SimpleTech Signature Mini (320GB, red)
Manufacturer: SimpleTech USA Part number: FS-U25/320H
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Product series
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- The SimpleTech Signature Mini Black Cherry is a compact, USB-only external hard drive that will tempt you with its sleek design, and then win you over with its capacity, performance, and price.
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Where to buy
| store | customer rating | inventory | tax & shipping | price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Savings, Selection & Service since 1971 |  | In stock | Enter zip code to get total price: Price +Tax +Shipping =Total price | as of 11/07/2009 |
| Amazon.com Marketplace | | In stock | as of 11/07/2009 |
CNET editors' review
SimpleTech Signature Mini (320GB, red) price range: $72.82 - $88.97
- Reviewed by: Dong Ngo
- Edited by: Matthew Elliott
- Reviewed on: 05/20/2008
The good: Large capacity for a travel drive; very compact and light; bus powered; good bundled backup software; cool and quiet in operation; three-year warranty; two free gigabytes of online storage.
The bad: No FireWire; doesn't ship with power cord.
The bottom line: The SimpleTech Signature Mini Black Cherry is a compact, USB-only external hard drive that will tempt you with its sleek design, and then win you over with its capacity, performance, and price.
Available in Bubblegum, Marshmallow, Blueberry, and Kiwi varieties, SimpleTech's Signature Mini series of portable hard drives might leave you with a minor sugar high. We tested the top-of-the-line 320GB Signature Mini Black Cherry model (the other flavors range in size from 120GB to 250GB) and came away impressed. Like last year's model, the drive is designed by Pininfarina, the famed Ferrari designer. The drive is compact, stylish, and comes bundled with a backup application, but the one drawback is it provides only a USB 2.0 connection. As a contrast, the OWC Mercury On-the-Go supplies FireWire 400 and 800 connections in addition to USB. To its credit, the Signature Mini boasts a smaller footprint and is almost half the weight of the Mercury, while costing you less per gigabyte. The SimpleTech Signature Mini can be found for roughly $180 online--for a very competitive $0.56 per GB. Though 320GB is rather roomy for a portable hard drive that uses a 2.5-inch laptop drive, the Mercury On-the-Go is still the largest such drive at 500GB. If you don't need the largest capacity and can live without a FireWire connection, however, we like the SimpleTech Signature Mini for its high style, low cost, and compact size.
| Drive type | External hard drive |
| Connector options | USB 2.0 |
| Available capacities | 320GB, 250GB, 160GB, 120GB |
| Capacity of test unit (if applicable) | 320GB |
| Drive speed | 5,400rpm |
| Cache | 8MB |
| Dimensions (LWH) | 5 inches x 3 inches x 0.6 inch |
| Notable design features | Compact, designed by Pininfarina |
| OSes supported | Windows XP, Vista, Mac OS X |
| Software included | Fabrik Local Backup |
| Service and Support | Three-year warranty |
Design and features
The SimpleTech's Signature Mini Black Cherry ships in a package that looks more like a box of chocolates than an external hard drive. Inside the box, you'll find the drive, a USB cable, and a small Read Me First booklet. You can skip the booklet; simply connect the drive to a USB port on your PC (or Mac), and you'll be up and running. The included cable features a Y-connector that lets you plug the drive into two USB ports in case one doesn't provide enough power. We didn't run into any instances during testing where we needed to use the second connector. The drive works with other single-connector USB cables too.
On the back of the drive, you will find the USB port and a power jack, which is necessary only for old computers with USB 1.1 ports that don't provide enough juice to power the drive. It's hard to find such computers nowadays and for that reason, SimpleTech doesn't include the power adapter in the package. The Signature Mini also lacks an on/off switch, which is convenient for turning off your drive while leaving it connected to your PC for long stretches.
