(Old Model) Toshiba Canvio Connect 2TB Portable Hard Drive, Black (HDTC720XK3C1)

1TB, lightweight, I velcro this to the cover of my Macbook Pro when traveling. I partition it to be 500GB to be used as Time Machine to backup the internal/startup drive, and use the 2nd partition of 500GB to be additional data... which these days is all above video, TV shows, etc. Works perfectly. The USB cable is just the right length -- which is short, prob 15" total. It's also a USB 3 drive, which means if you have a computer or laptop that has USB 3 ports, then the transfer speed is super fast -- especially for a bunch of large 2GB or larger video files.One thing to understand, which a lot of people don't know, because the industry doesn't explain this:The USB 3.0 port, and it's cable end, are very different from regular USB ports you have been used to. So the USB port on this drive looks different from the Mini USB or Micro USB port you are probably used to from previous portable hard drives. It's done that way in part to identify it as a high speed USB 3.0 drive vs a 2.0 drive. But you only get the high transfer speed using the corresponding new 3.0 cable type at the device end (a hard drive, or an Android tablet or phone, for example), and the other end of the cable looks like a regular USB cable you plug into your laptop or computer in that flat rectangular shape.2 things to be aware of, but the good news is not to worry! :(A) If your laptop or computer is pre-2013 or so, it is very likely that the USB speed system of your computer's USB ports is USB 2.0, and not the faster 3.0 . But that's OK, you can still use these great lightweight and high capacity drives! *I* do. My MacbookPro is older, and uses USB 2.0, but I use this drive and everything works perfectly, no problem whatsoever! ... The only thing I need to understand (and I do!) is that I won't get USB 3.0 superfast data transfer speeds -- because my Macbookpro was not built with that speed capacity. So, even though my new Toshiba drive is "USB 3.0", and I am using the correct "USB 3.0 cable", everything works fine but the data is still only going to travel at USB 2.0 speeds. So, just know that having a USB 3.0 drive does not, in itself, "upgrade" the speed of your data transfer. It DOES do that IF your computer/laptop also has USB 3.0 ports. You're probably asking "how the hell do I know?" ... and the answer is: If you're techy you know how to find that out, but if you're not, just don't worry about it because it doesn't change anything. But a good gauge to use is this: Is my computer as new as 2013? If so, you probably have USB 3.0 ports. If older, you probably have USB 2.0 ports.(B) The other thing NO ONE tells you! --- If you've looked everywhere but you've misplaced the special USB 3.0 cable that came with this TOSHIBA drive, you are not dead in the water! You can still use it with a MICRO USB cable -- the kind you have used to hook up to a previous portable hard drive -- or connect to your Android phone or tablet (Apple of course uses its own propriety cable forcing everyone to pay more to lock into their system). One end of the cable is the regular looking flat-horizontal slot that fits into your laptop or computer... and the other end is really small and flat.I did not know this until it was explained to me -- and then I thought, "wow, that's pretty cool!". This MICRO-USB cable will fit & slot right into the larger width section of the USB-3 cable port on your Toshiba drive (or your phone, etc). So, USB 3 ports were very carefully designed to combine the shape/size of the MICRO-USB cable + an additional new section adjacent to it. (This will only make sense if you are looking at a USB 3.0 cable or port -- so don't even try to follow along with this if you are not doing that, it is just a bunch of babble otherwise.) So, if you don't have a USB 3.0 cable, you can always substitute and use a MICRO-USB cable to connect the USB 3.0 device to your computer or laptop. It works! By design!But just remember: If you use this Micro-USB SUBSTITUTE cable, everything works beautifully. There is no issue at all. There's no problem. You just have to understand that the data will travel at USB 2.0 speeds, and not at 3.0 speeds. .... But you see, for people like me who are using these portables with a USB 2.0 Computer or laptop, the highest speed I can get out of the TOSHIBA drive is USB 2.0 anyway, so, using the Micro-USB cable doesn't make me lose any transfer speed in my case. It only will slow you down IF your computer or laptop has USB 3.0 speeds. Do you follow? :) I hope so.The bottom line is: Don't worry! These drives are great. And don't let USB 3.0 confuse you. It's an added advantage when your computer or laptop has 3.0 built into it.... and when your computer/laptop is older, then this drive works exactly as if it were a USB 2.0 drive in terms of data transfer speeds.I hope that helped at least ONE person out there. It will have made typing this out worth it :)

