The drive itself is great. It's silent, light weight, takes almost no desk space, and the connection is one-wire simple.
BUT---I bought this as an automatic back up device on the basis that it was specifically designed to work with my Mac. It was to replace an older Iomega drive that had broken. The software that "comes with it" is all really downloaded. The Iomega software will not work with anything older than OX 10.5. (And the older Iomega software with my old drive never worked well on the Mac, so I didn't try to run this drive with that.) The other option is Retrospect. I downloaded that, and to install it, the software required the license number off the box. Well, if I downloaded the software, there isn't a box. It took a couple of days with with a friend who works at Iomega to get a license number.
Retrospect doesn't work smoothly or automatically. It may do a full back up, but I just want to create a duplicate of my files automatically. So far, I can't make that happen. I want it to automatically create a copy of a new or changed document, photo, or music. Moving copies manually with Finder is simple and easy--without Retrospect or Iomega software. But I have to remember to do it. Doing it with Retrospect is a long, slow process. Also the installation and set up prompts on Retrospect refer to check boxes and options that don't exist on the Mac menus.
I'm just a typical computer user, not an IT specialist, but generally can install and set up this kind of stuff with no problems. I've got several hours invested in this and it's still not doing what it's supposed to. Iomega tech support is pretty weak.
So while this is an excellent choice if you are putting files on a portable drive to take with you, it isn't doing what I wanted as a back-up device. Get more detail about Iomega eGo Mac Edition 500 GB USB 2.0/FireWire 800/FireWire 400 Portable External Hard Drive 34629 (Ruby Red).
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