Overall, the Signature Mini presents an eye-catching design and feels sturdy and well built. On top, there are two LED lights to indicate if the drive is powered up (red) and the operation of the internal hard drive (blinking blue). On the bottom, the drive has two rubber feet that keep it from slipping and sliding on your desk. The drive is also very light, weighing only 5.8 ounces (as opposed to 12.5 ounces of the OWC Mercury)
The drive comes bundled with Fabrik Local Backup as the backup solution both for Macs and PCs. We tried the software, and it worked well. It also ships with the Fabrik Ultimate Backup online service that offers 2GB of good-forever online storage for free or unlimited for $4.95 per month.
Cost per GB
Compared with competing portable hard drives that feature small, 2.5-inch laptop drives, the SimpleTech Signature Mini Black Cherry, along with the Maxtor OneTouch 4 Mini, is the cheapest option we've tested, costing $0.56 per gigabyte. We were pleased to see that you aren't asked to pay a price premium for the Pininfarina design as you do, say, with a Ferrari.
| Model | Capacity | Est. street price | Cost per GB |
| SimpleTech Signature Mini Black Cherry | 320GB | $180.00 | $0.56 |
| Maxtor OneTouch 4 Mini | 160GB | $90.00 | $0.56 |
| Iomega eGo Portable Hard Drive | 160GB | $100.00 | $0.63 |
| OWC Mercury On-The-Go | 500GB | $350.00 | $0.70 |
| Toshiba USB 2.0 Portable External HDD | 160GB | $140.00 | $0.88 |
Performance
The Signature Mini Black Cherry did very well in the labs. It topped the charts among pocket-size, external hard drives on our USB 2.0 write test, scoring 147.4Mbps (as opposed to 138.5Mbps of the OWC Mercury On-the-Go). On our read test, it finished in the middle of the pack--we typically don't see much variance in read performance among USB drives. Do note that a drive with FireWire support, such as the OWC Mercury On-the-Go, will offer faster throughput using that interface than USB 2.0.
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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Write | |
Read |
During the testing process, the Signature Mini Black Cherry worked smoothly and quietly. It also managed to stay relatively cool all the time, which is a pleasant surprise as the drive doesn't seem to have any ventilation.
Service and support
SimpleTech backs the Signature Mini Black Cherry (as well as other models in the Signature Mini series) with a generous three-year warranty. Its toll-free technical support is available from 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. PT. At the company's Web site, you can find FAQs as well as drivers, software updates, and manuals.
User reviews
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Horrible experience, died after 2 months, bad support 2
by tthornton76 on November 4, 2008
Pros: When it worked, I liked its compact size.
Cons: Stopped working, lost all data, bad customer service and warranty offers the precise opposite of what the buyer would want: another unit, but not data recovery.
Summary: It crashed on me and I've lost all the data this thing was backing up. Just switched jobs and therefore the unit became my primary data holder temporarily, which ...
Summary: It crashed on me and I've lost all the data this thing was backing up. Just switched jobs and therefore the unit became my primary data holder temporarily, which is when it stopped working. Only 2 months old. Worthless customer support and warranty, which will replace the unit but won't provide data recovery. Yeah, I want another one to store the data I don't have anymore. Paperweight is best description. NIGHTMARE. Lost all personal and professional data. Part of customer support's brilliant advice was to tell me to purchase a power adapter which didn't solve the problem, so even more money down the drain. Just a horrible experience all around.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Sucks sucks suck... Customer support is worthless!
by Jbek1978 on August 17, 2009
Pros: Unless you want a costly paperweight!
Cons: Waste of money, waste of time, what a waste of a company, the guy in customer support should be fired for giving bad advice, wasting customer's time, and being just worthless.
Summary: I love to save a few bucks, but man what a difference between a western digital vs. this POS company. The issues are just like the other review, had a ...
Summary: I love to save a few bucks, but man what a difference between a western digital vs. this POS company. The issues are just like the other review, had a problem called (30 minutes wait, then had not service for data recovery (in fact hung up me when I complained), then called back and still get cut off. Why save the money when you will pay for it in your time.
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Cheap price + Lame design means trouble
by luckyjeff on June 3, 2009
Pros: Well it does store information.
