HP SimpleSave 500GB Portable Hard Drive

One of the most common requests I get from family, friends and business associates is what to do when their computer systems crash. The short answer, rather a question, is always the same. Do you have a backup? After the awkward moment of silence and their eyes finish glazing over as if I were speaking a foreign language to them, they most always mutter the one syllable, two letter word, most Americans dread to hear which, of course, is “no”.  That being said, I take their failed systems and find some inventive way of procuring their precious photo memories, office files and the like. Without going into too much detail about that procedure, and boring 99.9% of you to tears, I will instead focus on the old maxim, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

After using multitudes of external hard drives over the years, the HP SimpleSave 500GB is by far the most, well, simple to use. Just simply plug in the unit via a free USB port on any computer and the magic begins. There is a minimal countdown in which a user may adjust the settings, file types, and other options before the actual backup begins. Once the unit installs itself on the user’s computer, and an initial backup has been performed, then the next and all subsequent backups are incremental, meaning that only new items are then backed up. Furthermore, this portable hard drive can be used on multiple computer systems with each creating its own directory of backed up files on the unit. Lastly, the price is easy on the wallet and currently, at the time I am writing this, runs about $139.99 direct from HP. Local retail markets in your area may have a lower sale price so be sure to shop around. My favorite aspect of these models is that there is no bloated, cumbersome and often confusing backup software to install. It really so easy my mother could do it! I love you Mom

There is one caveat that I feel is worth mentioning. Some of you researchers and bargain hunters out there may notice that the HP SimpleSave 500GB and the HP SimpleSave 1TB units are almost priced identical. I would suggest choosing the one that fits your specific storage and travelling needs. The 500GB model is very compact and fits easily into a laptop, or travel, bag while the 1TB unit is somewhat larger and ideal for stationary use. In conclusion, it would make my job of recovering data one of solely restoration instead of both retrieval and then restoration should users have one of these units with a current backup when they call and inform me of their system mechanical drive failure. Not only is backing up a superb habit to adopt, the HP SimpleSave makes it painless and requires little to no interaction by the user. How easy is that?