Technology Blog

Toshiba 650GB External Hard Drive (HDDR640E04XR)

The line between portable and desktop external hard drive is becoming increasingly slim. The new Toshiba 650GB External Hard Drive (HDDR640E04XR) ($159.99 list) is pocket-sized and possesses the software package and storage capacity of most desktop external drives. At first glance it looks just like any old external drive that you might use to backup your files. Don't be fooled: This device means business. 
Design
The HDDR640E04XR weighs a scant 0.3 pounds, and at 3.2 by 5 by 0.65 inches (HWD), it's smaller than Toshiba's previous hard drive, the Toshiba HDDR320E03X ($199.99 list, ). The only other design difference is the new paint job. The basic black color scheme with swirling white accents is gone, replaced by a glossy "Rocket Red" and black chassis surrounding the 2.5-inch 5,400rpm hard drive. At first, I thought the red was bit bold and ostentatious, but then I realized that the color might be the only way to differentiate this drive from any other 2.5-inch external drive on the market.
Features
Like its predecessor, the HDDR640E04XR needs only one USB 2.0 port, rather than a needing to use two ports (via a dual-headed USB cable) for power like some older external drives like the Seagate ST9160821U2 ($290.00 Street, ). The cord that Toshiba provides with the drives is hilariously short, barely a foot long. If you're going to use this drive with a desktop tower you will need to rest it on top of the case or risk it dangling off the chassis. Toshiba does sell a 4-foot version of the cable for $14.99, but you can find a cable like this at your local Radio Shack for less.
When you plug in the HDDR640E04XR, a pop-up menu will ask you what computer system this drive will be used on. For Windows-based PCs only, the drive will be formatted in NTFS. If it will be used on both a PC and a Mac system, it will be left in an FAT32 format for cross-platform use. If you are not sure, it will remain in FAT32. The drive comes with the NTI Backup Now EZ program for Windows PCs and NTI Backup Shadow 4 for Macs. NTI Backup Now EZ is an excellent tool. It automatically scans your drives and suggests possible backup scenarios for you—all you have to do is click OK.
Performance
Using the Backup Now software, I backed up our 1.22GB test file in 2 minutes 46 seconds. This was a bit slow, compared to other drives in its category. The Seagate FreeAgent Go (500GB) ($239.99 list, ), for instance, completed this test in 1:16. I was able to drag and drop the same files onto the drive in 48 seconds, so if you're in a hurry that might be a better option. While speed may not be the HDDR640E04XR's strong suit, it has a couple of software advantages that other drives in its price range don't have. For one thing, you can password-protect the entire drive with a 256-bit encryption, a nice safety measure. I especially liked the disaster recovery solution that HDDR640E04XR gives you. If your PC crashes or Windows won't start, you can use the drive for a full restore. The NTI Backup Now program allows you to turn the drive into a bootable disk with a full drive image.
The Toshiba HDDR640E04XR is a great choice for the laptop user who needs to back up his entire drive regularly. There are other drives out there in this form factor with higher capacities, but this drive is a great combination of software and hardware.

(from internet)