Strengths: none I can think off.... see weaknesses

Weaknesses: No on/off switch. HORRIBLE support. Drive failure. Partition disappeared. Loud. Awkward size. Did I mention HORRIBLE support

Summary: This is my 3rd TB drive. I figured Maxtor had never let me down in the past. Within two weeks I had a drive failure. Me second drive, the partition just vanished.STAY AWAY from this garbage.There are far better drivers, better thought out, for the same price that won't let you down.For your peace of mind, sanity and DATA - stay away!!

Strengths: First External I didn't have to format -it's already NTFS.Faster than the published benchmarks which had already placed it in the top of the pack.

Weaknesses: Customizing the one touch backup does not allow me to include everything that I'd want. Recovery image requires a fat32 partition?!

Summary: In going for ease of use some more experienced users will be disappointed or most likely use other software products that they like better. However, what's there is easy enough to use if it meets your needs. The "drill" recovery scheme while good in theory leaves something to be desired in execution Still a good drive when purchased at a good price.

Strengths: Large Drive, Great price.

Weaknesses: Software does not work well on a mac. First drive failed.

Summary: I bought this drive at Staples last week. It is a simple hard drive. I have two other Maxtor drives and figured this would be about the same. Physically it is a great looking drive and is relatively fast using firewire or usb 2.0. When I first got the drive I installed the software on my Mac and the software would not recognize the drive to reformat it. I have a portable Maxtor One Touch 4 drive that uses the same software with no issues. For some reason it was unable to read the drive. I then tried disk utility and it also did not work. Finally there was a grinding sound. I took it back to Staples and got a new one. Second one had no problem being reformated but the Maxtor software still would not recognize it. I am a bit nervous about the drive but have had zero issues with model #2. The drive has much faster read times than a WD My Book I had and Firewire is still a plus! I will say that I am neutral on the drive- a 4 out of 5. The price was what made me give it the extra star. I may consider a second one so I can backup in case it fails. Good news though- it has a 5 year warranty (but does not cover Data Recovery). I got the drive on sale.

Strengths: Fairly fast with lots of connection options. Compact size. Massive storage. One-touch backup button.

Weaknesses: Odd shape/footprint, so it won't stack with other external drives. It will need to stand by itself which might take up some desk space.

Summary: I've used it for about a month now with no problems at all. I don't use the built in software because I already had a license of FileBackPC. But I do nightly encrypted backups with that software and True Crypt and have yet to experience any trouble at all. I would recommend this drive without reservation.

Strengths: None

Weaknesses: No on/off switch. Software on drive, and failed to operate. 45 minutes of tech support/software download to get nowhere. I've send it back but now cannot uninstall the software.

Summary: This thing is a mess. See the weaknesses above. Why don't these people spend the extra $10 to do the whole thing right. I've used Maxtors for the last five years, but no mas. It's not worth the exercise.