Silicon Power 1TB Rugged Portable External Hard Drive Armor A80, Waterproof USB 3.0 for PC, Mac, Xbox and PS4, Blue

This hard drive looks decent, like the pictures. It is a bit heavy, which is to be expected from a rugged hard drive. The first one I received only showed up about half of the time when plugged into a USB port. I thought that it was a driver problem, but I tried it on 3 different PCs after installing the driver, and it showed up more and more infrequently. Finally after a month it stopped showing up at all, which was just beyond the amazon return period, unfortunately. I was able to receive an RMA number from the companys website, and I mailed the defective unit to Hong Kong (which cost about $12). About 2 weeks later I received a new (or refurbished?) drive, which seems to work well after the first couple of weeks. I was impressed that the company replaced the defective product with a reasonable effort on my part.

Been using this daily now for work backups to/from home for about 6 months now. Im really in love with the stowaway USB sleeve, which gives just enough distance that it is better than a keyfob USB for connecting to and from laptops without the bulk. It comes with a 2nd cord which is longer as well. Survived a few minor drops and rough handling, as well as some extreme temps both hot and cold (Florida). Havent tested waterproof nature, but handles humidity well. But, with the nice seal on the USB, Ive trusted it against dust or liquids in the same bag. Cons, not as light as WD drives, or as small with the little compartment added for the USB, but its a minimal difference.

I was looking for a MILSPEC standalone drive not made by Western Digital or Seagate. As soon as I got this bad boy out of the box and made a few backups, my dog knocked it off the table, about a 3 ft drop. Grrrrrrrrrrrr. I reconnected the drive and all was well I ordered an extra Male to Male USB cable, but the drive came with 2. I did not re-format as have no files over 4 GB (Blue Ray version of Ring of the Nibelungs, Library of congress card catalogue, etc). This drive had what I wanted, at a good price, and was delivered without incident. Oh, it may have a WD or Seagate drive in it, as they make 95% of all hard drives, but I am not going to open it up and find out. :)

I bought this on 2/29/2012 and it works great when it decides it wants to work. For some reason when I plug it into usb 3.0 port it doesnt get recognized or keeps telling me I need to reformat it. Very annoying to say the least. Works with usb 2.0 ports just fine but the point of buying a 3.0 capable external hard drive is using the 3.0 port. Also emits a high pitched noise thats very annoying when its plugged in. Even when the pc is turned off it makes the noise. Now, the high pitched noise is probably due to my wifi router on my desk (as far away from hard drive as possible) so i deal with it when i need to plug it in. As for it not being recognized I assume its probably a driver issue so its my fault, but I cant figure it out. When it does work its very fast. My old My Passport HD is much much slower than this. I will pay extra money for usb 3.0 forever after using this HD. It is simply 10 times faster than usb 2.0. I have no real complaints with it at all except for the aforementioned user error complaints. I havent tested the drop tests or water resistance specs, nor do I plan on it. Who in there right mind would? Something I find VERY annoying is that I cant find a case large enough to put this thing into. It is rather large at 3-3/4x5-5/8. I figure thats why its built to meet military stress specs. I bought a Nintendo DS case that works but is quite bulky. With a little careful moding of the DS case Im now able to carry the HD plus Ipod touch, cables, sd cards, flash drives, etc. Just throwin some ideas at you if u want a case for it. As far as the product itself is concerned I give it 5/5 stars. As for my personal experience with the product I give it 4/5 stars only because of the case issue. I wont let my laziness bias my opinion and experience of a great product.

