ASUS M11AD-US006O Intel Core i7-4770S, 16GB, 2TB, Desktop with Windows 7 Home Premium

ASUS M11AD-US006O Intel Core i7-4770S, 16GB, 2TB, Desktop with Windows 7 Home Premium..

Buy ASUS M11AD-US006O Intel Core i7-4770S, 16GB, 2TB, Desktop with Windows 7 Home Premium By Asus

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43 of 43 people found the following review helpful.
ASUS M11AD-US006O
By Bryan Feldman
I selected this computer for speed and reliability. Since it was to be used primarily for software development, I didn't need a graphics card. And I definitely didn't want Windows 8. So far (after about a week) I am very satisfied.

When the computer arrived it was well packaged. I opened it up to make sure everything was intact and seated securely; it was. Inside this computer is simple and neat with well-routed wires and lots of open space.

The computer has the Core i7-4770S processor running at 3.10 GHz, not 3.4 as stated, and 16 GB (15.7 usable) RAM. It includes Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1. It has a 2 TB hard disk which is divided into two partitions: WIN7 (C:) which has 745 GB usable and DATA (D:) which has 1.07 TB available and comes completely empty.

It comes with some Asus bloatware, some of which run at startup and you may want to disable. Some of the apps may be useful but I have not looked into them yet. This computer includes Bing Bar which states it will collect information about you and you must agree in order to accept the Windows license agreement. And it includes McAfee Internet Security 2012 edition with a one-month subscription.

Initial setup is straightforward and smooth. Once it's complete, you have an option of making a system image backup, which worked well, used four DVDs and took about two hours. First thing I did after that was to remove the Bing Bar and install a non-Microsoft browser.

It has two front USB 2.0 ports and four rear. I would have liked more but I use a small, unpowered hub to attach more stuff. It also has two USB 3.0 ports in the rear. One in the front would have been useful for external hard drives. Note the image of the back of the computer shown on this page is not the correct one and the features pictured there vary significantly from this PC; you can download the documentation from the Asus website to see what it really looks like. The PC is quiet except for a somewhat noisy hard drive, but I am comparing it to my old system; it had an SSD which of course is silent.

The motherboard-based Intel 4600 graphics has 1.75 GB of RAM, supports two HD monitors with Aero Glass, and performs well for my non-gaming use. Also built in is Realtek High Definition Audio. It has a 350-watt peak, 286-watt continuous power supply.

Here's the key point about this computer: it is FAST. Really, really fast. Large programs like Eclipse ADT and Photoshop load amazingly quickly. Big software projects compile in half the time they used to or less even though my prior machine was not slow. The Windows Experience Index gets a 5.9 overall score with the primary hard disk data transfer rate scoring lowest (5.9), graphics scoring 6.7, and RAM and processor scoring a lovely 7.7.

It came with a keyboard and mouse which I did not use and so cannot comment on. The case feels solid and well-made and is handsome and not too big.

Any more questions, please ask and I will add them to this review.

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
Satisfied Customer
By David E. Mowery
My wife is very pleased with the purchase and so am I. We feel that we received a good bargain.

9 of 15 people found the following review helpful.
ASUS M11AD-US0060 Intel Corei7-4770S, 16 GB, 2TB Desktop with Windows 7
By Chris C. Mills
I really like my new computer with Windows 7!! It's so much faster and more efficient than my last computer. I was very happy to find a new computer that still had Windows 7 available. Windows 8 is very confusing. Windows 7 works much better.

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Seagate Expansion 2TB USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive (STBX2000401)

Seagate Expansion 2TB USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive (STBX2000401)..

Special Price Seagate Expansion 2TB USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive (STBX2000401) By Seagate

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462 of 484 people found the following review helpful.
Great drive, but short warranty
By Ed
I've purchased a lot of different hard drives over the years and used to build my own external drives using internal drives and external enclosures. It used to be cheaper to build your own external drives. These days, external hard drives are very competitively priced, like the Seagate Expansion drive.

PROS:
- Quiet
- Stays cool
- Fast USB 3.0 performance
- Backwards compatible with USB 2.0
- Works with Mac OS X 10.4.8 and up

CONS:
- Measly 1 year warranty

DESIGN & BUILD
The Seagate Expansion portable hard drive's enclosure is made out of matte plastic that feels pretty well made, though I'd prefer aluminum for durability and better heat dissipation. Glossy plastic enclosures are hard to keep looking good, so kudos to Seagate for using the matte plastic instead. The back of the drive has the USB 3.0 port and there's an itty bitty blue power/activity light on top of the drive, towards the back. Also, there are small rubber feet on the bottom, to keep the drive from sliding around on your desk. The USB 3.0 cable is short, so it's best suited for use with laptops.

