Toshiba 4TB Canvio Ready – 2.5 inch Portable External
Toshiba 4TB Canvio Ready – 2.5 inch Portable External Hard Drive with SuperSpeed USB 3.2 Gen 1, Compatible with Microsoft Windows 7, 8 and 10, Black (HDTP340EK3CA)
READY TO PLUG AND PLAY
There’s no setup or waiting with the Canvio Ready – just plug the device in to quickly access and organise your files, before unplugging and going mobile. The Canvio Ready is the ideal companion for busy users who need quick and easy storage.
ALL-ROUND SECURITY
Beneath the attractive exterior of the unobtrusive, compact Canvio Ready – black with an elegant dot structure – are various technologies to protect your data. For example, ramp-load technology prevents damage to internal components from mobile use and the shock sensor cuts power in the event of excessive physical impact. So your data is protected at all times.
GO IN STYLE
Since your Canvio Ready will accompany you on the road, looks are important. That’s why we have given it a distinctive two-tone matte and gloss black finish that’s both stylish and easy to carry.
 |  |  |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capacities | 4 TB | 2 TB | 1 TB | 4 TB | 2 TB | 1 TB | 2 TB | 1 TB | 4 TB | 2 TB | 1 TB | 4 TB | 2 TB | 1 TB |
| Casing | Elegant silver finish | Sleek black finish | Aluminium finish | Matte and Gloss finish | Smart matte finish |
| Colour | silver | black | silver, black | black | black |
| Windows compatible | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mac compatible | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Tablet compatible | ✓ | ||||
| Game console compatible | ✓ | ||||
| USB-A cable | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| USB-C cable | ✓ | ||||
| Auto-backup software & password protection | ✓ |
| Weight: | 217 g |
| Dimensions: | 10.9 x 7.8 x 1.95 cm; 217 Grams |
| Brand: | Toshiba |
| Model: | HDTP340EK3CA |
| Colour: | Canvio Ready |
| Batteries Included: | No |
| Manufacture: | Toshiba |
| Dimensions: | 10.9 x 7.8 x 1.95 cm; 217 Grams |
Powerful package in a small form facto
I am delighted with this Drive. relative to the storage that it contains it is quite small, but yet sturdy.. When used to copy information from the server, it is very quick and it is then easy to exit the information on any other machine with a USB port. Fully met by requirements.
very nice
his Hard drive is solid and compact, I was afraid it would be too big but was very suprised that it was slim, compact and can fit in my hand and its transfer speed is fast.
Good but be careful of the packaging quality
Already set up when I plugged it into my PC. Only concern was when I received it, the package was taped in half covering the rip in the packaging. The packet that held the hard drive was in fine condition though.
Ideal hard drive for Xbox
I used one of these drives for my Xbox One for over 4 years and it was totally reliable. So when my son wanted one for his Xbox Series S
I recommended this 1tb drive. Does the job without any problems and was a great price.
Used this to extend the xbox series X
It worked as an expansion for the xbox series X, for games that are not enhanced and need to run from the internal disk. It’s works perfectly fine for what I needed it for.
I needed an external memory for my Smart T.V. and this is perfect for my needs. The item arrived well packaged to avoid any damage in transit. On opening, I found the memory, plus a short (30cm) USB lead – not really long enough to trail behind the t.v. , but I had a USB extender cable so it was the work of seconds to connect it up to the television. The memory was recognised by the television immediately, although when I attempted to record something, the television told me that the memory needed to be reformatted, so, ok, go ahead and do it. Thirty seconds later, I was able to record and then playback my first programme. Capacity wise, the 1Tb memory is largely available, with just a small fraction being retained for the internal workings. It is too soon to comment on how many T.V. programs can be recorded, but on another identical memory, I have over 50 films and other data, so I think this one will be more than adequate for my needs.
Time will tell
I back up regularly and prefer 1TB drives for a number of reasons, mainly that with larger drives a failure means losing more.
I’ve always used Seagate drives but find the connection plugs and sockets wear which mean they become flaky to connect eventually. The Toshiba seems more secure at the moment and the lead seems to make the Seagates better behaved, maybe I should just but a couple of new leads?
Whatever, I’m happy at the moment.
Lots of storage
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.
Easy install on my LG TV
Installed on my new LG smart tv and it’s recording the programs great – just told the tv I wanted to record and it automatically set it up for me
Reliable external storage
Needed extra space for storage of videos for playback on the TV. Quickly transferred over 250GB onto the disc and hey presto! it worked.
Have had toshiba hard drives before and they have always ben reliable
Works as required
When can you ever have too much storage when you make video files and need back-ups? Which to pick? I opt for external hard drives as well as online storage as each has its good and less so points…
This drive arrived in perfect working condition and was easy to attach and use on my HP Windows 10 laptop. I might buy another one… after all just one back up copy is probably not sufficient… at least until I can afford an SSD version!
Nice convenient storage.
Not much to really say on this device its really nicely made its also a nice compact size. There isn’t any set up required it plugs in via the supplied USB and away you go just drag and drop your required files. This is exactly as is advertised and with a quality case you would expect from having a brand name.
Brilliant little hard drive with a big 4TB memory…
I got this just to store my DSLR RAW and Fine JPEG photo files to avoid filling up my laptop SSD. It works intuitively, is very quiet and quite fast. Very pleased with it and in the unlikely event I need more external memory , I wouldn’t hesitate to get another one.
Nice & uncomplicated
Smart, slim, came with own cable. It works like a very very big flash drive. Connect it and then drag & drop or copy & paste to make copies of exactly what you want to keep on it. No faffing about with drivers, or automated back up, syncing, clouds etc. Loads of room for copy of user folders from a PC and a laptop. Pricey, but cheap compared to price of memory sticks/flash drives due to huge capacity.
