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Hitachi SimpleTough Rugged Portable Hard Drive Review
in-house feature
Just recently we reviewed the A-DATA SH93 portable hard drive which featured a rugged design said to be both shock resistant and water proof -- within reason anyway. After abusing it for a few days the SH93 lived up to all our expectations with flying colors, surviving multiple drops onto a hard surface from up to 4 feet high, and being submerged into the kitchen sink for half an hour with no damage to the drive's contents whatsoever.
Today we have another rugged portable hard drive that looks to improve on some of those issues we had with the A-DATA SH93. Known as the Hitachi SimpleTough, this 500GB portable hard drive is a similarly priced offering meant to withstand even more punishment than the A-DATA drive.
According to the drive's specs, the SimpleTough portable drive can withstand a ten foot drop, and more impressively it can handle the pressure of a one-ton truck (see our durability testing for more).
Read our complete review.
Today we have another rugged portable hard drive that looks to improve on some of those issues we had with the A-DATA SH93. Known as the Hitachi SimpleTough, this 500GB portable hard drive is a similarly priced offering meant to withstand even more punishment than the A-DATA drive.
According to the drive's specs, the SimpleTough portable drive can withstand a ten foot drop, and more impressively it can handle the pressure of a one-ton truck (see our durability testing for more).
Read our complete review.
User Comments (14)
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mailpup on December 23, 2009 7:41 PM |
Well, I wouldn't intentionally abuse one if i had one but it's nice to know it can take some punishment just in case. |
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Guest on December 24, 2009 10:24 AM |
looks nice~ but you probably haven't read what people said about this drive on amazon.com |
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Steve on December 24, 2009 5:04 PM |
Guest said: Read the review we have looks nice~ but you probably haven't read what people said about this drive on amazon.com 
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Julio on December 24, 2009 7:18 PM |
... and double tested that cable but it endured all kind of wild abuse. |
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Guest on January 12, 2010 4:40 PM |
the thinking of this product is great but the wire sucks it loses a connection if you put it a certain way this is my second one because of this issue and its always malfunctioning and i have only 30gb used  (
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Guest on February 1, 2010 9:55 AM |
My simpletough worked like a champ for 24 days. Then 2 days ago it crashed. I was playing a song on my comp and all of a sudden my computer says the usb device has malfunctioned and windows cant recognize it. Now im screwed. I would restore it from a back up but all my back up material was on the simpletough. Its fantastic that you can drop this device from 10 ft and run it over with a truck, really thats neat. But I think the r&d would have been beter spent making it able to handle, I dont know, windows and iTunes. Just and idea. But on the bright side i do have a new catfishing weight now thanks Hitachi |
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Steve on February 2, 2010 6:42 PM |
When did you buy yours? Our sample is still going strong and gets used several times a day. Also if it does die and you cannot access your data, perhaps try taking the hard drive out of the case. This will void the warranty but it depends on how much the data is worth to you. |
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Guest on March 16, 2010 4:56 PM |
Internal wires in the cable broke in half. Used maybe 15 times in an office otherwise cable disconnected from computer and folded away for storage. Tried to use and worked sometimes then just quit completely. |
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Guest on April 9, 2010 7:26 PM |
I just bought this Hitachi SimpleTouch 500 GB about two months ago; and now I have a big problem. The problem is the cable; the drive can not be read by the computer because somehow the cable went bad. If I am lucky, I could flex/twist the cable somehow to make it work; but I am not lucky all the time. If someone asks me whether or not I recommend this drive, I will definitely say "NO"; it is not a good design. |
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Steve on April 10, 2010 5:04 AM |
I don't know about this ... maybe our review sample was hand picked. I still use the sample we were sent on a daily basis and it has not missed a beat. I have been brutal with it as well, the other day a friend was asking why it was so "chunky" so I threw it across the room and down a flight of stairs to show her why it was so chunky Still works no issues.
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mailpup on April 10, 2010 9:59 AM |
Perhaps the maker of the cable is different from the original. |
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Guest on April 21, 2010 9:10 PM |
I bought a SimpleTough 500GB a couple months ago and couldn't be happier with it. It came with a convenient backup utility which I've used. I put all my iTunes music on it (400Gb) and there's no apparent delay or slowdown in finding, playing, or manipulating music and playlists. I really like the enclosed USB cable... I can just toss the whole thing in my briefcase or to one of my kids' backpacks and it's always ready to go. The price is going down too. I orginally saw it for $120, I bought it for $100, and now I see it for $80 with $4 shipping. I'm thinking of getting another one at that price. |
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Guest on August 7, 2010 6:58 PM |
I too bought the Hitachi 500 gb. I was using it when I moved my laptop and it fell approx 4 ft to the floor, Something it should have withstood with no problems. I tried to use it and I got the error message that the device has malfuctioned and it would not work on any computer in the house. It also has a rattle inside like something came loose. It is under a 3 year warranty, hopefully I can get it fixed through that, but what about what I already had on the device?? Is it gone for good?? |
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Guest on February 11, 2012 9:19 AM |
This drive has worked perfectly for over a year. I love the design and durability. I've dropped it a few times, no problem, and the integral usb cable is really handy and durable. I guess I have good luck. |
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