PERFORMANCE
CrystalDiskInfo identified the internal drive as a Seagate Momentus Thin ST500LT012, which is a SATA II (3Gb/s) drive with a 16MB cache. It has a height of 7mm and runs at 5400RPM. 5400 RPM drives are the standard for portable external hard drives because they don't run as hot as 7200 RPM drives. 5400 RPM drives are perfectly suitable as storage drives.

I tested the Seagate Expansion drive over USB 3.0 with CrystalDiskMark and got sequential read/write rates of 107MB/s read and 105MB/s write. That's likely about 3 times the rate of what you'd get over USB 2.0. So yes, the Seagate Expansion USB 3.0 drive is great for transferring large multimedia files, like photos, movies, and music. Of course, there are plenty of other USB 3.0 drives with similar performance.

MISCELLANEOUS
The formatted capacity of the 500 GB drive is 465 GB. On the drive, there's a small registration utility for Windows that's safe to delete after you register. I deleted the utility, but kept the autorun.inf and SeagateExpansion.ico files so the drive would show up with a Seagate icon in Windows Explorer.

Online, the bare 500GB drive can be bought for around $65-$75, so the external version is a decent value if you like the enclosure and internal drive.

Though the Amazon product description doesn't mention compatibility with Mac OS X, Seagate's website shows compatibility with OS 10.4.8 and higher. It comes pre-formatted in NTFS, however, so you'll need to reformat it if you intend to use it with a Mac.

The Seagate Expansion portable hard drive comes with a measly one year warranty. The Western Digital My Passport 500 GB USB 3.0 portable hard drive costs nearly the same as the Seagate Expansion drive, but comes with backup software, has hardware encryption, and a two year warranty. For a little bit more, you can even get Seagate's own Backup Plus 500 GB USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive , with a two year warranty. As far which company makes better hard drives, well, that's hard to say. I've used drives from both companies for many years and I've had drives from both companies fail. In fact, it's not unusual for hard drives to fail over time, which is why the length of the warranty can be a significant factor in deciding which drive to buy.

CONCLUSION
The Seagate Expansion portable hard drive is a very nice drive. It performs very well and is a pretty good value overall, however, the short warranty is a concern. I like the drive a lot, but I'd personally look for a portable hard drive with a longer warranty.

122 of 129 people found the following review helpful.
Perfect for media files for tv usage
By Jayhan
I also have the big brother version of this drive (3TB external hdd, AC powered), and both were very easy to use, plug to the USB port, and then start transferring files.

This is the portable version, which means no addition AC power supply needed, everything is powered by USB. Portable also means smaller compared to the AC powered external HDDs. Maximum capacity for portable HDDs right now is 1TB compared to 3TB for AC powered external HDDs.

Besides media files, this is also perfect for backups, documents, etc., and if you have a laptop equipped with SSD, you'll gonna need more space and this is perfect.

So far so good, no problems at all. Used it on my old HP laptop with usb 2.0 port, works good (slower transfer speed of course). Used it on an alienware m14x with usb 3.0 port, works good again and now with fast transfer speed. Used it on my LG 3dtv to watch full hd movies saved on the drive and it works great! I hope it stays like that, can't comment on the reliability yet..

Warranty: Only 1 YEAR. Why did Seagate shorten the warranty? I have no idea.. If you want other drives with longer warranty, here's some options:
Seagate Backup Plus 1 TB USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive STBU1000101 (Silver)
Western Digital My Passport 1 TB USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive - WDBBEP0010BBK-NESN (Black)

PROS:
- Portable, no external power supply needed
- Maximum capacity of 1Tb for portable drives (as of now..)
- Matte casing, so its not prone to scratching and fingerprints
- Fast usb 3.0 transfer rate and compatible to usb 2.0 (all usb 3.0 devices should be compatible to usb 2.0 port)
- Plug and play, works after removing out of the box. No need to reformat

CONS:
- Only 1 year warranty. Another year or two could provide more peace of mind..