Perfect at the moment.
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.
Nice size
Bought this to store my I tunes library on. It’s ideal nice and compac
Great little machine
It is a compact inexpensive back-up tool. Excellent value and easy to use. Highly recommended.
Easy set up for Mac
Bought this as a Time Machine back up drive for my Mac. Works really well and no problems setting it up. Well packaged and delivered quickly.
Reliable
I use this for my MacBook Pro 2019 and MacBook Pro 2022 for Time Machine back ups. simple to use, easy to see how much storage you have and it’s very reliable. no complaints maybe just a longer wire? but its not an issue really
Excellent purchase
Stylish, compact and lightweight.
Easy to set up, just plug in and go. No need for additional software.
I bought this to extend my storage on my PS4. Works great and fits nicely in my tv unit.
It’s small enough that it can be hidden away.
There is a blue light that is constantly on when its in use and blinks when accessing any data from the drive.
Works with PS4 without any hassel. Even though the advert relates to PC & MAC.
Well worth the money.
External hard drive
Found it difficult to download photos from computer to this hard drive
Perfectly portable
Holds hours of shizzle for the youngest to binge watch in an easy to use and handy device.
It’s good, it works
I have a couple of these, but the price for ssd’s never seems to reduce
It seems to work a trea
I like this product because you can connect it to your TV and it is good for storing files
Great produc
This was great value
small and portable and great storage – I got the 4 tb version
love i
Solid device, working well so far.
Used to expand my PS5 storage (primarily to store PS4 games). Works as it should. PS4 games load quickly and plays normally. The data has survived despite occasional system shut downs due to the PS5 overheating.
Mbr vs gp
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
It's a hard drive with moving parts and a ton of storage
So I got this to store my steam games on, 2tb USB hard drive, my first thought was to back up games onto this, so it did and still had lots of spare, so I downloaded my entire steam collection and backed it to this, again, still space. Now rather than backing up the games to this I download them directly onto this and run them on USB 3.0, it works well, slower than the NVMe drive, but if I need performance I have the option to move the game to my C drive. Really impressed that I can run games (single player) directly from this.
OVERALL – its a hard drive so it has moving parts and best not to bang it around when powered up. The cost and size and performance, wow.
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.
First off, the delivery. Spot on, could even track the package right to my doorstep. Nice feature! Packaging was typical – INADEQUATE. Seriously… How many times does Azn need telling? These are sensitive devices. The reason I mention this will appear later in my review.
Internal packaging by Toshiba is the reasonable inflated bubble wrap. The USB3 cable was folded up 4 times and as a result has 4 kinks in it, 2 of which are pretty brutal. The drive socket wasn’t completely firm, a small bit of play was felt inserting and removing the cable. A bit more research revealed this type of socket is usually soldered to the drive’s board and looking at the size of the drive (a footprint slightly SMALLER than a 50g tobacco tin!) it’s very likely this socket is soldered to the drive, so if you’re thinking you can remove the case if it fails at a later date and stick the drive in another case or computer, think again. This alone is why I removed a star. If the socket fails, a new one typically costs a fiver and that’s before you learn to solder or pay someone else to do it. I’ll probably wrap some tape around the end of the drive to limit the cable movement too but that’s just me being paranoid, since during a file transfer to the Toshiba external drive, one of my internal drives kicked out a couple of Command Timeout errors in the SMART readout, something I’ve never seen in 18 months of owning my system. A thorough geek-esque system check revealed the Toshiba was totally blame-free 🙂
CrystalDiskMark & CrystalDiskInfo reveal more information. According to CDI, the drive is a SATA II drive. Not really an issue since USB3 speeds on my laptop max out around 130MB/s but is it really a SATA II? I hope it’s not an old drive inside, I haven’t seen anything but SATA III and NVMe in years. Still, CDM speed tests were pretty much what I hoped for – at best 131MB/s writing a 1GB file, 130MB/s writing and reading a 2GB file (I ran this test several times). SMART codes seemed perfectly normal at this point. Most of the time the speed hovered between 120-130MB/s whilst writing large files, occasionally it would drop to 80-90MB/s. A large folder of image files gave the typical snails pace you get from a HDD. All files transferred ok, although I discovered the transferred folder (42.2GB) was 5MB smaller than the source, despite being identical file systems (right down to cluster and sector size, on NTFS). No files are missing… Never seen that before in an identical setup but during the backups, I had a lot of “firsts” (and in 26 years of computing, I just wanted to put it down to my age lol).
Finally, the reason for the packaging comment at the start. During tests, I noticed the “Disk Shift” SMART output changing a few times. Exhaustive reading threw out several possibilities, not least one being external force – a package being tossed around, for example. I’ve had parcels from here that looked like they’d been kicked about. It’s unacceptable and it likely reduces the lifespan of most sensitive devices. Idling, the Disk Shift output returns to zero. Whilst active, I’ve seen values from 1 up to 22, 14 has appeared a few times. It seems like the drive is shifting when running at full speed but no other errors have emerged yet.
Phew. Lastly, The auto power-off (1min or so) is a little annoying but considering how hot it gets (45C from 25C after a 10 minute file transfer) it’s probably a good thing. Also, yesterday this drive was cheaper than the Seagate/Maxtor equivalents, today they’re the same price – Something to bear in mind if, like me, you were comparing several drives and cost was a deciding factor. The drive seems to be exactly what it would be, great size, plenty of care needed to keep it in working condition but always treat your external drives with great care regardless. 1TB of course will show as approx 931GB in Windows. I run a dual-boot system (Win/Linux) and the drive works fine in both operating systems. Would I trust it with critical data? I don’t know yet.