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SimpleTech Duo Pro External 1TB Hard Drive
Price Range
$178.99 - $367.99

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Overall Rating
1 Star Review

Reviewed by: martesian

Updated:12-12-07

Duration of ownership:2 Days

Strengths: Product was not operational when I received it.

Weaknesses: On two different purchases, both had loose screws inside the sealed case. Warranty restriction did not allow me to open the case.

Overall Evaluation: It is apparent that the Quality Control of this product is weak or non-existent. Both should never have been shipped to the reseller. The product operational quality may be O.K. but they must produce a product which allows it to be used for me to find out.
Overall Rating
4 Star Review

Reviewed by: BenG

Updated:06-02-08

Duration of ownership:1 Days

Strengths: Can do RAID 0 and RAID 1

Weaknesses: Large, no eSATA cable

Overall Evaluation: The Simpletech Duo Pro 1TB drive is a solid external drive. It actually contains 2 500 MB drives in one case. Due to this, it is considerably larger then some other 1 TB drives. However, this does give the drive some flexibility. It has a switch on the back that allows you to change the drive between RAID 0 and RAID 1. In RAID 0 mode, you get the full 1 TB, faster then a standard drive, but if one of the drives goes south, you lose everything. In RAID 1 mode, you only get 500 GB, but if one of the drives dies, you won't loose your data. You can't switch back and forth without reformating your drive though.The drive comes with a USB 2 cable, but no eSATA cable, which is a bit of a disappointment. Others have complained about broken cases when they bought theirs, but my case was fine. It also comes with some backup software, but as it is for Windows only, I haven't tried it.The RAID capabilities are about the only thing that stands out with this drive. I got a good deal on mine and have been happy with it.
Overall Rating
5 Star Review

Reviewed by: Phubar

Updated:05-31-08

Duration of ownership:

Strengths: 1TB storage, Dual drives, e-sata.

Weaknesses: none!

Overall Evaluation: I bought this about 5 months ago, to this day it has worked realizably and constantly, I use it to store my home made HD movies, transfers to and from this unit are very fast, I can also play HD content directly from the unit without any stuttering!
Overall Rating
5 Star Review

Reviewed by: xdr4gon

Updated:05-30-08

Duration of ownership:

Strengths: Looks nice (would match a mac pro nicely)Lots of storage at 1 TBRAID0 (1TB)RAID1 (500GB redundancy)Runs cooleSATA is really fast!USB is a plus to have as an option

Weaknesses: Fan can get noisy (may bother some, but not that big of a weakness).

Overall Evaluation: This drive is probably the last drive you will buy in a while. It's got plenty of storage to last a long time and is great for videos, pictures, and music. It runs very fast with external eSATA allowing you to transfer and copy your data quickly. I also like the RAID features so you can really backup your data securely or just run it in performance mode for quick access. The drives inside I believe are 500GB western digital WD5000AAJS drives so they are decent and should last a while (3 year warranty). If your looking for storage, look no further!
Overall Rating
5 Star Review

Reviewed by: jbhongw

Updated:05-26-08

Duration of ownership:3 Months

Strengths: 1TB, Options of RAID 0 or 1, eSata

Weaknesses: Plastic enclosure, A little bulky

Overall Evaluation: I was looking to buy an external hard drive to store family photos and home videos. This was a perfect fit, because the RAID 1 option. I used to make two copies of everything on two different hard drives. I reconfigured this drive to use RAID 1. Now I only need one copy of my files without the fear of a failed hard drive. It's been working great. The eSata interface is really fast. This drive is pretty quiet comparing to the other external hard drives that I've been using. Overall, I am very satisfied with this drive
Overall Rating
2 Star Review

Reviewed by: ltcooperoki

Updated:05-09-08

Duration of ownership:1 Months

Strengths: A lot of storage space.

Weaknesses: Overall the product is too large.

Overall Evaluation: When I received this product it was in it's original packaging, obviously. The plastic was still sealed around the box itself, and yet the hard drive was rattling when I took it out of the box. Also it looked like the warranty seal had been broken. So, in that case, because the warranty was already void, I opened up the hard drive to try and find what the rattling was. Come to find out, it was a screw that had fallen out of the casing somewhere. I could not figure it out so I closed it back up. I would have sent it in but I knew the seal was already broken and there was really no point in sending it especially since I am in Afghanistan and by the time I would have sent it to you guys, assuming you would fix it or replace it, and got it back, I would be about ready to leave. I bought it for my personal use out here. Then to top things off, about a week later, I hear another rattling sound. Open it up and yet another screw had fallen out. This time I took the hard drives completely out of the case and found where this screw and the original screw went. Which was into the case to hold the hard drive in place. I also noticed that almost all the screws in the case were about to fall out because they were so loose. I don't know what you have to do to fix a manufacturing problem like this, but I suggest looking into it. I am not looking for a hand out or a rebate, although it would be nice and would sway my decision to never do business with you guys again. I am just happy that my hard drive works, luckily. I just want you to know so that you can fix it. That is what this feedback forum is for, correct? Have a good one!
Overall Rating
5 Star Review

Reviewed by: justddd

Updated:03-11-08

Duration of ownership:2 Weeks

Strengths: Price, performance, external design

Weaknesses: no eSATA cable

Overall Evaluation: I use this product as a primary backup device and so far has no complaints, working flawlessly with out existing backup software (I didn't try included Fabrik package). The USB connection with RAID-0 delivers pretty good performace and I hope eSATA will show even better results. The problem is there is no eSATA cable included and it's not easy to find one in off-line stores. I've purchased cable on-line and as soon as it arrive I will compare both connection options. I read some complaints about bad internal design causing some "rattling" sound but both of my units have no such problem (at least so far)
Overall Rating
5 Star Review

Reviewed by: MT9260

Updated:03-05-08

Duration of ownership:

Strengths: Very quick and solid drive, RAID for speed or security!

Weaknesses: Cheap, Not Name Brand

Overall Evaluation: Its a very good drive for the price, but there are broken pieces on the inside floating around the enclosure. I believe its just broken plastic, nothing important, but for an expensive terabyte drive, it shouldn't be broken at all. It doesn't affect performance at all though. Very fast drive, 1TB, looks good, no problems!
Overall Rating
4 Star Review

Reviewed by: levilie

Updated:02-25-08

Duration of ownership:1 Weeks

Strengths: Size, Large Capacity, Price

Weaknesses: Enclosure is not that Great

Overall Evaluation: I have used this External Hard Drive for only a week and that too for Home purposes. So far its so good and fast. I didn't find any problem with it. The speed is good. Also it has a 3 year warranty which is good.
Overall Rating
4 Star Review

Reviewed by: billchendz

Updated:02-25-08

Duration of ownership:10 Days

Strengths: 1. USB port, also very fast eSata port 2. RAID 0 for performance or RAID 1 for protection 3. running quiet

Weaknesses: 1. a little huge (space) than expected

Overall Evaluation: This external HD is a high performance storage for personal use. It has high speed USB 2.0 as well as blazing-fast 3Gb eSata ports. It runs quiet and has RAID techniques for protection. Although it occupies a little bit more space than my expectation, it is a product worthy to buy.