EB: Engage in Review of Toshiba Canvio Connect 2TB Portable Hard Drive, Black (HDTC720XK3C1)OK good Evening You all. This is a Review for the Toshiba canvio connect 2 TB version. Remember to always, always, check really , really well what you are buying. Most problems with these things could be avoided with just a little patience from the buyer! Also, safety first! Also, investigate before buying your stuff, Not after!OK first things first:Physically , the Hard drive is gorgeous! It is Small, fitting in my palms without exceeding my fingers. It has a black shiny finish front and back. The border of the Hard drive is Black and with a glossy finish. It came with a USB 3.0 30 cm Cable.The top of the hard drive has the mark of the disk manufacturer, *TOSHIBA* in white bold visible letters. Also, it has the indicator led for when the disk is Reading/Writing. The Underside of the disk has the serial of the disk ad contact information from/for the manufacturer. Also, it contains 4 little stumps made from really soft plastic that act as some sort of footing for the Hard disk for it to not slide or fall from any surface.The border of the Hard disk contains the USB 3.0 connection port plus the power port. The Cable also came with a label detailing part number and serial number just in case, i guess , you need to buy another one.About the disk, Internally Speaking, it is Really big. It came with , and i quote windows system properties: 1.8 TB free And about 408 MB of used Space. The discrepancy in size is clearly Because of the way Disk manufacturers measure the GB unit, but that doesn't matter to me right now, so, baloney i say.The disk came Pre-formatted as NTFS. This shouldn't be a problem for anyone, but in the rare case there is a problem, i would suggest to Check the disk and use it in another computer, at least 3 of them to be sure. If You are using it with a MAC there is the slight possibility for the system to be able to detect/use the disk. That might be a formatting Problem, Try formatting it to FAT32 OR FAT in another computer, PC preferably .About the Unit: My unit was Listed as Used from a store just because it was a open box. I must say i am very glad and really happy that i put my trust on them because the disk is just perfect, and it really looks like new. i really don't see what is the used with that but, just putting it out there , for those of you who might want a little discount on price for the same functionality .Now, About Using this little wonder. My intended use is for it to be a remote storage for all my home computers files. It will be connected mainly to a wireless router to serve man (hehehe). Why is that you ask? Because of the presentation of the disk, it seems its intended use is to be static at home/office. It can be taken anywhere but from the design point of view, it really seems to me that it was designed for home/office use with a low mobility in mind. That was my intended use so it is OK. The main reason i am stressing the mobility point is because of the USB 3.0 cable. Unless, you buy another, more flexible and larger one, this lil pal mobility is gonna be severely impeded for your irregular user . Another of the reasons i stress this point is because the connection point from the Hard disk to the cable seems to be very sensitive to movement . I would not recommend it so that's it.Now, the juicy bits. I executed a stress test With Crystal Mark Software. Remember, These tests tend to vary slightly with your hardware, so don't read too much into it . These are the results:-----------------------------------------------------------------------CrystalDiskMark 3.0.3 x64 (C) 2007-2013 hiyohiyoCrystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/-----------------------------------------------------------------------* MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [SATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s]Sequential Read : 34.367 MB/sSequential Write : 30.342 MB/sRandom Read 512KB : 21.082 MB/sRandom Write 512KB : 28.544 MB/sRandom Read 4KB (QD=1) : 0.469 MB/s [ 114.5 IOPS]Random Write 4KB (QD=1) : 1.193 MB/s [ 291.2 IOPS]Random Read 4KB (QD=32) : 0.533 MB/s [ 130.2 IOPS]Random Write 4KB (QD=32) : 1.085 MB/s [ 264.9 IOPS]Test : 1000 MB [G: 0.0% (0.4/1862.9 GB)] (x5)Date : 2015/01/16 17:51:24OS : Windows 7 Professional SP1 [6.1 Build 7601] (x64)Now, Before you go all: *Aw mah gawd those speeds suck* on me, I must say one thing. I have this little champion in here connected to a USB 2.0 port. Why? Because i have no USB 3.0 ports. So now, you know it works with USB 2.0 too! also, you people know that my computer system must suck big balls! , but that's not your problem so shut the hell up hehehe!OK, what else to say? Not much. Ill be updating this review in approximately 5 months or 1 year. I am really excited about this little Hard drive and i really hope it works as expected!Now goodbye to you all and i really hope that This review helped you people to make a better decision. If anything here is wrong let me know in the comments section.Bye bye!

This hard drive is rather more compact than I was expecting, which is great for it's portability. It comes with some backup software and a few other optional things on it that you may or may not need. If you're using Vista, be warned that the backup software (which is optional to install) really slowed my old hunk of junk laptop down to the point where I had to uninstall it. You're better off just copying over files as needed anyway.So I purchased this to do a transfer of data from my old clunker of a laptop to a new one. The end result is that I have seen the transfer speeds on both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0. With USB 2.0 the transfer rate was SLOOOOOOWWWW when you have huge piles of data in the GB+ range. I mean, like reminiscent of downloading updates on Windows 98 with dialup slow. Like set it, go get make a sandwich, eat it, and then come back and it might be done. (then again, that backup software might have been interfering and trying to backup the transfer while I was transferring it. It wasn't too bright.)With USB 3.0, transfers moved rather noticeably faster, like, 10+ GB moved in under a minute or so faster. No noticeable bogging down of resources (then again, new laptop with Windows 8 [don't get me started on Windows 8]).I'm currently using this harddrive as storage space for all of my entertainment that may or may not have been acquired with peer to peer networking. It may be storing just 2TB of cat pictures YOU DON'T KNOW.At any rate, in whichever capacity it is being used, the hard drive works wonderfully.MY ONE COMPLAINT was the free super saver shipping took two weeks and for some reason shipped from Las Vegas through Ontario to New Hampshire. Weird. (so you might want to spend a buck or two to get it home faster)