Rating: 
Summary: Perfect Secondary/Backup Hard Drive for Laptops
Review: I have been using Maxtor external hard drives for just over a year now and have made recommendations to family and colleagues which have resulted in them buying many of them as well. So with experience with close to a dozen hard drives, we have not had any problems and have nothing but praise for the drives. First off, with internal hard drive prices for laptops so expensive and so difficult to install, external hard drives that use firewire (IEEE1394) are a great option. These hard drives use both firewire and USB, so you can take the information and hot swap it among multiple computer (like a thumb drive) or keep it plugged in to a single computer for use a secondary hard drive. I have found virtually no speed difference between accessing files on the external hard drive versus the internal. The automatic backup feature, makes the hard drive all that much more useful. It comes bundled with Dantz Retrospect Express program which is an easy-to-use option for automatically backing up just what you want with a touch of a button. I backup often, usually just punching the button as I go meet to clients. It usually finishes the automated process by the time I return. Because backing up is so easy to do, when I did lose the hard drive on one of my laptops, I barely missed a beat after I got it replaced, simply restoring the drive image to make my new laptop look just like my old one. I highly recommend Maxtor external hard drives.
Rating: 
Summary: Wouldn't put anything important on it.
Review: I have had to send mine back to Maxtor three times! THREE TIMES! Because the drive failed altogether. I know this happens alot because the process to get a new one is far too easy :) ! From techs (not at maxtor) I have talked to the drive is not the problem its the crummy controllers. Either way you end up with a dead drive. I use mine as a backup with data I could live without (music, photos, ect) and it just sits in the closet. My logic is that if I don't use it it won't break.
My recomendation is to avoid it. It may not fail, but why risk it?
Rating:
Summary: Crashed and burned - this Maxtor drive is a piece of junk
Review: I loved this drive at first. It was exactly what I was looking for as a backup solution. Allowed me to archive an entire volume and then store the disk in a safe. Perfect. But when I tried to perform my second ever backup with this drive (three weeks after initial purchase), things got ugly. The Retrospect software got halfway through a backup set and then froze. I then got a error message like: "Delayed Write Failed : Windows was unable to save all the data for the file C:\somefolder\somefile. The data has been lost. This error may be caused by a failure of your computer hardware or network connection. Please try to save this file elsewhere." The drive itself started making loud grinding and metalic clicking sounds. Hard drive crash, I assume? Same grinding/clicking any time I power up the drive. So I can't even get to the data I backed up a few weeks ago. Sorry Maxtor, I need a *reliable* backup drive. That's the idea behind backing up your data, remember? And now I have no backup solution and have to deal with a mail-order return hassle. Take your quality assurance people out back and flog them.
Rating:
Summary: My (older) Maxtor drive is a heckuva workhorse
Review: I owned the older model (Maxtor 3000LE 120 GB USB 2.0 - ASIN: B00006B6LH) and have had it turned-on and in-use since 2002, viturally 24-7, without a single hitch. This includes traveling around (checked bagage, backpack, etc.) and all the bumps and jiggles that go with that.
So, factor that in when you consider this model.
Rating: 
Summary: I got lucky
Review: I purchased the Maxtor hd and then read the reviews. I assumed I'd be shipping it back for a refund. Maxtor has a "Read Me First" page which corrects an error in the User's Guide. Perhaps this was a problem with early shipments? Since I have a slight touch of Alzheimers, I actually got to that section of the User's Guide and noticed that the written instructions didn't match what I was seeing on the screen. While I was fumbling around for Maxtor's 800 number, I ran across the Read Me First page again which guided through the rest of the set up. All easy enough. I backed up my documents, 3 Gb, which took only a few minutes with the 2.0 USB connection. If not for the error in the User's Guide I would've rated this buy 5 stars. The one button update works fine. On a noise level, Maxtor rates between my Dell and Gateway, so on that basis, I rate the Maxtor noise completely acceptable. The only issue left is longevity.
Rating:
Summary: A satified customer
Review: I purchased this product in spite of the not-so-glowing reviews because it just seemed to be the best value. I am glad I did. It works very well with Windows XP. It's quiet. It doesn't seem cheaply made. And it is way superior to tape backup.
Rating:
Summary: Skeptical Buyer
Review: I read and researched alot about this drive before I bought it. It was on sale at CompUSA for $129.00 after discounts and rebates. At first I thought I made a mistake because my keyboard and mouse stopped working whenever the device is plugged in. I realized that it has to be off while the system is booting and then turn it on, but only after the install and setup is completed. It also came with Retrospect back up software. What else do you need? I like this drive and would recommend it to anyone. Make sure to read the installation and setup instructions carefully.
Rating:
Summary: very pleased with this
Review: I spent a couple weeks checking out different external drives all over the net. I wanted a large hard-drive, that I could move from computer to computer, wanted something fast without a lot of noise and I wanted the best deal going. I got all my wishes with this. I checked around the cheapest I could find this same model else where was $189, so amazon's $169 was much better, then they had the refund. Free shipping so saved even more. It was easy to set up, done in minutes. So now I have quick, fast hard-drive backup, that I can move to my various computers. It was not noisy. Don't think I can same anything more. Good, fast and a super deal and free shipping. I am happy!
Rating:
Summary: BEWARE!!!!
Review: I was extremely excited about this drive but it almost crashed my brand new high end gaming system. First of all, the drive would periodically fail to be detected (until I restarted). Then one day, my computer basically stops working - everything ground to a halt and every program took minutes to open then crashed. I was on the phone with my pc's tech support and they were ready to replace the system completely when I simply unplugged my Maxtor Onetouch and everything went back to normal. This drive has some MAJOR compatibility issues. Maybe you will get lucky and things will be fine but I don't think its worth the risk. p.s. The backup software is also extremely difficult to use.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice idea - questionable reliability
Review: I'm dealing with mysterious system hangs and a "Onetouch" process that seems to launch randomly and take all my system CPU cycles so everything runs really slow. Killing the process fixes the problem until I reboot. But the hangs seem to be getting worse.
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