Lidl Targa 500Gb drive Nas/Esata/Usb2.0 €140

Phester

€ 140

5 x faster data transfer than USB 2.0 thanks to eSATA♦!
# External 500GB hard disk with network connection (RJ45), external SATA

interface (eSATA) and high speed USB 2.0
# Exclusive, high-quality and robust stainless steel housing
# Quiet ultra-cool 75mm fan
# 500GB with 7200 rpm and 8MB cache for fast data transmission
# Suitable for Windows XP, 2000, Vista (NTFS formatted)
# User friendly plug & play
# Size: 21 x 12 x 5cm
# Package includes: Housing with built-in hard disk, External power adaptor, Stand for vertical installation, USB cable, Network cable, eSATA cable, CD with driver, User manual

How can a usb2.0 device be 5 times faster than a USB2.0 device

The fastest you can get over a Usb2.0 port is around 25MB/sec (480Mbit) If i remember correctly.

The network port makes this a cheap NAS if it is only 100Mbit then it is going to be slow too. It is not specified in the specs.

feylya

It's faster using eSATA, not USB.

Its 5 times faster when you use eSata and not USB....

sunny2004

any chance of the price ??:p its a bargain alert ??

Phester

my bad I'm getting out of touch with tech. I taught that esata was sata2 and not an external interface.

Its a nice combination so.

Bald? er, dash!

I'm guessing its this one

@ €139.99

missingtime

139.99

http://www.lidl.ie/ie/home.nsf/pages/c.o.20080818.p.TargaExternalNetworkHDD500GB

ohhh beaten to it.....

Oracle

This still seems high priced to me, considering standard (non-network) drives have dropped in price recently. Just to say as well that this drive will work with Linux, because most distributions can now read and write to NTFS file systems.

jvc

I got it the last time it was on for 109euro. No mention of eSATA then but looks the same apart from that. Had no problems so far anyway. I got a 3 year warranty with it aswell so it hard to go wrong. Probably much better value ones online these days though.

jpfahy

The last ones had 400Gb Samsung disks inside, good quality, and the NAS worked well too. Only good value if buying as a NAS I would think. I doubt its gigabit NAS though, if it is I'll be queueing

http://www.targa.nl/index.jsp?SID=0&NAV=236&DOC=&PAGE=2322&PCAT=2&PROD=412&PTUBE=2&PARAMS=undefined&PARAMS2=undefined&SPCAREA=undefined

5h4mr0(k

It doesn't say in the spec that it's a NAS drive - it just says that it has a network port. The last one came with NDAS software. This means that only a PC with the software installed on it can connect to it.

KStaford

Like a wise fella once said "just because it's LIDL dont mean it's always that cheap"


WESTERN DIGITAL - HD My Book World Ed/500GB 3.5"Ethernet
€115 inc vat at Elara
http://www.elara.ie/products/detailsfull.asp?productcode=ECE1329815

Bob the Builder

if you're buying a lidl hard drive to back up your information - well then them two points cancel each other out really.

I can honestly say, I've never bought anything in Aldi/Lidl that lasted any length at all... Bought a laptop not so long ago, and broke just one week outside of the warranty. Plus a host of other things... and similar situation happened.

MarkR

It broke after three years? Not as bad as breaking after one I suppose.

delllat

anyone know where to get a cheap 1tb nas drive?

this one looks ok but id filll it too quick

byte

KStaford wrote: »

Like a wise fella once said "just because it's LIDL dont mean it's always that cheap"


WESTERN DIGITAL - HD My Book World Ed/500GB 3.5"Ethernet
€115 inc vat at Elara
http://www.elara.ie/products/detailsfull.asp?productcode=ECE1329815

That doesn't have eSATA though...

johnny_adidas

been after one of these for a while. have no use for eSATA and have read a few bad reviews online about the Mybook so those in the know, which would be the better option? (i see both have 3 yrs warranty which is handy)

byte

The LiDL one with eSATA wins it for me, as I intend to hook it up to my satellite receiver for recording purposes. Dunno what brand of HDD they use inside though.

Jonathan

Can anyone confirm if this drive has a webui? Does it have FTP and can you leave it plugged in the whole time and the disk will spin down and only turn on when you seek info from it/ turn in on in the webui? Especially interested in what jvc has to say seeing as he has the old model.

Quaderno

jmccrohan wrote: »

Can anyone confirm if this drive has a webui? Does it have FTP and can you leave it plugged in the whole time and the disk will spin down and only turn on when you seek info from it/ turn in on in the webui? Especially interested in what jvc has to say seeing as he has the old model.

I also bought one of the last batch (without e-SATA) @109€;. I never regretted it.
The drive inside identifies itself as "WDC WD5000AAJB-0", so it's apparently a Western Digital. The NDAS doesn't come with a webui and it does not support FTP, for it is not a NAS. You will have to install a special software (NDAS Device Manager) on every pc you want to connect to the drive. Then you can set rights to allow the system to only read from the drive or to read/write. Using the software you can also build raids with more than one of the drives.
The drive will then appear on your machine as if it was installed locally and you can use it like any other storage using your standard file managing software. I'm not sure if it can be connected to any device other than a computer, for you would need to install the device manager software. I would say it will probably not work when used with a sat receiver or anything like that...

