Imation Apollo 500GB 2.5" Portable Hard Drive
Manufacturer: Imation
Product Name: Imation Apollo 500GB 2.5" Portable Hard Drive
Review Date: 10/03/08
Author:
A few days ago I took a look at a Verbatim 160GB 2.5" portable hard drive and I found it to be a decent little product, but today I’ve got the Imation Apollo 500GB 2.5" portable hard drive for review. The Apollo is well made, looks nice, is small and portable and actually averages out to be less expensive per gigabyte when compared to others out there.
So read on to learn more about a great little portable hard drive…
The Apollo comes in an attractive box with pictures and a bit of information on it.
Included with the Apollo is the usual documentation and a dual connection USB cable to provide additional power if need be.
I have to saw that the Apollo is a very attractive portable hard disk, when I first opened it I was very impressed not only by it’s looks but by how small it is. The Imation Apollo seems very well made, it feels sturdy and rugged, and it’s lightweight.
Here is the Apollo compared to a couple other 2.5" enclosures I have on hand, it’s easily the smallest:
On one end of course you’ll find a USB connection, the mini style of connector, on the top you’ll also find a small LED indicator that glows blue when powered and blinks to indicate activity.
Of course I was curious and had to pull it apart, something I would highly advise against, besides being very difficult to get apart it’ll most likely void any warranty on the product. Opening it up I found a Samsung HM500LI 500GB, 5400RPM 2.5" hard drive.
Specifications:
Imation Apollo 500GB 2.5" Portable Hard Drive
Imation Apollo 2.5" Portable Hard Drive
The Imation Apollo 2.5" Portable Hard Drive offers high-capacity mobile storage for data, photos, presentations, videos and music in a pocket-sized device that is lightweight, stylish and extremely durable. The Apollo drive is fully USB 2.0 powered and does not require an additional power supply. A blue indicator visually shows when data transfer is in process. The Apollo Hard Drive is available in 160GB, 250GB, 320GB and 500GB capacities, and comes with easy-to-use Total Media Backup software that is compatible with both PC and Mac.
Features:
* The sleek, ultra slim design easily fits in the palm of your hand or briefcase pocket.
* Fully USB 2.0 powered, no additional power is required
* Available capacities include 160GB, 250GB, 320GB and 500GB
* Easy-to-use Total Media Backup software included
* Three year limited warranty
Size (LxWxH): 127.4mm x 80.9mm x 17.2mm
System and Software Requirements:
* Windows® 2000, XP, Vista
* Macintosh Mac OS 10.2.8 and above
* Linux® 2.4 and above
* Total Media Backup software compatible with PC and Mac
Before I get into any testing, Imation did include some backup software already on the drive, you just have to install it. It’s called Arcosoft Total Media Backup, and personally it’s not something I would like to use as my backup software..
Total Media Backup just blanket copies or backs up everything with the parameters you set, you can’t go in and specify certain folders of files to be backed up. You can select the formats, like MPG, DOC, AVI and everything else, but it just searches you hard drive for these file formats and backs them up. You can select full backup or incremental, where it only backs up new files added since the last backup.
Checking the Arcsoft website I found that the version included with the Apollo is a scaled down version, the full version includes burning capabilities as well and a few other features.
Don’t get me wrong here though, Arcosft Total Media Backup could be useful to someone, just not me personally. It’s a great, easy to use backup software solution for those that might not have much experience with this type of thing, in the right hands it could prove very useful and worthwhile.
A few days ago I reviewed the Verbatim 160gb 2.5" portable hard drive, so I thought it would make a good comparison for the Apollo, and compare to another I’ve got on hand and the OCZ Rally2 Turbo Flash Drive.
I used SiSoft Sandra 2009 Removable Storage Benchmark for testing and comparison, higher scores are better.
From all of my time reviewing I’ve learned that it seems the larger things get the slower they are until technology catches up with them, and obviously this is very true here. The Speeds aren’t the greatest, but it’s not really a good comparison either, it would work much better if I had other 500gb HDDs to compare to, but it gives us a general idea anyway.
Personally I’ll take the capacity over the speed any day, the Verbatim was only 160GB, while the Imation Apollo is 500GB, so yeah I’ll take the slower 500gb over the faster 160gb….
The Cheapest I found the 500gb Apollo online for was $172 plus shipping and the cheapest I found the Verbatim online for was $98 plus shipping.
Which, without shipping averages out to 61 cents per gigabyte, while the Apollo averages out to be 34 cents per gig, the Apollo is a much better deal.
Conclusion:
The Imation Apollo is an excellent choice overall for you portable storage and backup needs.
The Apollo might not be the fastest, but it is the cheapest on average per gigabyte from what I found online, and as I said I’ll take the larger capacity over the speed anytime.
The Apollo looks great, it’s small and lightweight making it very portable and it seems well made.
The only suggestion I could make is that Imation should include a carrying case with it to protect the Apollo and carry the USB cable around with you easier.
Pros:
-Small and lightweight
-Large capacity
-Seems well made
-Low cost per gigabyte
Cons:
-Not the fastest
-Included software is basic
Grades:
Overall: 
Design: 
Performance:
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3/10 - 2008 at 14:32
[...] Imation Apollo 500GB 2.5" Portable Hard Drive "A few days ago I took a look at a Verbatim 160GB 2.5" portable hard drive and I found it to be a decent little product, but today I’ve got the Imation Apollo 500GB 2.5" portable hard drive for review. The Apollo is well made, looks nice, is small and portable and actually averages out to be less expensive per gigabyte when compared to others out there. " ____________ Source: TestFreaks.com [...]
4/11 - 2008 at 1:52
I just got an apollo 250gb, nothing to complain about it, just de perfect deal for me at least, a simple way to carry my movie collection and simply connect it to the usb input of any tabletop divx player.
