Product Description

The FireLite from SmartDisk is a palm-sized portable external hard drive with great looks, huge storage capacities and a slim design that makes it easy to carry and use, at home, at your desk, or while jetting around the world. No software to install - just plug it in and start using it! Hundreds of uses, with both desktop and portable Macs Back up critical files and applications Carry documents between home and work without a heavy briefcase Use as a high capacity sneakernet at the office Create a bootable backup image for safety's sake Includes - 3 foot FireWire cable, protective carrying case, SmartDisk Tools 2.5 for Mac Requires OS 8.6+ FireWire port required in host computer

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9736 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: SmartDisk
• Model: FWFL80
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 2.70" h x 5.60" w x 9.60" l, .44 pounds
• Hard Disk: 80GB

Features

• Durable, palm-sized 80 GB 2.5-inch FireWire portable hard drive for fast back-ups
• 400Mbits/sec transfer speed; powers via Fire Wire connection; Mac and PC compatible
• Constructed with a ultra-rugged magnesium alloy housing
• CMS BounceBack Express Backup Software for easy data backup
• 1-year limited warranty

From the Manufacturer
The "drive for perfection" is built into our line of FireLite portable external drives. Palm-sized, durable and stylish with outstanding performance and capacity, FireLite offers the ultimate in a convenient, highly portable data storage solution. FireLite combines the best features of today's hard drive designs in one attractive package. Quite simply, FireLite provides quality without compromise.

Unique Magnesium Alloy housing
FireLite's diminutive size and weight are made possible through the use of magnesium alloy for the drive's housing -- by weight, one of the strongest materials on the planet. Its thermal dissipation properties also help to wick away heat, increasing drive longevity. Hold it in your hand and you'll sense the aesthetic and functional advantages of a metal housing over plastic.

No power cord needed
The Firewire Firelite is bus powered, meaning it can be powered directly through the FireWirecable used to connect them to your computer. For portability, this is the uost in convenience; just plug it in and start using it! For configurations that do not supply sufficient cable power, FireLite can operate from an optional AC adapter.

High performance
FireLite's high performance hard drive mechanisms and electronics provide outstanding data transfer speeds with FireWire. For most software applications, you can use FireLite as an internal hard drive, then unplug it and take it with you when you're done!

Plug and Play
For recent Windows and Macintosh operating system releases, such as Windows XP, Windows 2000, Window Me, and Mac OS X, no driver installation is required. This is an enormous convenience when working with a "borrowed" computer; just plug in FireLite to maintain access to important data or transfer large amounts of data between computers.

Customer Reviews

Tested dozens and this one is my pick
I work as an author and seminar/training class instructor. Due to this I travel a lot and am frequently asked to review hardware. I have tested Maxtor, Seagate and these SmartDisk FireLite models. In my opinion, the FireLite is the best external hard drive for those who travel because of its small size and light weight.

The drive does not have the shock resistance of the larger cases and this should be kept in mind. You'll want to be careful with it as evidenced by another review elsewhere related to these devices.

My biggest suggestion: Don't consider any USB drive a permanent backup solution for your data. They are just hard drives. If you have any data that is important to you, it should always be in two, or more, places at the same time. This is true with any storage medium.

Tom Carpenter, Senior Consultant - SYSEDCO

Rude Customer Service
I was impressed with the online reviews and the specifications of this handy external drive. However, it failed (as in very dead) during my first use, backing up my MacBook. Two different customer service reps were very rude as we were trying to diagnose the fault. And it was a toll call. Smartdisk does not provide toll-free customer support. Eventually they gave me an RMA (return merchandise authorization). It took them about 2 weeks to send me a replacement - a refurbished unit; one that had definitely been used a lot (I asked for a new one since my original one died after about 20 minutes of use; but they refused). I know I won't be buying from SmartDisk again.

Nice drive
I bought this drive and a Lacie 500 GB at the same time for two-stage backups. I've been very happy with both drives. As expected, the SmartDisk 80GB unit integrates immediately and seamlessly with my Mac. When I'm on the road, I use it alone for backup. When at home, I piggyback the Lacie 500 GB off the SmartDisk and back up to them both at about the same time. I do not use the free backup software that came with the SmartDisk, but am sticking with Mac OS X's simple Backup routine. The combination (Backup, SmartDisk 80GB and Lacie) works quite well.