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

Ive previously owned an older, bigger/fatter External HDD a long time ago. It actually had less memory than the Power Armor. (500 GB) It wasnt very good, it needed an AC adapter, was very big and clunky, very fragile, and was like $90!! This Power Armor on the other hand, single-handedly defeats any older HDD by a landslide. 1) sleek design--very aesthetically appealing 2) sleek design makes it very compact 3) no need for an AC outlet/adapter-- it simply plugs into the computer (windows or mac) and plays 4) huge amount of memory 5) power armor makes me feel confident in bringing this baby along with me on my video making travels, because its so durable :) 6) comes with short male-to-male usb cord AS WELL as a long (6ft?) male-to-male usb cord. Overall, perfect. $130 almost seems like a steal. (These arent stolen External HDDs are they?)

I shoot photos for Getty Images and the Berlin based photo sharing app EyeEm. I currently use two of these particular drives in the field for backups. I really appreciate the fact that each one of mine came with two cords one a foot long and one a few inches that fits in the side compartment (redundant drives redundant cords etc.) Keep in mind its not IF but WHEN your hard drive will fail so if you are a serious person you know only 1 copy of your data is not a actual backup! Its just like a vague suggestion or ticking timebomb... I carry two of these drives and bungie them together in a bank deposit size tool bag with the cords, fits perfectly. In the field I copy my photos from one(not dual-because Im a FujiX shooter) SanDisk extreme pro SD card, to two of these Silicon Power drives, and one WD wifi hdd with a card reader that rips straight from the card. I do upload to the cloud, a private Google photos, Flickr pro account, and Amazon S3 bucket ASAP but I have 5 physical copies laptop, 3 drives, and SD card. When I return to my homebase a copy goes to the servers and I also make personal archival DVD backups. Search for a video by Angry Photographer if you want to learn how to keep your data secure he has the best, most honest and accurate information Ive seen anywhere on data backup. We trust that every hard drive will eventually fail and not outlive our data but they are a valuable tool to quickly and easily move large amounts of data... that being said I think this rugged little drive is very worthwhile and because of the price its not crazy expansive to have multiple easy to carry redundant drives! If you care to view my documentary photography of rural Nebraska , search for (shannonpatrick17 on EyeEm) and (Shannon Ramos/EyeEm Getty Images)

Youre reading this because you want/need external storage that is reliable, portable, and fast. There is a video on youtube you should see. I had no part in its creation, Im not trying to promote the uploader, I just want you to see what sealed the deal for me. If you dont have the ability to find and/or view that video let me run it down for you. Some guy in Europe flushes the hard drive in a rather powerful toilet, plugs it into a PC and it works. He then uses a small torch on it, and it works. Then he runs over it with a Fiat and of course it still worked. There are other videos but that is the one that convinced me to go with Silicon Power. UPS literally tossed this package onto my brick porch from at least 5 feet away, over a handrail. I know because I watched it happen. The box from amazon only had the hard drive in its packaging, no bubble wrap, no padding. Ive had this for a month and a half now. I immediately started loading it up with content to alleviate my PCs hard drive. I dont have USB 3.0 but it works fine with 2.0. The first task I gave it was transferring 60 gigs. It took almost 4 hours which seemed like a long time. However every other transfer since then has been remarkably faster. Just the other day I got 45 gigs transferred in just over half an hour. My PC is Win7 dualcore 2.5 ghz i5 with 4 gigs of ram. I didnt have any other programs running during the transfers Im using for examples. Files under a gig take under a minute. I have had this drive running for over 6 hours watching movies and there were no signs of it heating up. Now to my only complaint. The short length usb connector that sits in the unit is simply too short and comes disconnected way too easily. Its a minor issue but I do use this with a laptop and the longer cord that is included doesnt have the disconnection issue so I end up using it.

I tried this drive after having data issues using LaCie, Seagate, and Western Digital usb drives. I right now have a drive filled with D-Rose and Chicago Bull RAW files that I have been unable to access since shortly after downloading them to the drive of one of the previous manufacturers. The Silicon Power drives seem very solid, and rugged -like I say in the title - and come with two cables. I have to mention that cables are a little peculiar because they have male connectors on both ends, but on the other hand, the small usb2 and usb3 connectors on the other companies drives have always seemed to be the point of failure in my earlier disappointments. Priced competitively, I am very happy with the 2 Silicon Power 1b Rugged Armor drives I own now, and will be buying more soon. If youve ever had issues with data integrity or access using the formerly big 3 portable drive manufacturers you owe it to yourself and your data to give Silicon Power a try... Update 08/28/13: ...Ive just bought my 3rd copy of this drive, and I plan to buy more. It continues to be unerringly solid and dependable. Ive not tested its waterproof claim, but I dont regularly find myself in situations where my usb drives are submerged. As a photographer I have already loaded and shifted files onto this drive so that it is half-full. Ill be getting another soon.