Ive purchased three of these drives recently, all from Silicon Power USA - Deal Site. One of the selling points was that theyre advertised as being compatible with Windows, OS X and Linux. But Ive had nothing but problems with them, and Im starting to suspect that the reason has to do with this supposed cross-compatibility. The first drive I received came in a damaged retail package, so I was skeptical that it would work from the beginning. But I kept the drive, transferred about 500 GB of data to it, and after just 2 days it failed completely. I was primarily using it with a Macbook Pro, although I was also connecting it to a Windows 7 laptop (and I also run Linux on my Macbook through a virtual machine). The first indication of trouble was when I could still see the top level file structure on the drive (when using the Macbook), but if I clicked on any particular folder it would show as empty. Then when I swapped the USB cable and reconnected the drive, it wasnt recognized at all. If I tried to connect it to my Windows 7 laptop it was recognized, but I would get a message asking me to reformat the drive. Then before I could troubleshoot further, the drive started making a loud grinding noise. Well, into the trash it went. At this point let me mention that when using these drives with Windows 7, there doesnt seem to be an Eject function. You just unplug the drive when youre done using it, then reconnect it whenever you wish and its recognized again, so they seem to be hot swappable with Windows 7 at least. No problems and no error messages. However, when using them with my Macbook there is an Eject feature, and if you dont use it the Macbook will give you an error message saying that the drive wasnt disconnected properly and that it will attempt to repair the damage the next time its connected. Now Im having trouble with a second drive. Once again the trouble started after I transferred about 500 GB of data to the drive. The first thing I noticed was that the drive seemed to be disconnecting itself, because I would receive the error message that the drive hadnt been properly disconnected when I hadnt even touched the drive. The next problem I noticed was that once again I was able to view the top level file structure, but if I tried to click on the folders some of them would show as empty. At that point I called Amazon customer service because I was thinking of returning the drive. After speaking to a very nice woman I decided to keep the drive and observe it a bit longer because at that point it was the only drive that I had my data files on (I ordered the third drive when the first one failed, but hadnt had a chance to back up the files yet). Well, about an hour after I got off the phone with her that second drive failed too, meaning, when I tried to connect it to my Macbook it was no longer recognized. When I tried to connect it to my Windows 7 laptop, it was recognized, but just as before I received a message asking me to reformat the drive. Instead I used Disk Management (located under Control Panel/System & Security/Administrative Tools/Computer Management) to try to look at the drive, and found that the file system was shown as being RAW instead of FAT32. Some quick research on the Internet suggested this problem was being caused due to bad file system info on either the MBR Partition Table or the Volumes Boot Sector. Working under the assumption that the data was still there (which only makes sense because I never deleted it), I downloaded and installed PC Inspector File Recovery (after first trying about a dozen other freeware file recovery programs) and it immediately detected the logical name of the drive and all of the file structure. When I clicked on the top level folders, the contents seemed to be correct. Im currently using this program (PC Inspector File Recovery) to try to recover as much data off the drive as possible. One lesson Ive learned, is that you shouldnt be running any other programs while youre doing this, and if the program stalls, just wait until it starts working again. If you try to force the program to close you might have partial corruption of your data. Depending on the results, I may try this again using a licensed file recovery program. And if I can recover my data off the drive, I will then try to reformat it to see if its still usable. At this point Ive heard it make a few clicking noises while operating, but nothing like the grinding noises I heard from the other drive before it failed. I dont know whether to blame Apple or Silicon Power, but my experience leads me to believe that these portable hard drives arent entirely compatible with OS X. Also, I dont believe these Silicon Power drives are nearly as rugged as they claim to be. ------- This is an update to my earlier post. I spent hours tonight researching portable hard drives, and finally decided to order two (2) replacement drives from Toshiba - their Canvio 3.0 portable hard drives. When I last called Amazon customer service the woman I spoke to recommended Toshiba, and it seems she was correct. Theyre 1.5 TB drives, compatible with both Windows and Macs, and they even offer an Internal Shock Sensor to protect the drive heads in case theyre bumped or dropped while in use. There are several drives from other manufacturers (some of them extremely expensive) that claim to offer drop or shock protection, but if you read the fine print carefully they are all talking about drives that are not in use. Meanwhile, Ive tried about a dozen more file recovery programs, and the only one that seems even halfway promising is PhotoRec, which works by opening a command line shell. I suppose this might intimidate casual PC users, but Linux is my OS of choice, so for me its very familiar. However, Ill have to wait to finish testing it until the Toshiba portable drives arrive. In the meantime Im continuing to use PC Inspector File Recovery to pull data off of my second failed Silicon Power drive, and all I can say is, this program is saving my life. Ive read complaints that its slow, but its the only freeware program Ive found thus far that located all of my missing files and it also restores them with the correct file structure. Most of the others couldnt even read the