The advantage though is that the NDAS system uses a more efficient protocol than TCP/IP and so it's faster when used via network than any (100Mbit-) NAS would be. You can expect transfer rates of around 10MB/s via 100MBit/s Ethernet (i.e. when connected to your standard router). The old ones don't support GBit-Ethernet and I don't think the new batch will.
And yes, it will power down when you don't access it and will come up again when needed.
But keep in mind: it's not supposed to be connected wirelessly (Can it be written this way? I'm not a native English speaker...) and it will probably not work properly when used via wlan.

I think it is a good offer if you really need to access your storage from different machines inside a (wired) network.
Forget it if you only need a external HD for your single computer, for that purpose usb2 or even e-sata would work much faster (btw: e-sata may be 5 times faster than usb2, but the drive itself will deliver the data with twice the speed of usb2 at best. You will probably not get more than 70 to 90 MB/s with e-sata compared to about 45MB/s via usb2).

Edit: the manual for the drive can be found here: http://www.service.targa.co.uk/antworten.php?lang_id=2&faqid=4232&artid=810&artdesc=Targa+DataBox+NDAS+500+eSATA&artpic=40307_Databox_IV.jpg&faqquest=Manual+for+Targa+Databox+NDAS+500+eSATA+%28EN%2C+SI%2C+HR%29&func1=1&func2=1&func3=2&baseid=236&serial=

Oracle

Ehhh.... yes that e-sata speed is terrific. But isn't the snag here that only the most modern computers currently have an e-sata connector? D'oh!

witnessmenow

My pc is two years old and supports it. Noticeably much faster than usb.

EDIT: If your pc has Sata get this and you'll be laughing

markos79

ok im hopeless at all this tech stuff is this for playing things you have downloaded so you can play them on your tv?

Oracle

Yeah, that's right it makes tea and toast too!

degsie

markos79 wrote: »

ok im hopeless at all this tech stuff is this for playing things you have downloaded so you can play them on your tv?

No. Storage only, no multimedia functionality.

patmac

degsie wrote: »

No. Storage only, no multimedia functionality.

So where would somebody get one with multimedia functionality? Also I see Aldi have this for sale @€;85 works out at €70 in the North:mad:.
http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/58_6859.htm

zod

patmac wrote: »

So where would somebody get one with multimedia functionality? Also I see Aldi have this for sale @€;85 works out at €70 in the North:mad:.
http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/58_6859.htm

here :

http://www.pixmania.com/ie/uk/589511/art/dane-elec/so-speaky-500-gb-external.html

MunsterCycling

patmac wrote: »

So where would somebody get one with multimedia functionality? Also I see Aldi have this for sale @€;85 works out at €70 in the North:mad:.
http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/58_6859.htm

It's €74 here so not much of a difference

Good value in Argos, €90 for a 500GB Maxtor & €140 for a 750GB and you get a free 2GB flash drive.

500GB
http://www.argos.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?storeId=30001&catalogId=1500001201&langId=-1&searchTerms=6756224

750GB
http://www.argos.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?storeId=30001&catalogId=1500001201&langId=-1&searchTerms=6756231

Jonathan

hellboy99 wrote: »

Good value in Argos, 90 for a 500GB Maxtor & 140 for a 750GB and you get a free 2GB flash drive.

500GB
http://www.argos.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?storeId=30001&catalogId=1500001201&langId=-1&searchTerms=6756224

750GB
http://www.argos.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?storeId=30001&catalogId=1500001201&langId=-1&searchTerms=6756231

I see a problem without even looking at the links.. It is maxtor...

jmccrohan

jmccrohan wrote: »

I see a problem without even looking at the links.. It is maxtor...

I've never had a problem with any Maxtor/Quantum drive I've had. Have one of the 500GB from Argos and it runs fine.

dowtchaboy

Quaderno wrote: »

I also bought one of the last batch (without e-SATA) @109€;. I never regretted it.
...... connected wirelessly (Can it be written this way? I'm not a native English speaker...) and it will probably not work properly when used via wlan.[/I]

Thank you Quaderno for a most informative post - that answers a lot of questions I did not even know how to frame! And English is NOT your native language? Wow! db.

delllat

jmccrohan wrote: »

I see a problem without even looking at the links.. It is maxtor...

ive neveer had a bad maxtor

Elara: Kin

http://www.elara.ie/products/detailsfull.asp?productcode=ECE1343839

Segate HD FreeAgt Pro EU /500GB USB2,0/eSATA/FW

€108.90 inc Vat

You use either eSata or network. Pick one and save money.

degsie

Kin Mak wrote: »

http://www.elara.ie/products/detailsfull.asp?productcode=ECE1343839

Segate HD FreeAgt Pro EU /500GB USB2,0/eSATA/FW

€108.90 inc Vat

You use either eSata or network. Pick one and save money.

