HP Pocket Hard Drives

Hey all. I was wondering about any experiance any one might have had with theHP Pocket drives.

I initially looked at them, then I went to the Lacie Mobile Drive, and the Lacie Rugged Drive because I love my Lacie D2.

Then I was told I needed to check out the Seagate External Drive which I had decided upon.

Well, after my 3 buisness day delay from HP (I didn't mind) and the subsequent $50 coupon they gave me for my "troubles" I am reverting back to my origional choice, the HP pocket drive. It is frequently on sale for $159, and with the $50 and other $10 coupon I have, $99 sounds great for a 120 GB personal drive.

This will be used primarily for storage on vacations (for my Everio HDD video camera and my DSLR pictures, as well as maybe a couple films for flights or road trips, whatever). It may see some quick travel use, with regaurds to videos I want to share at work, or on the road, and other minor stuff. I don't forsee long term storage on the unit, but I do want reliability for those vacation films and photos!!!

Any thoughts on the HP drive? I searched and didn't see too much stated about them, so I wanted to see if I could find an opinion.

 

Well I have the older generation HP Mobile Hard Drive (40GB) which was max at the time it still works perfectly, haven't had a single issue with it. The great thing about it is the fact that you don't need an extrenal power source and can use the USB.

I'd expect the newer drivers to be better but mines still going strong.

 

That is a requirement for me. I don't want to seek an external power source for the unit, which has limited me in what I can use to fill my needs. I origionally looked at the HP Personal Media Drive but I found out it was externally powered.

Anyways, thanks for the opinion. I want at least 100GB, because a DVD will take up ~5 GB plus Daemon tools to mount it, it will be easy to take up 30 GB worth of film for our trip to Rome in the spring. That is one long flight

 

You are lucky Rome is beautiful

Yeah my 40GB drive is full now, I'm constantly removing things so I can use it. I will probably be getting another one soon as well

 

In order for the drive to be powered by USB 2.0, it needs to be a 2.5" model. The 3.5" drives cannot be powered by USB alone, hence they need an external PSU.

I'd go for the HP drive if you can get it for $99, that is not a deal you see everyday. It would actually be more expensive to build it - $82 or so for the 120GB 2.5" drive, and then another $17 - $26 for a good 2.5" enclosure.

 

All of the HP drives, according to my experience, are made by Seagate. I dont know if that effects your decision, but just thought you may want to know. HP may design the enclosure, but the drive inside is a Seagate.

 

Or you can grab an OEM Seagate HD, and pop it in, lets say,

the CoolerMaster X-Cool


or the Vantec Nexstar 3

 

Chaz
I didn't know what the differance was in the USB powered drives and the external source. I appreciate the info. And yes, $99 is really a great deal, so I suspect I will sit back and wait for the sale again.

acaurora
Awesome. Being a Seagate makes me feel pretty confident in it's abilities and reliability, so yes, that and your input has helped steer my decision.

coriolis
Thanks, but I need a USB powered unit. That Vantec Nexstar 3 in black got me all excited too, but it is externally powered. I will tell you one thing though, Just because it is so sexy I might just pick one up and make my own desktop HDD with it. The Lacie is cool, but that case is damn fine!