drive, and those that could only located a fraction of the missing files. A few last comments: While researching hard drives I discovered that Amazons customer reviews system is deeply flawed. The problem is that if youre trying to research the reliability of say, the Silicon Power A30, well, the short answer is that you cant because the reviews for the A15s and the A80s are all mixed together with the A30s. Ive also noticed this same problem with other manufacturers as well, like Lacie and Western Digital for example - all the reviews for different hard drive models are mixed together. So the way the system works right now, for certain manufacturers good hard drives are ranked lower than they should be, while poor hard drives are ranked higher than they should be. So let the buyer beware. Also, the problems Ive had with files not appearing or even entire drives not being recognized seem to be occurring across many if not all models and manufacturers. Some people think the problem is that hard drive manufacturers are bundling cheap USB cables with their hard drives, while others think the problem might be the USB 3.0 specification itself. I cant say myself whether those speculations are correct or not, but I also have to wonder if hard drive manufacturers arent simply cutting greater corners in the manufacture of todays hard drives, or perhaps a number of Amazons merchants are now selling refurbished drives as new? The reason I say this is that a couple of years ago I used to have an Iomega 1TB eGo BlackBelt and a Silicon Power 1TB A80, and I never had a problem with either one of them. The eGo BlackBelt was dropped numerous times and always worked perfectly, while the A80 was used to transfer files constantly and none of them ever went missing - and those were USB 3.0 drives too. So once again, let the buyer beware. ------- This is my final update. The Toshiba hard drives arrived today, and what a difference. Both retail boxes had three (3) clear plastic seals - one on the top and two on the bottom. It was obvious just by looking at them that they were brand new and had never been used before. In contrast, not one of the three retail boxes from Silicon Power USA - Deal Site were sealed, and even worse, one was actually badly damaged. The Toshiba drives are really small and really light, they are true portable drives, unlike the Silicon Power drives which are as heavy as bricks. I also found it interesting that when I connected them to my Windows laptop, they were recognized almost instantly. The Silicon Power drives take a very long time to be recognized, and something else I just noticed, when they finally connect, a message pops up saying something like the device would work faster if it was connected to a USB 3.0 port. I dont remember exactly, but its almost as if my laptop was telling me that the Silicon Power drives arent really USB 3.0 compliant. Its not something that I really paid attention to before, but since theres no such message when I connect the Toshiba drives it just makes me wonder even more about these Silicon Power drives. The bottom line is that Ive come to the conclusion that Silicon Power USA - Deal Site is selling refurbished drives and passing them off as New. And if anyone doubts that this could be happening, well, let me mention one other problem Ive had on Amazon recently. I was pricing PS3s recently, and I couldnt help but notice that all these dealers who are Fulfilled by Amazon were saying things like Reserve your PS3 today. Additional stock on back order. That really got my attention, because PS3s are no longer being manufactured. So how are these merchants placing them on back order??? Related to this, something else I noticed that was odd, usually a merchants stock goes down over time as sales are made. In contrast, Silicon Power USA - Deal Site seems to have more and more portable drives to sell as time goes by. So Ive come to the conclusion that all of these merchants who are Fulfilled by Amazon - including Silicon Power USA - Deal Site - must be selling refurbished merchandise as New. Are merchants (or Amazon) capable of this type of deception? Well, I recently complained about at least half a dozen merchants who are listing PS3s as New, even though from the product descriptions its obvious that the systems cant be New, because theres no warranty seals and the boxes have been opened for all sorts of ridiculous excuses (system was given a complimentary upgrade, bundle pack was opened to remove game, system was opened to verify contents, etc). That was days ago, and what has Amazon done? Absolutely nothing. So as Ive said time and again, let the buyer beware. And finally, although it took several days, Im happy to report that I was able to recover almost all of my lost data using PC Inspector File Recovery. I was so happy with the results that I didnt even bother to finish testing the freeware program Photorec, or try out any of the proprietary programs. One last comment about using PC Inspector File Recovery, I recommend trying to recover just sections of files at a time instead of the entire drive, and make sure you check on the programs progress from time to time. Sometimes when its done recovering a group of files it will automatically close, but many times it will freeze instead, so youll have to close the program and start it again. This seems to happen especially when its trying to recover a file with a .db file type. It will fail and freeze instead. (Tip: How can you tell if the program is still working but stalled, or if its done but frozen? Go to the drive where youre recovering the data and check to see if the files seem to be complete. Also check to see if the files are being updated every few seconds (file sizes should be increasing) or if the file sizes are remaining static. If the program isnt done copying files and the file sizes are static then its probably stalled and should be left alone. If the files seem to be complete and the file sizes are remaining static, its probably finished recovering but stalled and needs to be restarted. As I said, this happens a lot when the last file type is a .db file type.) No, the program isnt perfect, but it is free and it did get the job done so I cant complain much.

EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE. I wrote company, and within 10 minutes they offered a replacement or a refund. After reading many reviews talking about this drives toughness, I was very disappointed to learn this is not the case. Below is my letter to them. I bought this hard drive in January, then went out of town until May. I then copied picture and video files from my trip onto this drive. For the first time, I have tried to use it. I could not access one of the folders, so I had Diskwarrior run a test on it. It said that it had a disk malfunction and it could not repair it, so to copy the files somewhere else, immediately. This is very frustrating, as the whole marketing campaign around this drive is that it is very tough, but apparently it couldnt handle sitting in a drawer. I may have lost all the photos from this folder now. It is now very slow to content of folders on a Finder window (Mac). About 20 seconds per folder. I would like to exchange this one for a new one. I am leaving town again for three months on Sunday. What can you do for me? My address for shipping is... xxxxxx Once I receive a new drive, I will transfer over what I still can, and I would send back the faulty drive immediately, and you can see whats wrong with it.

I admit when I ordered my first Silicon Power Rugged Armor A80 1 TB drive I was a bit skeptical. A terabyte of rock solid rugged HD at this price? Powered by USB and fast? Suuure. But within a couple weeks I was ordering a new one. It is tiny, fast, exceptionally durable and runs off the USB drive. I am even using one on a 20 extension USB cable behind 2 splitters. It comes with both a short 3.5 inch cable that tucks handily inside the housing for storage and another that is a couple feet long. I just put the drive in my pocket and carry it with me back and forth to work. If I am near a computer I need to access, there I am, with the cable and no power requirements beyond the computers own USB. With a terabyte of capacity I have all the storage, transfer and backup I need with me wherever I go. These things have made my life a LOT easier. My hat is off to these folks.

I use this hardrive every day out in the field when collecting data for my GIS projects. Its tough plating and waterproof really make it a necessity to anyone who considers doing outdoor data collection. But dont let its toughness fool you, this product also looks sleek and stylish, plus it weighs around the same as any other external HD. This product comes with two cables, the small internal one and a longer one for home use. I found this a welcome surprise! The A80 includes water proofing as well as drop test specifications. After doing some research, I can say that these are in fact valid tests for this product. This product is also compatible with Windows 8, and should have no compatibility issues when Windows 10 rolls around. All in all, if you are a student who needs a reliable backup point, or a data collector this HD is a must have!

I bought this drive to use as a media storage for my new notebook computer. It was more expensive than other plain-vanilla 1TB drives, but I figured, since I was planning on using it on the go, the rugged aspect would be worth the extra bucks. Unfortunately I cant even comment on how well it withstands on-go abuse because it couldnt withstand the simple procedure of copy files on my desktop. The day I got the drive from delivery, I plugged it into my computer and copied my music and movie files onto it. I have quite a bit, so I started the process and went to sleep. I woke up to find that the copying process was halted because the drive had been disconnected. Tried the copying process again, this time with me watching. (yay, staring at the progress bar) The drive would randomly eject itself during the copying progress, sometimes after only copying 1 GB of files, sometimes after 40 GB of files. On average, it would fail roughly around 30 GB mark. I thought the problem might be with my USB hub (from experience I know that sometimes USB hubs, even the AC-powered ones, can have trouble supplying enough juice to portable drives like this one), so I even plugged the drive directly into my computer. It made no difference. It again ejected itself after copying 35 GB of files. The drive simply cant handle large file transfers. And if I cant trust my drive to stay connected, then the drive is worthless to me, no matter how rugged it may be.

Im a professional wedding photographer and I needed a portable external hard drive to maintain all the work that I am currently working on in my current season. After the work is done it gets backed up to a RAID system but I like to keep another copy on a portable hard drive. The problem with other drives? They are complete crap! I have tried Seagates FreeAgent Go Flex (1.5TB) and the bridge/connection is worthless. I had one drive fail, had to buy Seagates proprietary software to recover my files ($120!) and then sent it off under warranty for a replacement. The replacement was even worse. The connection again is so bad that I literally cant move (or move it) or the connection will be instantly lost. Sometimes it doesnt make a good connection and tells me the disc needs to be formatted. Western Drive isnt any better. First of all they are bulky and most arent meant to be portable. The case is cheaply made and the metal connector to the USB after several plug-ins will detach from the plastic case and then you have to send it in to get another. So far, with my unit, I have no complaints. It works quietly, I feel comfortable about the case it was encased in and have had no data issues with it. It also still maintains the ability to be portable and light. I havent tried the water test yet, however, I rarely would be using it in a pool or lagoon as the other equipment I use is not waterproof at all, but its a very nice feature to have in case of such a situation.