Iomega StorCenter Network Hard Drive user reviews (1TB)

Pros none that I can see

Cons 500 GB Iomega. too volatile.

Summary Had well protected for about 6 months;now need to load something onto it and it is not showing up on desktop. All my other drives LaCie and Passport are just fine! It worked six months ago. Drive should not just die when not in use. My other drives are years old some of them, 1TB, etc. from LaCie and work perfectly. Will not risk buying an Iomega again.

Updated on Jan 25, 2012

PS.. tried multiple different plugs, it's definitely the drive...

Pros Easy to set up, large capacity, can easily network 5 comps

Cons As of now, none

Summary Been using it for more than 2 years now. It was a knockout option for a NAS then. Best thing is that it still continues to be. Huge space and a reliable Turk!

Pros This drive does perform the backups that I have it set to do, both from my mac using "Backup" and a PC using EMC Retrospect. Once it's setup initially it's easy to connect to.

Cons There is no power management built in to the firmware. This unit will never go to sleep. The disks are always spinning and fan sounds like a kitchen blender, which is also always running.

Summary Although the unit does perform the back-ups that I have it set to do, the power usage and noise are terrible. As I am writing this, the enclosure is hot to the touch and the fan sounds like it's making a smoothie. It has acted this way since I bought it a year ago. I have been waiting for Iomega to release a firmware upgrade with no luck. If you search the support forums for this product on Iomega's website, there are many repeated requests for the firmware to be upgraded. Iomega's response to the power usage issue is...
"The unit does not pull enough power/energy to where this feature would be useful. I understand it is a nice feature to have but also look at this, if the feature was enabled then there would be a delay is accessing the data which means slower access times."
To me the idea of two 500GB drives constantly spinning (even when the machines on the network are off) for 12 months straight and the fan having to run constantly to keep them cool sounds like it uses plenty of power. Not to mention the extra wear and tear on the drives. This product has a lot of potential, but when the company isn't willing to fix an issue like this it makes me very concerned. I would be buying a replacement for this unit, but unfortunately I can't afford it right now. It's a shame that I spent about $300 on something I am looking to replace after a year.

Pros Easy to setup up & cheap

Cons Drive failed in 14 months, conveniently out of warranty. Extended warranty can only be purchased when product is still in warranty, otherwise you get charged $50/incident. Software sucks, wireless option dosen't work. Need I say more.

Summary NAS comes configured as raid-0 so they can brag about speed and extra storage, a lot of good that does when the drive fails and all the data is lost