Maxtor BlackArmor 160 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive STM901603BAA1E1-RK

I saw a few negative reviews for this product but really wanted the security that it offered since I use it to transfer sensitive data from work to home and visa-versa(desktops)and sometimes take this information with me and work from laptop. It has been working well so far.

Our testing of the Black Armor drive found that its BlackArmor Manager software is incompatible with Windows systems running PGP encryption software (including PGP WholeDisk and PGP Desktop). According to Segate's own technical user forum, Seagate has been aware of the problem since last year, but has not corrected the problem. Our purchasing department has been instructed to block all individual and volume purchases of this drive until the incompatibility issue has been resolved.

Having a drive say it's for Windows is fairly useless information these days. Mac users are used to buying external drives, which are almost always formatted in the PC FAT format, and reformatting them for Mac use. But this drive won't let you reformat or erase it - it won't even mount. Even the latest version of DiskWarrior couldn't even locate, much less mount, this drive. The manual states that erasing the drive is an option if you don't mind losing all data, but that's not even possible as far as I could determine - not from Macs running OS 9, or OSX Panther, Tiger or Leopard.Maxtor/Seagate needs to do a better job of giving detailed information on the outside of the box, not just in the users manual you don't see until you've bought the thing and taken it home. Finding Mac preformatted drives that were made in this century is difficult at best (Fry's Electronics, the largest computer store in my area, doesn't stock a single one).Maxtor's website was down when I tried to get tech support, and calling them only brought me to a pre-recorded message saying their tech support system was down. So Mac users looking for a portable bus-driven drive, look elsewhere. This might be good for Vista users, but for the ever-growing number of Apple users, it's a good idea gone bad.

This drive does not have its own power supply so it relies completely on your computer's USB power output to make it work. Problem is, this thing uses a whopping 500ma of USB power. This is the maximum power that most computer's USB ports can provide - hog status. Some computers cannot reliably provide this amount of power which results in an intermittent hard drive on these computers.I've connected this drive to eight different computers and about half of them can not power it, so the drive is not recognized or drops in and out of usage.Also, unless you are nuts about encryption don't buy this drive because it forces a password entry every time you plug it in - and the password cannot be removed.Bottom Line: If you want serious encryption and data security and don't care if it works on all computers, then this is your boy.

Self-contained security that should set the standard for all portable hard drives. I bought two of the 160gb drives (one to back up the other). Set-up was easy and I have had no problems working with them on any other computer. Plug it into any usb port, your machine should immediately recognize it, you will be prompted for your password, enter your password, click on unlock and wah-lah your ready to go. Write speed may not be blazing fast but for most data entry it will handle it as fast as you can type. I can't say about large downloads as I haven't used it for large quantities of data.To my way of thinking, this is what you pay for..... Simple and absolute securitySay your traveling and someone snatches your external drive? Once it is disconnected from the usb port, it's locked and no one is going to retrieve your data. Maxtor says not even a professional data recovery service can get into it so choose a complex password and DON'T FORGET IT.160gb may seem small but I use it for data containing personal identity issues, accounts and account numbers, and the like. Photos and any other non-sensitive data I put on an unsecured 500gb portable drive. If a thief acquires that one, well I won't lose any sleep wondering how he's enjoying the family photos. My point is that 160gb should handle about anything the average individual would want to secure. If you own Exxon, Sony, or The Boeing Aircraft Company, you may want to consider something larger. When I first began researching these drives, the prices did not seem proportional to the amount of storage. It pays to shop around a little. I purchased mine new from Tiger Direct. They had the best price and their shipping is rip-roaring fast.I think all but the most picky will be satisfied with these drives. RECOMMENDED