgrade a few times, and even then I found myself tinkering with it some. Also it installs a handful of additional software that you probably won't need, and unless you know what your doing, you'll end up adding a bit of junk to your computer. Once I got through the frustration of setting up the programs, it ran fine. The hardware is excellent, the software let me wanting something a LOT more light-weight.
4121432
Great external drive, especially for the price!!!  The only reason it's not a 5 star, is because of the speed.  Not the best drive if you want to use as a database for video editing.  It is a great drive if all you have to do is store large files off your internal drive
1943902
I have nothing but praise for this drive, save for it's price! I purchased the 256GB Crucial M4 for 159 on sale. This translates to about 65 cents per GB. I would not pay much more for this drive, mostly because I am cheap.

The drive itself came lightly packaged in a cushioned bag, with the original 6x6 inch Crucial box inside, and the SSD in a cardboard holder inside that, wrapped only in an anti-static bag. However, as SSD's are less shock sensitive than normal drives, this is acceptable. Kudos as well to Amazon for shipping so quickly!

The drive performs extraordinarily. I have an ASUS U-45jc, with a SATA II interface. My old hard drive, a 500GB 5400RPM Seagate notebook drive, was on its last legs after three years. The M4 has more than tripled my read and write speeds (see images). Using CrystalDiskMark 50MB test size, I achieved about 260MB/s read and 210 MB/s write. In the future, I'll probably purchase another (smaller) SSD for my desktop, which has SATA III 6GB/s support.

My boot time was originally about 70 seconds (with a password). Now, I would estimate about 25 seconds. Shutdown speed is almost instant (5 seconds) and programs load almost instantly.

The only downside, as I mentioned, is price. I purchased the drive on sale during the holidays; shortly afterwards the price shot back up to pre-holiday sale levels. I recommend not spending more than $1 per GB for ANY SSD, and would search very hard for a good price! Originally, I was planning on purchasing a SanDisk drive similar to this one, but the sale caught my eye. My recommendation is to be patient and hunt down a good deal.

PRO:
Fast! Expect an improvement over almost any spinning drive setup.
Reduced Win7 boot to ~20 seconds on older hardware. Almost instant shutdown.
Shock resistant, no moving parts.
Increased my laptop's battery life by 1/2 hour.

CON:
Expensive.
Limited size selection - there are very few SSDs larger than 500GB, and they're often pricey.

My final thought: if you're building a beastly performance machine, or trying to breathe life into an older high-quality laptop, this is THE way to go. However, think about how much you want to pay for a drive; it might be a good idea to shop around, and consider whether to buy a SSD or a new notebook.
3766763
I was sort of forced into buying this particular drive because I really wanted a decent sized drive with firewire 800 capability and this seemed like the only one available. So far, it's been working great, both as a time machine backup system and a scratch disk for my Adobe programs. I wiped the Lacie default software and disk image, so I can't really review its right-out-of-the-boxness, but I will say it's fast, quiet, cool, compact, sturdy, and it works. The -1 star is only because the only rubber casing it comes with is a horrible orange color and extra skins are like $10 with very limited color options.
2462189
A little overpriced and has sufficient amounts of storage space, but it's nearly impossible to convert this from a removable disk to a fixed disk. This size makes it ideal as a portable image ghosting drive for IT techs. Unfortunately, these companies fail to see how their product would primarily be used for.
2593018
A really tiny drive with a huge storage capacity.  The red color is sharp.  I am not all that thrilled with the included software as I have my own and I found it quite intrusive, so one star off.
3192935
This is a great hard drive (so far).  The lack of needing a power supply makes it so much more portable, and it fits really snugly into the CaseLogic case I got with it.

The only real problem I have (and the reason for 4 stars) is the speed of the drive.  The stats on the drive said transfers would be comparable to that of FireWire 400 (why I believed that, I have no idea), but it's about half as fast as FW400.  I didn't buy the machine to run movies off of it (I have a FW400 drive for that) so the lack of speed doesn't concern me too much.

Overall, this is a solid, attractive, extremely portable hard drive that doesn't require power and will hopefully last me a long, long time.
1307870
I just got this drive today. It had no trouble connecting right up with my new Acer Aspire One and playing a music CD and a DVD. I haven't tried burning anything yet. The drive is nice and slim and ultra portable--no additional power cables needed beyond the two USB cords, but seems a bit fragile. The drive access door definitely needs careful handling!

I did not receive any software or CDs with the drive--just the unit and the two USB cables and the card with the (laughable) instructions. It wouldn't seem any additional software is needed though, as I had no trouble.

All in all, this would seem to be a good value for the price. I'm happy with it. :)
3141891
Great backup drive has some nice features. I only use it every couple months to back up to so I can't speak to how it is as a "daily user"
3384677
I, at least, remember when 20MB drives cost five times as much (well, if it comes to that, I remember the days before 20MB drives for personal computers!)

Now we have access to a 2 *million* megabyte drive for (gasp) *less than $100*. If you need to be convinced of the value of such a thing, you are (no offense meant), a *loony*.

All seriousness aside: Western Digital is arguably the premier disk drive maker in the world. Their drives are incredibly reliable; I've had two of their larger drives for over 5 years now without a single problem. The My Passport series is robust, fast, trouble-free, and overall an incredible value for the money.

The available space is ridiculously large. The most "hard drive" space you can get in a Mac is 1 TB, which means that you can back up approximately *2 Macs* onto this one drive. Considering that you're probably not using most of your computer's hard drive space, and you wouldn't back up all of it anyway, this drive is an excellent (and portable backup solution).

In closing, I can confirm that this drive works seamlessly with Time Machine (for backups) and Lightroom (for managing photos).
2003841
A sleek, sexy 16GB flash drive for a measly $7? Oh, you know I had to buy it! Out of all the stylized metal drives on Amazon, I came to the conclusion that not only was this basically the coolest looking, but also the most cost efficient. The only one cooler would be the Transcend Jetflash, which is nowhere near as cheap as this at the time of writing this. So why bother buying it? Well, I wanted to systematically upgrade my collection of drives I had by having the bare minimum now be at least 16GB and USB 3.0 (I have the ports for it now, and let me tell you- speed is sweet!). So why get this USB 2.0 flash drive? If you couldn't already tell, it was the endearing cost. The sole purpose of this drive was to be for emergencies and not as my main go-to. No, that was supposed to be my new 32GB tiny little SanDisk. I just wanted the innocuous Kingston on my keys for emergency savings of files, possibly access to college textbooks on PDF on me at all times, or some kind of back-up for school projects (sometimes USB 2.0 ports don't like 3.0 drives, after all). It looks so good on my keys, and I play with it constantly. What can I say? I like shiny, smooth metal. It has now become my main flash drive for outside the house. You'd think I'd prefer the speed of my 3.0's. And while I certainly do, the form factor and convenience of this drive make me almost always reach for it first.

Other reviewers scared me with those 1-star reviews saying the chip inside falls out. I found the same story over and over again: after putting it on their keys, each person lost it in a matter of a few weeks or a month without hardly ever using it. Well, I can safely say that mine still has the chip inside after quite some time and regular use. Perhaps Kingston caught on to the bad reviews and remodeled it a bit because I see what appears to be a red plastic structure sealing in the chip in my drive. Now the speed truly is very slow, even for a USB 2.0. The write speed, anyways. But really, at this price range with this aesthetic, it works fine for my purposes- Word documents, PowerPoints, and PDFs, all of which are so small that copying is near instantaneous. If I need to transfer or store a 5GB movie, that's what my 3.0's are for. I do recommend this stylish drive. All my friends think it's the bee's knees.