Toshiba Canvio Partner 2TB Portable 2.5’’ External Hard Drive, USB 3.2, Mac & Windows compatible. (HDTB520EK3AB)

I must say I'm very pleased with this excellent little unit. It's small, USB powered, fast, stores a huge amount of data and is made by Toshiba (a make I trust). I got it for storing and consolidating sound samples for music making from various flash drives I have dotted around the house. Although flash drives are generally reliable (especially the SanDisk ones I normally use -- please see my separate reviews) I still like to have back ups so it was time to back up everything and have it all handily in one place, and this Toshiba Canvio Partner 4TB Portable 2.5" External HDD is perfect for the job. I absolutely couldn't be happier with my purchase. Speed-wise it's great for what I need it for. It's fast; very fast, and is the fastest drive I own (with file transfer speeds often reaching 130 MB/s [about 1.30 minutes to copy about 10 GB of data]). However, different files, quantities and sizes tend to copy at different speeds, which seems to be how Windows operates, rather than the device itself. Some of my files whizz onto the drive while others take a little longer, but the time factor isn't an issue with me as I just leave the copying process running while I do other things on my computer. This doesn't affect the copying so I'm happy to leave it running for as long as it needs. Maybe alternative models will transfer a little faster and maybe they won't, but as far as I'm concerned the speed of this one is more than adequate. To put a figure on it to give an idea of averages, a folder full of sound samples can copy between 70 MB/s to 110 MB/s, but a good folder of more even files can copy at a steady 110 MB/s to 120 MB/s. Please note the word 'copy' in the above as this is the function I use the drive for, and as such I haven't tried moving files (which may transfer faster). I invariably copy from USB 3.0 devices and as this is USB 3.2 the process is quick, but even on slower drives and SD cards it still isn't much of a bother. As above, I just set it up and leave it, as what's an extra bit of time here and there? Once the bulk of the copying is done all I need to do is back up newer files as I create or acquire them, which is a breeze. The smaller size (10.9 x 1.95 x 7.8 cm -- probably little more than an average laptop touchpad) and USB connection are great because now I can keep the drive in a little cupboard next to where I work so can quickly and without fuss hook it up to the computer whenever I need it, and then disconnect it and put it away just as quickly. Not having to plug it into the mains like my old external hard drives is definitely a plus. Copying couldn't be easier either as it works straight out of the box (bar formatting it to NTFS, which is seconds with the Windows Quick Format command) and is drag and drop. Straight out of the box means there's no drivers to install (certainly not on Windows 10 as I use). As such, it's a case of plug it in and then within seconds it's ready to use (and you can't get quicker than that!). The only downside (which isn't really a downside, but merely common sense when using a mechanical drive) is that it probably shouldn't be moved while copying. Saying that, I have had to move mine a couple of times, but have done so with utmost care and it seems to be okay. Regarding storage, it's plentiful to say the least. I have thousands of samples of varying lengths and qualities (of which a total I couldn't possible guess at, but it has to be well over 100,000, and probably considerably more -- probably a good few 100,000) but they've all gone onto the drive, as well as plenty of associated files, software back ups and all the music I've created. And according to the drive, I haven't even reached 2TB, so with 4TB capacity there's more than enough left over for any amount of adding to. 2TB is massive storage, and 4TB doubles it, so it'll take some filling unless one really crams it with massive files. I can't comment on reliability as I've only recently bought the drive, but Toshiba is usually fairly reliable and seems to have a good name for itself. I'm sure it'll last. Saying that, the drive is used on a near daily basis and works perfectly every time. Please be aware that no matter what capacity a drive is, when plugged into Windows the operating system invariably shows it as having less capacity than advertised, which seems to be just how Windows measures capacity compared to the manufacturer. It isn't indicative of a faulty drive or false advertising, and seems to be the same with any drive plugged into Windows. Please note too that no software comes with the drive, and that the instructions are in .pdf format on the drive itself. Also, as with most connected storage devices, it's highly recommended that instead of just plugging them out when finished, Windows' Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media feature is used instead to save data being corrupted if the drive is still being written too. This can normally be found in the taskbar beside the notification area. There may be a small delay until Windows indicates it's safe to remove the drive, but its usually not too long. This drive follows that convention too. So, an all round excellent purchase which I'm delighted with, and at a good price too. There's simply nothing negative I can say about this drive, and can safely say from my own experiences with it that it's entirely positive. As such, due to its many advantages I highly recommend it. UPDATE (Mar 2024) -- Still going strong I ordered this back in Dec 2022 and have used it nearly every day since for backing-up my ever-increasing collection of samples, installation files and music projects, sometimes three, four or more times a day, and it's still going as strong as ever. Also, it still copies much faster than any of my flash drives. Considering I'm constantly taking it out of the cupboard next to me and putting it away again, and having it balanced upon the arm of my chair while copying, it's proven to be remarkably reliable, and I've still got plenty of space left on it. It's been very much a worthwhile purchase.

