Rating: 
Summary: Functional, fast, and easy to setup
Review: Being the first time I had used an external hard drive, I was surprised at the speed of this drive when used with a PCI USB 2.0 card (I installed this at the same time). Installation was immediate and painless (I used WinXP). It is also quiet. From my research, it seemed like a more cost-effective way of doing it than putting a regular EIDE hard drive in an enclosure kit but I'm sure that would have the same effect. I have only been using it for a few days, but so far I've been very happy indeed with it.
Rating:
Summary: Great value
Review: Easy to install, large capacity, good performance. Even with USB 1.1, the speed seems pretty good. I upgraded to USB 2.0, and now the Maxtor drive seems as fast as the internal hard drive on my notebook. (However, the speed with the USB 2.0 connection is only about 10x faster -- the so-called "40x faster" claim only refers to the maximum throughput that USB 2.0 is capable of, not the actual performance improvement that you'll see with this hard drive.)This is an ideal, low-cost storage solution for notebook users. But, if you want to transfer multiple gigabytes of data very quickly, I strongly recommend getting a USB 2.0 card. For notebook users, I recommend the IBM USB 2.0 cardbus card (ASIN: B00006HUXD, Part Number: 33L3245) because it will only use one card slot. (Many USB 2.0 cardbus cards on the market will actually take up both slots because the USB ports will block the other slot.)
Rating:
Summary: Great value
Review: Easy to install, large capacity, good performance. Even with USB 1.1, the speed seems pretty good. I upgraded to USB 2.0, and now the Maxtor drive seems as fast as the internal hard drive on my notebook. (However, the speed with the USB 2.0 connection is only about 10x faster -- the so-called "40x faster" claim only refers to the maximum throughput that USB 2.0 is capable of, not the actual performance improvement that you'll see with this hard drive.) This is an ideal, low-cost storage solution for notebook users. But, if you want to transfer multiple gigabytes of data very quickly, I strongly recommend getting a USB 2.0 card. For notebook users, I recommend the IBM USB 2.0 cardbus card (ASIN: B00006HUXD, Part Number: 33L3245) because it will only use one card slot. (Many USB 2.0 cardbus cards on the market will actually take up both slots because the USB ports will block the other slot.)
Rating: 
Summary: Broken after 7 months very light use
Review: Got this drive in the end of last year. And today when I wake up and turn on the computer, it's broken. Can't open any folders, files ... I just wish I have never bought this drive.
Rating:
Summary: Big Drive, Big Speed, Big Value
Review: I could back up all 4 of my PC's three times on this drive with room to spare. It's that big. Being external USB, it's portable. Being USB 2.0, it's fast. I only have USB 1.1, and it works beautifully with that. I use it with Windows 2000, and I didn't even have to install drivers. I plugged it in and Windows recognized it immediately and I was able to use it "within 10 seconds" as it says on the box. The price was the lowest I've found for a 120 Gb drive. Maxtor has a great product here.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Product; Recommended as a backup device
Review: I have two Dell Latitude laptops running WindowsXP Professional (each with 15-20 GB of data) and a Sony VAIO desktop running dual boot WindowsXP Home Edition (with 20-25 GB on the XP partitions) and Red Hat Linux 8.0 (with about 15GB of data on its partitions). I back up all XP data to the Maxtor 3000LE 5400 RPM 120 GB USB 2.0 Hard Drive. No driver installation is necessary on XP Home or XP Professional. I haven't uncovered a Linux driver for it yet, but I haven't really looked that hard either. I had the unit out of the box and installed on my desktop (running XP) within 5 minutes. The unit has about the same dimensions of a standard 600-page O'Reilly book. It fits nicely on top of my mid-tower case for my desktop, but may not lend itself well to road warriors. To ensure you get the fastest possible throughput, you may have to add a USB 2.0 card to your system. If you're unsure whether your existing USB ports are 2.0-compliant and you're running Windows XP (Home or Professional), there is no problem. You will be notified if your ports are not USB 2.0 compliant (not a "USB High Speed Connector"). For desktops, I recommend the Belkin F5U220 USB 5 Port 2.0 PCI Card (for which a Linux driver exists). For laptops, I recommend the Belkin F5U222 2-Port USB 2.0 PCMCIA Notebook Card. Both Belkin cards come with a lifetime warranty.