Awesome!
9/11 - 2008 at 10:05
just got the imation 160GB apollo portable hard drive. i guess imation read your review coz it now comes with a leather carrying case
nothing fancy just something to protect it from the usual bumps and scratches.
21/11 - 2008 at 16:02
I bought apollo 320gb 28 days ago…. with just one bump, half of my files are already CORRUPTED. the hard drive is still usable but i can’t put large files anymore because of the bad sectors that i cannot detect. the hard drive has an unusual sound since the bump. i should have bought simpletech instead of imation apollo because i never encountered any problem from my other simpletech hdd since i bought it. maybe because they’re using hitachi hard drives….. unlike in my apollo hard drive, they’re using toshiba…..it sucks…
21/11 - 2008 at 16:25
Don’t know what to tell you, I haven’t had a problem with it yet, and I dropped it a couple times… nothing is perfect, especially electronics… be careful with hard drives…
11/12 - 2008 at 10:48
I have had my Imation Apollo 500G for a couple of weeks, worked fine and didn’t seem slow backing up my 5GB of files, but today my laptop could not recongnize it a couple of times, hope this is not going to be a regular thing. I would be interested to know if anyone else has this problem.
13/12 - 2008 at 10:16
Appolo 500 gb now includes a carry case in the box. There is an elastic band which goes on the outside of the case on the back side. I dont know whats it use but i am able to slid in the usb cable in it. So maybe the manufacturers read your review.
23/12 - 2008 at 10:45
I have picked up my second 500GB drive and it’s working really well. Only $110 inclusive so REALLY can’t complain.
In fact it’s cheaper than buying the raw drive so this second drive I’m going to strip out and put in my laptop.
Any tips on opening up the drive other than brute force?
5/01 - 2009 at 5:01
[...] first I figured I would use my Imation Apollo 2.5" 500gb hard drive to capture the video, but after reading the manual for the Pinnacle Video Transfer I found the [...]
12/01 - 2009 at 17:41
my Apollo imation 160 Gb hard disk is not working now after i had changed my new computer. i think it is the problem of the USb drive. i dont know what happened …if somebody can help. Light is on but its not recognised by the system
13/01 - 2009 at 6:12
I have my Imation Appolo 500GB since the last 4 weeks, it worked well but since a while the USB does not recognize my Laptop, seems to be a problem by the Imation! now must findout how to manage this Problem!
Bobby
17/03 - 2009 at 14:19
Hi, can you give any instructions on how to take out the drive? I can’t seem to remove the casing at all.
Thanks!
19/03 - 2009 at 1:47
Ive had the Apollo 250 gig for a few months now and just discovered that i cant put a file that is 5 gigs in it. There is clearly enough space for it but its saying that i need to clear space for it, the only thing i can think of is that it wont accept files over a certain size. I don’t know why. Has anybody else have this problem?
19/03 - 2009 at 2:24
Because it’s formatted in FAT32 so you have a 4gb file size limitation, if you want to lift that re-format to NTFS
23/03 - 2009 at 7:05
I have just bought my second Imation Apollo. The first was a 160 and this one is a 360. The first has proven to be very unreliable. Always having problems getting it detected. sometimes it works but more often it does not. Pretty much unusable.
I have just started using the new one. Having to format it NTFS so I can copy across big files but again it was not detected once so far. I also got an error that the drive was full? don;t know what that was about hopefully a format will fix it. Otherwise it will go straight back tomorrow. I saw 160Gb Maxtor with 5 yr warranty. Might try that one.
23/03 - 2009 at 9:00
Just to add some more to this. I am trying to back up my old PC and copy My Docs and Desktop. There is fair bit of data will files from DVD images to txt files. several Gigs. Any way the copy keeps failing with Device is not ready.
This happens anywhere from 5 to 50 secs. I have re-partioned and re-formated (full format). It seems as though this is another dodgy drive. That is now 2. My opion of Imation is rapidly deteriorating. And this one is brand spanking new. Today. No bumps, drops, etc.
4/04 - 2009 at 18:32
i have the same issues of the drive not being detected. But i think using the Y-usb cable helps alot as i think it needs a 1000mA to run reliably.
23/04 - 2009 at 3:52
Everyone having trouble with the computer not recognizing the drive on windows based computers- try these steps below (this happened to me on a Simple Tech drive). Sometimes windows assigns the same drive letter to two devices thus only one will show up. You have to change one of the drive letters for it to recognize the drive.
Right click on “my computer”
Select “Manage”
Under storage click on “disk management”
You should then see drives on the right side of the of the window, one might should have the amount of storage space that your external hard drive has
Right click on that drive
Select “change drive letter and path”
Select “change”
Pick a different letter from the drop down box
Click “ok”
Hopefully that helps
29/04 - 2009 at 12:23
i bought 500gb imation, but when try to use it is only 465gb… 35gb were missing? it is unreasonable why does the 35gb is just for the installer of mac or windows,honestly its too big reduction! any explanation?, hope this is not cheating!?
please reply me @ rexsoto@yahoo.com
thank you!
29/04 - 2009 at 12:46
That’s normal for hard drives…
6/05 - 2009 at 2:04
this drive is compatable to use…
13/06 - 2009 at 12:09
BTW . u sure can get samsung hard drive inside ? OR IT DENPANS ?
23/06 - 2009 at 7:40
hi
i have apolo 2.5 portable hdd 160gb and i can not open on mac powerbook g4
please help meee
27/06 - 2009 at 15:51
Recently I bought a Apollo 2.5″ 320 GB External Hard drive but the capacity is only
300 GB. Please give a solution to get back my 20 GB.
Reply at : daksh_96@yahoo.co.in