I did my own accidental drop-test and dropped the Water-Resistant 1TB off a table at a cafe onto a solid hardwood floor covering cement. It wasnt damaged at all, either functionally or its good-looking blue case. Ive had zero problems over the last year with this drive on a Win7 x64bit laptop and pc. Its always recognized. Thats more than I can say for other usb devices, including the WD Passport I have and a good many thumb drives. And its fast. I work in computer graphics on video editing and 3d animation directly off this drive. The drive feels fast and I dont notice a lag even working with these type of large files. My only con is I wish they made a 2 TB version. I want a drive that is a carry-along backup-everything plus a work drive for projects. I prefer to keep things consolidated, and not 1 drive with this backup, 1 with that. 1TB isnt enough for that purpose.

When I saw this product, I liked what I was seeing. I love the space of this hard drive, how tough it could stand just about anything, and that I could use the USB 3.0. I purchased this product three months ago, and everything was working well until last week. All of a sudden, I could not gain access to my files that I stored on this hard drive. The hard drive receive power, and I can hear the hard drive working well. Also, my computer recognizes the hard drive and says that it works properly, yet I cant gain access to my files on my hard drive. I have everything within my power to find a solution to fix this issue: I have plugged it to other computers, changed features on my computers, asked another person who computers well to solve this issue, and try to look on the companys website for contact phone numbers. This company has a VERY poor customer service. I have been on the companys website, and I cant find anything to help me. I am not giving up trying to revive this hard drive. I paid good money for something that I believed would be high-quality and durable for a long time. From reading the reviews of others who rated this product to one-star, I noticed that the USB cables are pretty awful. I started to notice this issue today when I notice my long USB cable would connect for an instant under my My Computer section. I may test this cable to see if these USB cables are the reason why I cant gain access to my files on my hard drive. If that is the case, I shall buy another third party USB cable. I am not going to say not to purchase it because I need to be sure that I know what exactly the problem is; however, I think that anyone on the fence in wanting to purchase this product should wait and do some research more. I think that this hard drive has HUGE potential, but I must figure exactly what the problem is to ensure that I know that it can achieve its potential that I want it to achieve.

Ive had this hard drive for a while now, and after many drops (a few from 3-4 ft on hardwood floor, and one from 5 ft on hard carpet), it still works perfectly! Im a bit clumsy, so when I was struggling to open the box, the hard drive flew out of the packaging and hit my hardwood floor... it even left a mark lol. Ive also had it fall from my kotatsu a couple times (which is not very high, and the tatami mats arent much danger to it lol) while plugged in and in use, but no harm done at all. I do, however, wish for improvements, like faster speed, higher capacity, and a handy usb cable that isnt annoying to use. Other than those things, this is the best hard drive Ive ever bought!

Very happy I decided to go with the Silicon Power A80 instead of the usual Western Digital or Seagate. Its a very high quality portable HDD and though I havent tested (nor want to) the water resistant/shockproof casing it seems very sturdy and has a very nice fit and finish. It is also surprisingly thin for being so protective. I love how it comes with a very small USB cable that tucks away for portability as well as a full cable for home use. The speeds have been very good for being USB 3.0 powered, no extra cables needed just one USB. Works smooth and quick on my brand new intel i7 Macbook Pro 13 which has USB 3.0 ports. So far I am very impressed with this product and its overall a great value for your money if your looking for a 1 TB portable drive.

I needed a portable hard drive and I chose this product because of its purported toughness. I need a portable hard drive to transport things that wont work on a flash drive. Because it will be on the go I needed something that can handle the occasional bump. I dont plan to test the actual toughness as one reviewer did but I will say that seeing the drop test and dunk test actually preformed and the drive survive went a long way toward my purchasing this product. I also want to clarify this product does in fact come with 2 USB cables - a 3 cable that stows away on the drive and a 1.5 or 2 ft. cable. And to all the people who keep wondering if this will work with USB 2.0 please read the product description - Silicon Power Rugged Armor A80 1 TB 2.5-Inch USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 Military...

This is my second Silicon Power external hard drive...I bought this one to back up my dads MacBook Pro...Im not particularly computer savvy, but with an instructional YouTube video, I was able to back up his computer. My son set up my original Silicon Power, and they work great for basic peace of mind for backing up your files and photos. This YouTube video also explained how you could divide up the drive and use it for an Apple and PC...pretty cool. I recommend this back up drive with a good YouTube video...for us less computer savvy persons...my other drive is still working great over a 4 year period...