Rating: 
Summary: Kind of a clunker
Review: I really like the 120 gigs and the value. And, it seems to be working OK. The speed is fine, too. Why only four stars: 1) My computer crashed TWICE on installation (I have an old Toshiba laptop). It finally installed but was irritating. 2) The drive and wall plug are BIG -- more than half the size of my laptop, which is a clunker! I plan on carting this drive around and I'll think I need to get some kind of dedicated case since it won't fit in my laptop bag. I probably should have paid attention to the size specifications. It is no problem if you are only using it around the house or office but you might consider something else if you plan on including this in your laptop carry-on case.
Rating:
Summary: Good product overall
Review: I wanted an external storage device mainly for back up and to share with other (networked) computers at home. We have 3 desktops (combined 65GB) and 3 laptops (combined 45GB), so a 120GB would be adequate for backup. I bought the Maxtor 3000LE locally from a large retailer mainly for a hard to pass price of about one thirty including sales tax and after rebate. I will admit Maxtor was not on my brands' list (Western digital, Buslink or Iogear), but the price was the deciding factor. I installed it on my desktop, under W98SE and USB 2. Initially, with W98, I downloaded microsoft's update for Fdisk/Format as advised. The instructions are very simple, but imply your OS running with a "hot" plug-in, but my computer kept freezing and crashing (with the dreaded blue screen), and kept having to shut the power off and restart (with scan disk). Eventually I installed the driver CD and shut down. Then I attached the USB 2 cable and powered on, and BINGO. Finally, I formatted and ran a "THOROUGH" scandisk (that was an overnight job and took about 12 hours; WOW! 120GB & glad I did not buy a bigger drive), but I do not believe it is essential. So far, it works fine and it shows as a separate drive in "My Computer" with 111GB, and set it up as a shared drive. I backed up about 4GB from my desktop in about 20-25 minutes. Then I went to another networked desktop computer which has a wireless 802.11b adapter through a USB 1 slot. It did see the Maxtor as a shared drive, and backed up about 1.5GB, which took about an hour. So USB 2 is faster than USB 1, but neither what you would expect based on stated calculations of 12Mbs for USB 1 and 480Mbs for USB 2. I contacted Maxtor upon registration, and got an email reply the next day. They explained the difference of stated 120GB, vs. only 111GB showing, having to do with decimal and binary systems. Windows and OS use the binary system which apparently sees 1GB as about 1.074 "decimal GB". Their "detailed" explanation was too detailed (fancy/computer mumbo-jumbo) for me, and I wish I never asked; also they made no comments on the speed/transfer issue. The box states 5400RPM, but the drive itself has a sticker underneath with the S/N, and states 7200RPM. It does not have an on/off switch, and you have to "stop" it from the system tray, just like you would a PC card, before you disconnect and remove it. It gets warm being on all the time, but not hot, and it seems to have adequate ventilation slots and is quiet. It has to sit horzontally flat, and cannot lay vertically on its side. It has only a one year warranty, and time will tell how it holds up. However, it is faster than conventional "internal" system back up and without taking up native hard drive space, and is also better than using/burning CD's. However, for crucial data, do not solely rely on it, but use it as a second line of recovery, and keep the data on your native hard drive as your first line. I heard of someone at work who kept all crucial business data only on an external drive which he carried with him out of town with his laptop, and unfortunately that drive got lost on a trip. You may possibly have to resort even to a third line of recovery (CD's, tape, outside server), depending on how crucial your data is.
I have no regrets about my purchase due to the price then (even cheaper than comparable internal IDE drives). Overall, however, I would recommend Maxtor 3000LE. Thank you.
Rating:
Summary: Great backup device
Review: This drive rips through a backup job like you wouldn't believe! I got tired of backing up 2 Dell desktops, a Dell notebook and a Toshiba notebook (each with 5-10 GB of hard drive data) using CD-RW drives. You could die of old age waiting for each one to finish. This drive really impressed me with the capability of USB 2.0. I can now back up each PC in a matter of several minutes instead of an hour plus. For the notebooks I use the Adaptec cardbus card. For the desktops I use the GIC250U 5-Port USB 2.0 PCI Card. I'm fully satisfied with all these products.
Rating:
Summary: New milestone in backup
Review: This finally takes away all excuses for not backing up. Easy to install. Great performance and capacity! Looks great too. Another quality product frm Maxtor.
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