The Toshiba Canvio Partner 2TB is a reliable and straightforward external hard drive. Setup is quick — just plug it into your PC or laptop via USB and it’s ready to go. The 2TB capacity gives plenty of room for documents, media, and backups. It’s compact and portable, making it easy to carry around, and in my experience it runs quietly and steadily without overheating. While it’s not as fast as an SSD, it’s perfect for everyday storage needs. Overall, a solid and affordable option for expanding storage or backing up files.

I was pleased with the drive. It's small, light and very easy to set up. Basically plug and play. I formatted the drive according to my OS and I was away. Transfer speeds are reasonable, but not mega fast. The drive connects via a usb A cable at one end and a proprietary connection at the other. This was disappointing, but I can appreciate that this might be to avoid a separate power cable. A usb c cable would have been nice though. Overall, I'm happy with the device.

I have been using Toshiba external HDDs for years as my main source of external and portable drives and for good reason, they have been extremely reliable and quick. I currently have 3 of these 4TB models, and they are not too bulky, and run cool and quiet. There is a small activity LED on top of the drive so you can see when it's being written and read from. Speed wise, to a newly formatted drive, I was able to hit just under 140MB/s copying large files, transfering lots of smaller files will of course be much slower. Overall highly recommended if you are looking for reliable, large capacity but easily portable storage at a good price.

Delivered quickly, used immediately to transfer 263GB of data. Worked straight out of the box. No problems at all. Speed was 133/134MB and it took about 30 mins. The storage capacity of 1TB equates to 931GB, there are a couple of files on there including the manual. USB 3, used on Windows 11 PC. Compact, fits in the palm of your hand, and looks good. As for durability only time will tell, if there is any change I will post an update to this review. So far very happy with this purchase.

Excellent hard drive works well

Good drive, easy to use straight out of the box. Plug and play / drag and drop. Speed of transfer seems good, probably not the fastest but I just want a second backup drive because I don't like cloud backups. Took a while to transfer 48000 plus photos from my original drive to this one but it didn't heat up like my old one did. Once done the other bits were instantaneous. Happy with my purchase.

Failed after 6 days. I bought this to store all my multimedia files on (Music, Photos, Video) in Windows 11. Worked fine initially. After a few days it started making some squeaking noises. Then it began disappearing and reappearing in Windows (Windows constantly informing me a drive had been attached). This morning it began a kind of squeaky beep beep (like an alarm with a sore throat) noise and simultaneously click click clicking over and over. Drive is completely inaccessible now. Tried accessing from an old PC but same result. So this drive is dead in the water. I am rather fortunate to be honest (unlike some of the poor souls in this comments section who got caught out). Yesterday I got an old SATA 3.5 HDD out of my old stuff draw and attached it to the PC and backed up all the folders on this Toshiba because I had a feeling all wasn't well with it. If I hadn't have done that everything would have been gone now as I'd cleared the backup of these files on my main drive! (stupid is as stupid does I suppose). Always keep backups. Make sure you mirror your files for emergencies. Nonetheless, even though I'm not looking at data recovery, I'm still very dissappointed. I bought a batch of Toshiba portable drives some years ago ( like this one) and they all (4) failed one after the other after about 9 months. None of the other portables (Maxtor, Seagate, WD etc) I still use have any issues after many years of use. Different for everyone I suppose. But for me Toshiba aren't on my future list of drive purchases. To be honest, my previous experiences should have informed me...oh well. Returned, refunded.

Good

Funktioniert wunderbar und hat viel Platz für Backups oder andere Daten die man sichern will.

انصح فيه لاكن يعتبر بطيء عند نقل مساحات كبيرة

Very good and working good. Recommended

Toshiba: un marchio di qualità. Sostanza adeguata al prezzo, non economico.