So far it’s been a real pain to own. Ok, to be fair, it must be more suited to a different set of users, those who want a cross-platform (well between Mac and Windows anyway) encrypted drive. For me I just want 1 large partition that I can setup the way I choose including encryption and filesystem choices. Unforunately there are only 2 ways to do so: 1) remove the hard disk and format it in another system which is a pain to do and voids the warranty. 2) use a windows only utility to remove the “CD” partition. I plan to do the latter. Here are some links that helped me to learn more:

• acomdata external hard drive
• Removing Acomdata HybridDrive CD PART
• AcomData E5 HybridDrive External Hard Drive

Since my current 500GB storage and back hard disk is dying (clicking sounds, other sounds, failing to read and write data) I decided to get another drive. I think 500GB drives are still the sweet-spot for price per GB. I wasn't sure if I wanted a new enclosure or to reuse an existing one. Then I came across a deal for a 500GB AcomData E5 HybridDrive for $110. I'm not sure if it will be any good, but given the unimpressive life of my last drive my expectations are not high. I will try to get one tomorrow and transfer data from the old drive to the new. Afterward I may have some thoughts on the product.

Though it took some searching I finally found the form to check the warranty status for a Maxtor drive I had purchased. The bad news is that the drive is no longer under warranty. I suppose I've had the drive longer than a year though I will check to be sure. In any case it says the warranty expired in July 2007 so I wasn't even close. The drive is a Maxtor DiamondMax 11 500GB and I have to say I'm disappointed that it has died so soon since it is mostly a storage and backup drive and is therefore not used (powered on) very frequently. I'm not sure if there are any other usage factors that would have contributed to it's quick demise but if there are I wish I knew what they were so that they could be mitigated.