1TB Western Digital WD Elements USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive (WDBPCK0010BBK-NESN) $65 + Free Shipping

I do not see the $5 promo. I get $29.99 at check out.

Quote from Korian : At Walmart - B&M, I've noticed that their pocket drives/portable drives, prices have dropped drastically these past few months. $50 something for a 500gb and $70 for a 1TB drive is very common. But - one has to remember that to gain the advantage of the speed USB 3.0 provides, you must have a USB 3.0 board with inputs in/on your computer - and you must have a USB 3.0 Cable to link the two together. I don't know if these portable drives come with a USB 3.0 Cable - do they? I know that early last year when I purchased a USB 2.0/3.0 Desktop Drive, it did not come with a USB 3.0 Cable - I had to go out and purchase one myself. Anyway, for those without USB 3.0 on their current Computers, you can easily install a PCI express Card that will give you two USB 3.0 ports for a small amount of money. In fact Newegg has one this week for only $9.99 after rebate ($15.00) and $5.00 off promo - (it's normally $29.99) - it's a HighPoint RocketU 1022A PCI-Express 2.0 x1 Low Profile USB 3.0 Controller Card Here's the link for those interested: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Pro...6816115105 That's a great deal too! K

Quote from Korian : At Walmart - B&M, I've noticed that their pocket drives/portable drives, prices have dropped drastically these past few months. $50 something for a 500gb and $70 for a 1TB drive is very common. But - one has to remember that to gain the advantage of the speed USB 3.0 provides, you must have a USB 3.0 board with inputs in/on your computer - and you must have a USB 3.0 Cable to link the two together. I don't know if these portable drives come with a USB 3.0 Cable - do they? I know that early last year when I purchased a USB 2.0/3.0 Desktop Drive, it did not come with a USB 3.0 Cable - I had to go out and purchase one myself. Anyway, for those without USB 3.0 on their current Computers, you can easily install a PCI express Card that will give you two USB 3.0 ports for a small amount of money. In fact Newegg has one this week for only $9.99 after rebate ($15.00) and $5.00 off promo - (it's normally $29.99) - it's a HighPoint RocketU 1022A PCI-Express 2.0 x1 Low Profile USB 3.0 Controller Card Here's the link for those interested: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Pro...6816115105 That's a great deal too! K

Cheaper on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-2-Por...27c949a3d0

No coupons or rebates needed.

http://www.officedepot.com/a/prod...2000000382

How does this one compare to WD? similar build?

toshiba has 3yr limited warranty

Quote from Korian : But - one has to remember that to gain the advantage of the speed USB 3.0 provides, you must have a USB 3.0 board with inputs in/on your computer - and you must have a USB 3.0 Cable to link the two together. I don't know if these portable drives come with a USB 3.0 Cable - do they? I know that early last year when I purchased a USB 2.0/3.0 Desktop Drive, it did not come with a USB 3.0 Cable - I had to go out and purchase one myself.

These drives are very nice. Very small, and portable. It does come with a USB3.0 cable, but its a short one, maybe 18". No power supply to lug around either.

I bought one of these back during the December $60 Newegg sale. I have been using it extensively to backup my 3 PCs, archive all my downloaded software, install programs, etc. It is a pretty snappy drive when hooked by USB3.0. I measured sustained read times around 90MB/s. I can't remember the write speeds, but they were good too. We aren't talking WD Black speeds, but pretty good considering its a 5400RPM 2.5" drive in there.

I find this drive is really good for doing system backups. Remember that there is a free WD version of Acronis True Image. With this drive, you can use that Acronis software on every one of your machines. I've used it to backup, restore, and clone several of my SSD and it has worked perfect every time.

I mostly use the bootable media version to make backups and restore because the installed software has caused me problems in the past (especially related to sleep mode). Unfortunately, you have to install the software to create the bootable media. However, you can remove the software after you have created your boot CD and/or USB thumb drive.

Regarding the internal drive on this, its not just a soldered on USB connection. There are no SATA connections whatsoever.

Remember that SATA is just the interface, not the drive technology. A drive is only SATA or PATA based on the interface. What we have here is true native USB3.0 drive which I think is ideal for the purpose.

Quote from Reimsrosette : http://www.officedepot.com/a/prod...2000000382 How does this one compare to WD? similar build? toshiba has 3yr limited warranty

Better warranty, but with all the shake ups at Toshiba (acquiring some of Hitachi, some of WD, etc.), their reliability is somewhat unknown. The warranty might be needed

In for one, thanks OP! Also, big thanks to everyone for chiming in on the quality of this product and the relative value of the deal. I've been dragging my feet on getting an portable drive to back-up my PC (I do due diligence consulting on the side and have recklessly not backed any reports/accounting info for over two years now), and this was enough to finally end my procrastinating. Rep coming to all helpful posts shortly!

Edit: Just found out that SD has limits on how much Rep you can give in a 24hr period (only got to page 5 before they stopped me). Thanks again everyone I missed!

They had it up until yesterday for 64.95 on adorama. I picked one up but they're back up to 70

http://www.adorama.com/WDESE1TBU3BK.html

Quote from lou954 : How does this compare to the WD Passport, which one is better?

Anyone have any thoughts on this?