Cons: More complicated than needs to be/poor transition from Mac to PC
Summary: I bought this at Costco to get RAW photo files from my photographer who has a Mac. Just to set it up on the Mac was a nightmare and support ...
Summary: I bought this at Costco to get RAW photo files from my photographer who has a Mac. Just to set it up on the Mac was a nightmare and support was okay but it's hard to support a lame designed product. Then I had similar issues when connecting it to my PC. Why the extra wire...ever hear of plug n' play?
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Mac didn't recognize drive
Pros: Great looking.
Cons: You are supposed to be able to format this drive for a Mac, but when I plugged the drive into my Macbook Pro, it didn't even recognize the device. I ended up selling it to my office for backups on our Windows machines - apparently it works fine.
Summary: Don't buy this drive if you own a Mac.
Summary: Don't buy this drive if you own a Mac.
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Unit broke after 4 months; poor customer service
by LL137 on October 14, 2008
Pros: Lightweight, portable
Cons: Doesn't work - 320 GB requires more than power supplied by 2 USBs; requires power cord that is not included; 30-45 min wait to talk to customer service
Summary: I initially enjoyed using this drive with my Sony Vaio laptop, and found it easy to use. However, after only putting 80 GB on the 320 GB drive, it stopped ...
Summary: I initially enjoyed using this drive with my Sony Vaio laptop, and found it easy to use. However, after only putting 80 GB on the 320 GB drive, it stopped working. After 2 calls to technical support (and a 30-45 min wait each time), I was told rather rudely that the size of the drive (320 GB) needs more power than 2 USBs can supply. Additionally, the amount of data I put on it (only 25% of total capacity!) required too much power as well. The solution was to purchase my own universal power adapter and always plug it into an external power source, IF I wanted to use it with anything more than 80 GB on it. Also, if the drive itself was damaged , I was told they would replace it but not provide any services for recovering data, etc. This was not only a waste of money, and of time, but a poor product that is not trustworthy with your photos, documents, or data. CDs are a much better choice than this product.
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fine drive, though nothing special
by gfranke42 on August 29, 2008
Pros: I own one and it works fine
Cons: none really
Summary: I can't believe people get paid for reviewing these types of storage devices. How do I get a cush job like that! I've used this product and a ...
Summary: I can't believe people get paid for reviewing these types of storage devices. How do I get a cush job like that! I've used this product and a few other similar devices and they are all basically the same except the style differences. And style differences for a hard drive you stick in your back pack are hardly something worth reviewing.
Anyway, this one works as well as any other, so go on price/capacity and nothing else. -
not a very good drive.
by sandvalen on August 20, 2008
Pros: looks nice and its portable
Cons: not very reliable
Summary: It worked fine for about 2 week then it died. I called the tech support and it was lousy. No help at all. The guy didnt know anything about the ...
Summary: It worked fine for about 2 week then it died. I called the tech support and it was lousy. No help at all. The guy didnt know anything about the drive and offered no solutions. He didnt even try. If you were thinking about buying i would think twice.
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Easy set up, good software, very small footprint
by deviandia on August 9, 2008
Pros: Works as described,
Cons: Directions maybe missed a step or two
Summary: If you're looking for a good back up and recovery system with disaster recovery capabilities (consumer / small business use) I don't think you can go wrong here. I ...
Summary: If you're looking for a good back up and recovery system with disaster recovery capabilities (consumer / small business use) I don't think you can go wrong here. I don't have other drives to compare it to but this little guy worked just as described. Opened the case, plugged it in, loaded the software (from the device) and go.
The back up process was slow but my old PC, I'm sure, has a USB 1.0 bottleneck somewhere plus running through USB hubs. A 13GB back up took 13 hrs but who cares? Click GO at 8:00 PM and its done in the morning. It does incremental back ups from there (only backing the approx 2% of data we touch daily) so that is much quicker on a scheduled basis.
If I had to be picky and was totally unfamiliar with PC's, the directions might leave you hanging after software install but if you find yourself suddenly staring at your desktop, please notice the new icon and click on it. Yo're good to go from there. -
Was ok till it died
by rwtiedemann on July 27, 2008
Pros: Small, lite, attractive with a good transfer speed and it never seems to get even warm.
