Toshiba Canvio Partner 4TB Portable 2.5″ External HDD, USB

 

Great hard drive, nice n compact easy to install just plug in and away you go, drag files over to it.
I use for my fire stick when you put it into the firestick using a splitter will ask to use as external hard drive so you can just unplug it and plug into pc to drag files movies or music over to it, or use as 2nd storage device but you can’t unplug and use in anything else but the fire stick but when you install apps will install on this.

 

Got this to replace my old ten year old external hardrive that had given up.
Used straight from the packaging- a few instructional files on there, but all ok.
Took five hours to back tons of videos, pictures and music as well as loads of documents.
One slight negative was the lead supplied: it is a little tight onto the unit, also rather short in length but you can buy longer ones with it -my other was like this too so I guess it’s the norm. However I had purchased a better one some time ago, so that helped.
So far so good.

 

It is a compact inexpensive back-up tool. Excellent value and easy to use. Highly recommended.

 

Found it difficult to download photos from computer to this hard drive

 

I have a couple of these, but the price for ssd’s never seems to reduce

 

While this drive is as advertised, the specificatikns fail to mention its built as a mbr not gpt. In basic terms this means yoh cannot creare a 4tb partition and instead must divide this drive into two 2tb partitikns. That is, unless you’re willing to change it’s partitikn table from mbr to gpt.

This is something that should be stated before hand as it directly affects use

 

I must say I’m very pleased with this excellent little unit. It’s small, USB powered, fast, stores a huge amount of data and is made by Toshiba (a make I trust).

I got it for storing and consolidating sound samples for music making from various flash drives I have dotted around the house. Although flash drives are generally reliable (especially the SanDisk ones I normally use — please see my separate reviews) I still like to have back ups so it was time to back up everything and have it all handily in one place, and this Toshiba Canvio Partner 4TB Portable 2.5″ External HDD is perfect for the job. I absolutely couldn’t be happier with my purchase.

Speed-wise it’s great for what I need it for. It’s fast; very fast, and is the fastest drive I own (with file transfer speeds often reaching 130 MB/s [about 1.30 minutes to copy about 10 GB of data]). However, different files, quantities and sizes tend to copy at different speeds, which seems to be how Windows operates, rather than the device itself. Some of my files whizz onto the drive while others take a little longer, but the time factor isn’t an issue with me as I just leave the copying process running while I do other things on my computer. This doesn’t affect the copying so I’m happy to leave it running for as long as it needs. Maybe alternative models will transfer a little faster and maybe they won’t, but as far as I’m concerned the speed of this one is more than adequate. To put a figure on it to give an idea of averages, a folder full of sound samples can copy between 70 MB/s to 110 MB/s, but a good folder of more even files can copy at a steady 110 MB/s to 120 MB/s. Please note the word ‘copy’ in the above as this is the function I use the drive for, and as such I haven’t tried moving files (which may transfer faster).

I invariably copy from USB 3.0 devices and as this is USB 3.2 the process is quick, but even on slower drives and SD cards it still isn’t much of a bother. As above, I just set it up and leave it, as what’s an extra bit of time here and there?

Once the bulk of the copying is done all I need to do is back up newer files as I create or acquire them, which is a breeze. The smaller size (10.9 x 1.95 x 7.8 cm — probably little more than an average laptop touchpad) and USB connection are great because now I can keep the drive in a little cupboard next to where I work so can quickly and without fuss hook it up to the computer whenever I need it, and then disconnect it and put it away just as quickly. Not having to plug it into the mains like my old external hard drives is definitely a plus.

Copying couldn’t be easier either as it works straight out of the box (bar formatting it to NTFS, which is seconds with the Windows Quick Format command) and is drag and drop. Straight out of the box means there’s no drivers to install (certainly not on Windows 10 as I use). As such, it’s a case of plug it in and then within seconds it’s ready to use (and you can’t get quicker than that!).

The only downside (which isn’t really a downside, but merely common sense when using a mechanical drive) is that it probably shouldn’t be moved while copying. Saying that, I have had to move mine a couple of times, but have done so with utmost care and it seems to be okay.

Regarding storage, it’s plentiful to say the least. I have thousands of samples of varying lengths and qualities (of which a total I couldn’t possible guess at, but it has to be well over 100,000, and probably considerably more — probably a good few 100,000) but they’ve all gone onto the drive, as well as plenty of associated files, software back ups and all the music I’ve created. And according to the drive, I haven’t even reached 2TB, so with 4TB capacity there’s more than enough left over for any amount of adding to. 2TB is massive storage, and 4TB doubles it, so it’ll take some filling unless one really crams it with massive files.

I can’t comment on reliability as I’ve only recently bought the drive, but Toshiba is usually fairly reliable and seems to have a good name for itself. I’m sure it’ll last. Saying that, the drive is used on a near daily basis and works perfectly every time.

Please be aware that no matter what capacity a drive is, when plugged into Windows the operating system invariably shows it as having less capacity than advertised, which seems to be just how Windows measures capacity compared to the manufacturer. It isn’t indicative of a faulty drive or false advertising, and seems to be the same with any drive plugged into Windows.

Please note too that no software comes with the drive, and that the instructions are in .pdf format on the drive itself.

Also, as with most connected storage devices, it’s highly recommended that instead of just plugging them out when finished, Windows’ Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media feature is used instead to save data being corrupted if the drive is still being written too. This can normally be found in the taskbar beside the notification area. There may be a small delay until Windows indicates it’s safe to remove the drive, but its usually not too long. This drive follows that convention too.

So, an all round excellent purchase which I’m delighted with, and at a good price too. There’s simply nothing negative I can say about this drive, and can safely say from my own experiences with it that it’s entirely positive. As such, due to its many advantages I highly recommend it.

 

Not much to say! Exactly as described! Easy to use, great value for money despite the lack of heavy discount. Works straight out if the box and useful addition to to my external hard drive collection!!! Thank you for your product!

 

Bought it for my ps4 to be able to have more games downloaded. Does the job and very easy to set up. No problems as of ye

 

Fast delivery. More slimline than others purchased. Happy so far with storage.

 

Bought this for extra storage on my console and it’s been brilliant glad I bought this 100% worth i

 

Excellent device, very fast with USB-C connection, easy to use and keeps cool. I keep all my data on this so there is as little as possible on my laptop SSD. The finish is scratch resistant, unlike my backup disk (another brand) which is very easy to scratch.

 

Open box, plug and play, format first as external storage, download games, good to go.. simple! Loads of room for loads of games (started off with 36 installed games and, at time of writing this, I now have 103 and counting), and it doesn’t slow down your console. Recommended.