What's included?
- Seagate Expansion portable hard drive
- "USB 3.0 cable", Amazon's product page says it's a usb "2.0" cable. The included cable is 3.0. One side of the cable is USB 3.0 and the other side is micro USB 3.0.
- Quick start guide
- 1-year limited warranty

Two thumbs up for this external hard drive, highly recommended!

435 of 482 people found the following review helpful.
Good drive, needs better instructions for the tech impaired
By Gracie
I am not terribly computer savvy. I use a computer for my work all day every day. But I do not understand how many things work. I don't understand most technical talk/gibberish. But I do know that I need to back up my files as my desktop is limping towards a slow and painful death.

I was surprised at how tiny and light the drive was. I plugged it into the USB drive. It was silent. But here is where I ran aground. The interface is not in the least bit intuitive. The only thing that readily pops up to be done is registering the unit. I did that but since I actually wanted to save things to the drive rather than just registering it, I was a little frustrated. While there are a great many tech lovers in the world they are by no means the only people using these products. I was frustrated that there were no useful instructions or a program to help me use the drive.

Eventually, I was able to figure out how to go through the control panel, back up my files, and set future back ups. It just isn't obvious up front.

And yes, I know that people are laughing at my limited technical capabilities. But idiots use products too.

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WD My Passport Slim 2TB Portable Metal External Hard Drive USB 3.0 with Auto and Cloud Backup (WDBPDZ0020BAL-NESN)

WD My Passport Slim 2TB Portable Metal External Hard Drive USB 3.0 with Auto and Cloud Backup (WDBPDZ0020BAL-NESN)..

Grab Now WD My Passport Slim 2TB Portable Metal External Hard Drive USB 3.0 with Auto and Cloud Backup (WDBPDZ0020BAL-NESN) By Western Digital

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40 of 42 people found the following review helpful.
Better in just about everyway than my previous drive. Data and comparisons included
By Chris Zee Shutterbug
WD 1TB USB3 slim external HD.

I routinely mirror (backup entire drive vs just the data) on all the family computers. (Over the years two laptop drives failed and we had about half dozen drive by viruses that required very lengthy repairs). The external drive I use now is a Toshiba Cavio 1TB drive, Toshiba Canvio 1.0 TB USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive - HDTC610XK3B1 (Black)which is less than one year old and also USB3. I considered cloud backup, but at a midgrade internet cable connection, my upload speed (5-10 Mb/sec) is over 100 times slower than compared to using the external drives. I used CrystalDiskMark 3 software for comparing data rates.

The short story is that this WD drive almost 50% faster than the Toshiba (118 MB/s vs 80MB/sec). It is also 40% smaller (6.7cu inch vs 9.44, .496" thick). It also has a metal case rather than plastic, and as a consequence it's a teensy bit heavier at 5.6 vs 5.5 ounces.

Other plus is that it comes with a small black tie string silk carrying bag. Of the minuses, there is only one small one, the Toshiba had an activity light that glowed blue when plugged into a USB3 port and white when plugged into a USB2 port, the WD is always white.

Other notes. The USB cable is 19" long, and you can plug it into a USB2 plug or USB3 plug (the plastic on the inside of USB3 connector will be blue), however if use an existing USB cord (micro plug like on some phones) the data rate will only be USB2 speed. For USB3 speed you need to use the supplied cord, which has a double connector on the drive side, this is the same for the Toshiba drive. So how much do you give up when using USB3? Quite a lot, USB2 rate was 33 MB/s vs 118 or more than 3.5 times slower.

In summary this is the best external backup drive I have seen.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful.
A Passport Ultra Elegantly Repackaged (UPDATED)
By Stephanie Sullivan
I've been using WD My Passport Ultra 2TB drives to meet the backup needs for several of my clients' for a while. They are fast, reliable and compact. The My Passport Slim is essentially a My Passport Ultra in a slightly smaller and lighter package that is very attractive.

The Passport Slim became of interest when a client asked for a very portable external drive to take on the road where size and weight are especially important. The Passport Slim 2TB seemed a good fit for his purchase.

The Slim is "sexy and sleek" as it has been described in other reviews. It's about 1/8 inch thinner than the WD My Passport Ultra and just about 1/3 of an ounce lighter.

Like the Ultra it comes with a short cable, soft draw-string bag and has WD Smartware Pro on the drive for easy backup and sync to/from Dropbox (their "automatic cloud backup"). This Passport Slim drive was not purchased mainly for backup. It was intended to carry media, reference materials and work files on the road and as storage to off-load pictures.

