Shadow Mini External 2TB USB 3.1 Portable Solid State Drive SSD (U318-SSD-2000-BK)

UPDATE 2/21/17:My original Shadow Mini broke immediately upon use, copying 80GB of files. (Overheated, caused my system's wifi and mouse to stop working. Possibly shorted USB cable / drawing too much current)However, customer support was EXCELLENT, and immediately sent me a new replacement drive for free, which is currently working fine.Rating is updated to three stars, because the original malfunctioning device has given me some concern about the reliability of the drive for storing important data. However, I've had no problems yet, within three weeks of use. It does seem to get a little bit too hot for comfort, but the device has not yet stopped working.UPDATE: CURRENTLY IN NEGOTIATIONS WITH CUSTOMER SUPPORTCustomer support contacted me promptly, and has promised to send a replacement device. Depending on the outcome of the second device, I'll update the review here.ORIGINAL REVIEW:---------------------------------------------------------------------------------I got the drive this evening, and immediately plugged it in and started copying 80GB worth of MP3s over. The drive got quite hot during the transfer. After coming back 10 minutes later, it's disconnected and can't be found by disk scans, and doesn't show up upon removing/plugging back in. Appears to be totally dead.

I have two of these drives connected to my PC and use a DOS batch command file running on the Windows scheduler daily to backup my data files such as pictures, correspondence and working files and programs. I use the DOS "XCOPY" program which gives me control over what is saved and what is skipped. I like not having to depend on an internet hookup or third party "Clouds" for reliable backup. The solid state drive is very reliable, noiseless, compact, fast with USB 3.0 and the 1TB capacity provides storage for huge amounts of data.This is a great product!

Works exceptionally well with my mid-2015 Retina Macbook Pro. I have partitioned 50GB of space on my Mac's internal SSD as a bootcamp drive and I use the ShadowMini as a second drive in my Windows 8 installation on which every program, apart from the base Windows files, is installed. I have installed Microsoft Office, Steam (with a handful of games) and a couple of Windows utilities to the ShadowMini and everything runs smoothly and seamlessly off the drive. I get very good read/write speeds of about 350-380 Mbps which are far higher than anything delivered by a traditional external drive. Games like Far Cry 4, load fairly quickly and run without hiccups. I have stuck the drive with double sided tape to the lid of my MacBook so that its always there. This drive suits my purpose exactly as I had intended and expected and therefore, deserves a full 5 star rating.The downsides include the heat generation of the unit over a period of sustained use, especially gaming. It can get very hot but so far, it doesn't seem to affect its performance. In addition, the USB 3.0 cable that came with the unit was a little loose fitting and the laptop would show disconnections of the drive frequently when moved. Switching the default cable with that of a Seagate Backup Plus drive solved that problem.

Fastest USB3 SSD drive I've seen so far. Write speed is about 390 MB/s and the read speed is 420 MB/s. This is very close to the internal speed of my 2012 Air. Very impressive. Perfect for bootable backups and fast enough to run Virtual Machine files from it.This drive comes in a matte black Aluminum case. It is smaller and lighter than a regular 2.5" internal drive. Has a nice carrying pouch as well. Overall the quality is very nice.I can recommend this drive to anyone who needs a fast and a portable expansion.

Should my initial impression turn I will update but as of now I am quite satisfied. I have a Samsung T1 as well and both have their strong points. This drive has a metal enclosure and a carry case. Very fast and compact. I use Vera-Crypt containers for security so bundled software is not an issue. Definitely better (smaller and more stable) than the 2 SSD's I put in aftermarket enclosures.