Cons: It failed 7 days after purchase. Waiting on customer support to contact me so I can send this paper weight in. Seems to choak a bit with large down loads.
Summary: Attractive, good speed and seems sturdy and lite. Very easy simple interface, just plug it in and off you go. To bad it failed after only 7 days, my buddy ...
Summary: Attractive, good speed and seems sturdy and lite. Very easy simple interface, just plug it in and off you go. To bad it failed after only 7 days, my buddy has the same drive and his is working fine still. We bought it at the same time but I used mine about twice as much as he did. The drive would do well with a fire wire as it choked big time on big xfers and I was reduced to drag and drop my movies 1 by 1. Good drive if it stays working, lost a lot of good stuff... Bet customer support tries to screw me as most electronic places do to people. Hope they at least speak English as a first language and not get a PI like HP customer service, god that was hell but another story.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: SimpleTech USA
- Part number: FS-U25/320H
- Bottom Line: The SimpleTech Signature Mini Black Cherry is a compact, USB-only external hard drive that will tempt you with its sleek design, and then win you over with its capacity, performance, and price.
General
- Device Type Hard drive - External hard drive
- Width 3 in
- Depth 5 in
- Height 0.6 in
- Enclosure Color Cherry black
Hard Drive
- Form Factor 2.5"
- Capacity 320 GB
- Interface Type Hi-Speed USB
- Buffer Size 8 MB
- Features Bus Powered by USB
Performance
- Interface Transfer Rate 480 Mbps
- Spindle Speed 5400 rpm
Storage Controller
- Type None
Storage Controller (2nd)
- Type None
Expansion / Connectivity
- Interfaces 1 x Hi-Speed USB - 4 pin USB Type B
- Compatible Bays None
- Compatible Slots x None
Power
- External Hard Drive Power Source USB bus
- Power device type None
Miscellaneous
- Cables Included 1 x USB cable - External
- Compliant Standards Plug and Play
Software / System Requirements
- Software type Fabrik Local Backup Software
- Min Operating system Apple MacOS X, Apple MacOS X 10.3 or later, Microsoft Windows Vista / 2000 / XP
Manufacturer Warranty
- Service & support type 3 years warranty
- Service & Support Details Limited warranty - 3 years, Technical support - Unlimited
Product series
-
SimpleTech Signature Mini (250GB, gray)
Manufacturer: SimpleTech USA
Specs: 250 GB, Hi-Speed USB, 2.5", 8 MB, 5400 rpm
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SimpleTech Signature Mini (120GB, black)
Manufacturer: SimpleTech USA
Specs: 120 GB, Hi-Speed USB, 2.5", 5400 rpm
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SimpleTech Signature Mini (160GB, blue)
Manufacturer: SimpleTech USA
Specs: 160 GB, Hi-Speed USB, 2.5", 8 MB, 5400 rpm
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SimpleTech Signature Mini (320GB, red)
Manufacturer: SimpleTech USA
Specs: 320 GB, Hi-Speed USB, 2.5", 8 MB, 5400 rpm
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SimpleTech Signature Mini (250GB, pink)
Manufacturer: SimpleTech USA
Specs: 250 GB, Hi-Speed USB, 2.5", 8 MB, 5400 rpm
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SimpleTech Signature Mini (250GB, light blue)
Manufacturer: SimpleTech USA
Specs: 250 GB, Hi-Speed USB, 2.5", 8 MB, 5400 rpm
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SimpleTech Signature Mini (250GB, green)
Manufacturer: SimpleTech USA
Specs: 250 GB, Hi-Speed USB, 2.5", 8 MB, 5400 rpm
Manufacturer info
- SimpleTech USA
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse SimpleTech USA products on Shopper.com
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- Website: http://www.simpletech.com/
- Address:
1830 East Warner Avenue, Santa Ana, CA 92705 - Phone: 1-949-477-7700
- Email: support@simpletech.com
- Fax: 1-949-756-8289
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