I recently purchased the HP SimpleSave 2TB USB drive as I was in need for a bigger backup and media storage drive. The HP SimpleSave 2TB is a 5400rpm drive so it’s not blazing fast but it’s plenty for backup and storage, at least for my needs.
The case itself is glossy, piano black I guess you could call it, with a blue light in the front that indicates activity. It also has a small HP logo on front. The case itself doesn’t make a sound as it doesn’t have a fan, so the only sounds you’ll hear is from the drive working, which isn’t very loud at all.
HP SimpleSave also comes with “easy to use” (they say, I haven’t tried) automatic backup software. And here comes the first downside for Mac users…
HP Launcher
I don’t know why, but HP decided to somehow “embed”, what appears as a CD, into the SimpleSave system. So when ever you have the drive connected to your Mac via USB, you’ll also have a “HP Launcher” icon mounted, looking like a CD. There’s no way of getting rid of it, at least not that I’ve found. Doing a complete format of the disk doesn’t help at all, which is why I’m sure this is not stored on the drive, but somewhere else in the electronics – or perhaps in a hidden partition of the drive, but I can’t be sure. If you eject HP Launcher on your Mac, it will reappear within seconds. You can “make it passive” from Disc Utility, but it comes back next time you start your Mac.
Blue LED
Another downside, not only for Mac users, is the blue LED that HP use to indicate disk activity. While I don’t mind the LED at all, I do mind the fact that it’s not enclosed properly, so all the blue light spills through the air vents on top of the drive. This is not a problem during day or if you have lights turned on, but if the drive is running while it’s dark in the room, you will see it flashing like crazy because the blue light comes out from top of the drive. It’s probably a bad idea to close the vents since the drive would need some air circulation, especially when it doesn’t have a fan for cooling.
Other than that, I’m very happy with HP SimpleSave 2TB USB drive. 2TB worth of data storage for $159 is a good deal I think.
Sounds good. I am looking for something like that, so I guess I’ll check it out. Luckily I am not a mac user:)
Good, then it’s only the blue light that might annoy you if you use it at night 🙂 Also, please use your name next time you comment, if you want a link back to your website.
Sounds like a good deal to me at $159.
Yep, that’s what I thought too. I’m satisfied with it.
I was reviewing this earlier too but on a much smaller size (320 GB I think or somewhere around that). I could delete the HP launcher software file from the drive so I guess yours is on a different model perhaps 🙂
External are good for backups too
How did you delete the HP Launcher software, was it just located on the drive? I re-formatted and re-partioned it, so it must be in a hidden partition that the computer can’t see – or embedded into the case some how.
I’m actually looking to buy an external storage device and saw this as one of my choices. Thank you for the review. That blue LED light may be an issue, though. Again, thanks for giving us an honest feedback.