Apricorn 500GB Aegis Padlock Fortress FIPS 140-2 Level 2 Validated 256-Bit Encrypted USB 3.0 Hard Drive with PIN Access (A25-3PL256-500F)

Very impressive security features that do not fail and give enormous peace of mind in an age of ongoing cyber threats and information theft. Not to mention its incredibly sturdy and well-built feel. Very fast with the USB 3.0 even with the high standard of encryption used. Yes, it may seem like a lot to pay for an external HD, but you'll never have to worry about a security breech to your backed up data ever again. And in my mind, that's worth every penny.

Unit arrived exactly as I expected and operated exactly as indicated in the manual. Nice to have a company that can write detailed, solid end user documentation in English! Be sure to follow the manual from the beginning. The drive is shipped without an access code. You need to set one before you can use it (as indicated in the quick-start guide). Head out to their web site to download the more detailed full user manual which discusses lockout from too many tries, setting both user and Admin level passwords, etc. No issues, problems, or concerns. The really cool thing abot the drive - you unplug it Auto-Lock!. One small areas of improvement would be to make the travel bag just a slight bit bigger for the dual-ended USB cable. I won't knock a star on that. If you are wondering 'how the heck do I create a good numeric password?' Download a copy of PWGEN (http://pwgen-win.sourceforge.net/). They have a mode for creating numeric-only passwords. Be sure to shake the mouse a bit for good luck (entropy).

The media could not be loaded. Purchased from Amazon 2 Years ago (price hasn't changed) & it's been sitting in my closet, untouched ever since... Tore open the seal this AM & plugged in for the initial setup... Following the self-test, it skipped the setup (BLUE) LED & went directly to (RED)/Locked. Rinsed & repeated the previous steps, though always went directly to solid RED, that was until the final attempt... Final attempt went from POST to rapid/blinking RED LED. At least this status was consistent, since regardless of how many times I unplugged/plugged, blinking RED is now the only status. Per the manual, "A test failure will leave the unit in an inoperable indicated by a blinking RED LED." Goody...I'm honestly happy it failed during the initial setup, since I'd hate to have entrusted this ticking timebomb with all my critical & irreplaceable files/data, only to find that it's now irrecoverable. Sure, I'm out the initial $ I fronted, but I'd take (Data Integrity) > (Refund) any day of the week.Now onto the unfortunate task of researching the plethora of alternative options out there, but I'm now debating on purchasing duplicate devices (or multiple vendors) & manually mirroring the backups between the 2 (or 3 or 4), just in case...

Seems to work as it should and files should be secure...I have not tried to hack it yet, nor do I think that I will attempt to see if the self destruct in fact works...lol One could only hope if ever stolen, lost or tampered with. Decent price to lock up DAS and then keep it offline.

I purchased two of these (1 T models) through Amazon about 18 months ago. Setting up password was fairly fast. I have used every couple of months, copying 100-200 G to each drive. They have unlocked flawlessly and copied data quickly (a few hours) compared to my previous software based encryption drives. No issues at all so far. I am very pleased with this product and highly recommend it.

I have two of these identical Fortress drives. I just copied 894GB from one drive to another at an average speed of 113MB/sec (USB 3.0, Thinkpad P50). That's impressive for spinning drives. Benchmarking the individual drives using ATTODiskBenchmark pegged the speed at 140MB/sec. Note that for some reason, using the closest side USB port on my Thinkpad P50 showed poor speed (40 mb/sec or so) and the other three USB ports showed 140MB/sec, but they're supposed to all be USB 3.0. Since the Fortress drive has a fixed USB cable, I couldn't test with the USB-C port.

It's fast and easy to use. My only negative comment is that I don't like the feel of touch of the keypad. This one is similar to what I find on most ovens and ranges -- i.e., keys flush with their surroundings that don't really click when you press them. I have to press really hard to enter the characters. I hope it doesn't give out one of these days. If so, I'll be permanently locked out! I have a another, different Aegis locking drive, and it has keys I like better -- they click, as on a laptop computer's keyboard. I do like the built-in USB cable that stows away in it's own slot on the side. A great design.

Easy setup, secure, compact and appears to have solid build quality too. It does get warm when in use however (creating system image for Windows 10 Pro); hopefully lifespan won't be impacted by heat issues. Overall a great external HDD.