To best take advantage of the My Passport Slim (or the WD My Passport Ultra) a USB 3.0 port is needed. Most modern laptops and desktops come with USB 3.0 built-in. Older computers can often be upgraded economically. I've used the ORICO PVU3-5O2I USB 3.0 7 Port PCI Express Card (5 Rear and Internal USB 3.0 20PIN Connector) on Windows 7 and Linux Desktops/Servers. If your laptop has an express card slot then a card like the HDE 2 Port USB 3.0 may provide USB 3.0 speeds to take full advantage of a drive like the My Passport Slim.

Having used Smartware on the Passport Ultra I find it a passable backup/sync tool. Calling a Dropbox client "automatic cloud backup" may be technically accurate, but I find it less than impressive.

The drive is very fast as is the My Passport Ultra. I did not run benchmarks on this drive. My time working with it was spent populating it with the files to be used in travel. With a USB 3.0 connection the drive felt much like the My Passport Ultra drive when copying files to and from the drive. Generally about 3X as fast as a USB 2.1 connected drive. The Passport Slim was more than fast enough for its intended purpose.

Here are the dimensions of the My Passport Slim and the My Passport Ultra from the WD site for comparison:
Passport Slim: H:0.70in, D:4.33in, W:3.14in, Weight 0.48lb
Passport Ultra: H:0.823in, D:4.35in, W:3.23in, Weight 0.50lb

Is the Passport Slim worth a 30% higher price, even with a more "sexy" look? The Slim is a slightly thinner and lighter version of the My Passport Ultra and for me I'm not sure. It does seems worth the extra for my client who really likes the drive.

If being ultra-portable or cool looking isn't important save about $35 (at the time I write this) and get the WD My Passport Ultra 2TB instead. If cool is worth the extra cost go for the Passport Slim. Both drives have virtually identical performance and features outside of the packaging differences.

Because the Passport Slim does what it's supposed to with very nice "style" the WD Passport Slim gets 5 stars from me.

Hope this is helpful!

Update: Mar 6, 2014
The price differential on Amazon is down to about $30 now for the 2TB Slim over the My Passport Ultra. Good looks and smaller size has become a more affordable.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful.
Dual Toned SuperSpeed Slim Beauty!
By rbhatta
WD is known for making excellent quality hard disk drives. I have owned several WD internal desktop and external drives in the past and never had any drives fail till date. This Passport Slim portable 1TB capacity with metal top is very well made and will provide years of service. I do like the new dual tone metal design. The drive is small enough to fit in your shirt pocket and has large 1TB capacity.

The SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface makes the drive work even faster on PCs and Laptops that have USB 3.0 interface and is fully backward compatible with older USB 2.0 interfaces. I ran some benchmark tests using HDTUNE application and here are the results:

(*)Using USB 2.0 Read Speeds: Min: 29.2 MB/s, Max: 31.2 MB/s
(*)Using USB 2.0 Write Speeds: Min: 14.5 MB/s, Max: 22.6 MB/s

(*)Using USB 3.0 Read Speeds: Min: 96.6 MB/s, Max: 106.3 MB/s
(*)Using USB 3.0 Write Speeds: Min: 54.6 MB/s, Max: 79.2 MB/s

The spindle rotational speed reported by HDTUNE application is 5400RPM. The drive runs cool even after extended period of time as the metal surface helps dissipate heat evenly. This is an 'USB BUS' powered drive. You do not need any external power adapter to run the drive and this makes it very portable.

PROS
[+] Very attractive dual tone design, Slim portable and comes with a carrying pouch.
[+] Does not need external power source. Runs with USB bus power.
[+] Speedy especially when used with SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface.
[+] 3 years warranty

CONS
[-] It does not have rubber feet on the bottom and could scratch the bottom surface eventually.
[-] This drive uses WD proprietary hardware interface. Data recovery could be challenging if the interface were to fail especially if you enable hardware encryption.

When it comes to software included in the drive, you get 'WD Drive' Utilities, 'WD Security' and 'WD SmartWare Pro' backup software. These apps allow you to choose when and where you backup your data, The apps also allows you to password protect and encrypt the files on the drive or run disk drive diagnostics etc; You can also use your 'Dropbox' account to back up your files to the 'cloud' as an offsite backup.

Overall this drive performs well. It is priced right for 1TB capacity. Four Star Product! Recommended.

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