Verbatim InSight 500 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive 96980
- 500 GB, USB 1.1 or USB 2.0; 5400 RPM
- View the Always On LCD display without power
- Identify drive and free space without connecting to a PC Windows and Mac compatible
- Features an Always On LCD that displays a personalized drive name and available free space
- Package Includes: InSight Hard Drive, USB 2.0 cable, Quick Start Guide
For a portable hard drive that continuously displays available free space, take a peak at the Verbatim InSight hard drive with an Always On LCD that shows the drive’s available free space and personalized name. The Always On LCD display automatically updates when the drive is connected and/or safely dismounted and is easily renamed right from your PC or MAC. Compatible with all USB connections, the InSight drive includes a USB 2.0 cable, a Quick Start guide and Nero BackItUp software that offer full system backup or restore functions and optional password security. Compact but big on storage capacity, the InSight drive is available in a sleek piano-black finish with capacities of 320 GB and 500 GB and carries a 5-year limited warranty. With an Always On display, the Verbatim InSight hard drive is a plug-and-play external drive that keeps you in the know – even when it is disconnected…. More >>
Verbatim InSight 500 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive 96980
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5 comments
R. Cervera on October 4, 2009 at 1:30 pm
This drive looks great, and was working (showing space left- not sure how to enter ID information). That is, until I backed it up with Time Machine on OSX Snow Leopard. At that point the line “Unsupported Format” is permanently shown on the screen, making that option rather useless. I have asked for Verbatim support on the subject, but they have a five day a week support system, and the website doesn’t even have manuals, or drivers. This will make it hard to keep this unit if you are a Mac user, as the key appeal (other than great looks) is the information contained in the window at the front of the unit. We’ll see how Support responds and I will update this review.
anon_2003 on October 4, 2009 at 4:27 pm
The Short:
1. Tiny & Attractive
2. No power needed
3. Great for pictures
4. Fast for me
5. iTune Issues
The Long:
This tiny, attractive hard drive gets all the power it needs from your USB port. I merely plugged it into my computer and started using it. I have Vista which recognized the hard drive right away. It is very small and hardly weighs anything.
In just a couple of minutes, I copied all the pics from my last vacation (thousands) from my SD card to this hard drive. Then I watched them as a slide show. The drive was very fast, I was impressed.
Then my daughter plugged it into her old computer and tried to copy her iTunes. Only part of them transferred. When she plugged the hard drive with some of the iTunes into the new computer and tried to transfer the songs on the hard drive to her iTunes directory, she was unable to transfer any. So, it may be incompatible with iTunes. I’ll work with it some more this week-end and update this review if I figure out what’s causing the problem.
I love this little unit, but then I don’t have an iPod and I’m not into iTunes, works great for all of our pictures.
Summer B. Frace on October 4, 2009 at 5:30 pm
This is a cute little portable drive. I love the sleek black look and it’s extremely thin – perfect for a laptop bag. I also like that while it’s shiny and black, it doesn’t get filled with fingerprints easily.
However, I did have some issues with it with my Mac. First I tried it with my Mac Pro running Tiger. It wasn’t recognized. So I moved it over to my iMac running Snow Leopard. It was recognized there so I reformatted it to use as a backup volume and now the status display says “Unsupported Format.” Cute.
It looks like some other reviewers have noted this as well and mention that the drive will read correctly with APM but not GPT (PPC HFS vs. Intel HFS). This is…annoying, but not the end of the world.
G. Hearn on October 4, 2009 at 7:20 pm
I use this hard drive to back-up my laptop, and it works great! The only thing “negative” I can say about it is that it gets quite hot on the bottom, even when it’s simply connected, but not doing anything. But I haven’t had any problems with it. I also haven’t used any other hard drive like this, so I have the feeling they all get quite hot. I know that my laptop itself does, so that’s what I have a cooling pad. FYI, the screen on the hard drive is not illuminated, so it’s not the easiest thing for me to read (perhaps new glasses would help too! Haha) If you don’t already have back-up software you like, some comes included on the drive from Nero. It has a non-skid base, which I like. If I could recommend an improvement, it would be great to have a flip-out UPS plug, to easily plug in, so I don’t have to mess with the cord. (I really like that on my flip video, and it would be great if other companies would start doing that.)
Scott on October 4, 2009 at 9:23 pm
This drive really is portable and convenient. Its super thin and only about six inches in length and is very lightweight. There is an LCD screen that is on the front that tells you how much space is left. This LCD screen must have some sort of battery inside as its always on.
It scratches easily and is a finger print magnet due to the gloss black finish on it. The USB cable that is supplied is very short and is one of those mini usb to full usb cables. There is no electric plug needed, it works off of the USB power.
It reads and writes pretty fast, rpm speed is standard 5400. Your paying for size here not speed and capacity as there are larger portable drives with double the space for a lot less money. This drive for me is going to be for programs and photos that I need to bring with me as well as quick storage/backups for my laptop. Comes with back it up software on the drive but that works for windows only. It fits easily in my laptop bag and the best part is no ac adapter needed.
Pros:
Size, thin and small makes it very portable
LCD screen tells you remaining free space
No AC adapter
Capacity is 320gb
Mac & PC compatible
Cons:
Price (your paying for its small size)
Can scratch easily and is a finger print magnet.
Mini USB cable a bit too short