Eh, that is not a network (NAS/NDAS) drive

Elara: Kin

degsie wrote: »

Eh, that is not a network (NAS/NDAS) drive

Thus my comment about getting a eSata or a Nas drive. Very few people use both connections together, it is usually one or the other.

Dan39

Just bought the Aldi one, a 250GB Medion "Drive N' Go". Worked within seconds of unpacking, and is almost the exact same size as my Western Digital "Passport" 250GB Drive.

The Medion is the same spec as the Western Digital only that it's a good bit cheaper. It comes with a clever three plug lead (1 into drive, 1 into computer, + another USB for extra power in case your laptop can't power it through just 1). A gimmick I suppose, but useful too.

Don't despair if you can't see 'em in the shop, they keep 'em under the counter.

I also got great value on a Tevion 2GB SD Card at Aldi a few months ago for €25

dowtchaboy

Only 90 quid in the North = €115 - annoying, no?

FredH3as

dowtchaboy wrote: »

Only 90 quid in the North = €115 - annoying, no?

Wow, stuff is cheaper outside the Rep, insightful...:rolleyes:

abakan

Quaderno wrote: »

You will have to install a special software (NDAS Device Manager) on every pc you want to connect to the drive. [/url]

I dont suppose they work with Mac's?? anyone

boardsie08

I'm thinking of getting one of these tomorrow, don't have an eSata connection on my PC, don't mind about that though.

Just wondering what this NAS is though? And talk of wireless?

Can I save files to this wirelessly or what?

What's different about this external HD compared to run of the mill ones?

KhanTheMan

boardsie08 wrote: »

I'm thinking of getting one of these tomorrow, don't have an eSata connection on my PC, don't mind about that though.

Just wondering what this NAS is though? And talk of wireless?

Can I save files to this wirelessly or what?

What's different about this external HD compared to run of the mill ones?

Dont think this is wireless.
You can connect to this via network cable and save files on it that way.

boardsie08

KhanTheMan wrote: »

Dont think this is wireless.
You can connect to this via network cable and save files on it that way.

Thanks for that!

What exactly is the advantage to this though? Is it just faster than USB 2.0?

Ghost Train

boardsie08 wrote: »

Thanks for that!

What exactly is the advantage to this though? Is it just faster than USB 2.0?

no its slower, but you don't need it connected to a pc all the time, its just on the network, any pc on the network can fetch files from it

Quaderno

abakan wrote: »

I dont suppose they work with Mac's?? anyone

No, the network drivers they deliver are only for windows. You can probably connect it to a mac using usb/esata, but then you could of course have bought a much cheaper drive in the first place...

Quaderno

boardsie08 wrote: »

Thanks for that!

What exactly is the advantage to this though? Is it just faster than USB 2.0?

You could plug it directly into your PC using USB2 (quite fast, available on every machine younger than approx. 5 years) or esata (even faster, but available on newer PCs only). In both cases you will only have access from the PC that it is directly connected to (although you may then share the drive in your network as long as your machine is running). You can buy plenty of bigger drives for significantly less money if you intend to do only this.

What this drive can (and most others cannot) is to be connected to your router. This may be relatively slow (10MB/s), but you can then use the storage space from any (windows) machine in your network that is also connected to your router. It`s quite useful for office settings with a couple of computers which need to access the same source of data without having the other computers running at the same time. It can also be useful in your home network as long as you use a wired connection. I tried to access it via wifi and it was not only very slow but also produced errors when reading data. Wireless is definitely not recommended.

Nothingbetter2d

i got a targa esata 500gb drive from lidl today.... so far its NAS software has crashed the 3 pcs i tried it on... there is little or no help on targa's website...

Also worth noting (as mentioned here http://www.service.targa.co.uk/) is if you have 2 or more pcs with different operating systems (ie win9x, win2k, linux, vista or mac os) and one xp only the xp machine will have read write access... the other pc's will only get read only access...

if ya want an NAS drive buy a good make (such as DLINK, or Maxtor) otherwise use this drive using USB 2 /esata mode for full access via connected pc & all other pc's will have full access too (can be set to read only) & dont bother with the NAS software it is too buggy

the crashes it causes ranges from windows not booting / slow booting to system lockups rendering windows useless... to remove the software unplug the drive and then boot windows (will take longer than usual) and remove the software using control panel

once the software is removed reboot & windows behaves normally again

VeVeX

I also bought one of these today. While transferring files i have had numerous lockups and system crashes over ethernet. In the end the drive has failed resulting in loud clicking noises coming from the box.

Over all the quality is poor to be honest. The power button on my unit is hard to turn on and is sticking while trying to turn off. Also the fan is excessively loud, its nearly as noisy as an xbox 360!

I will be returning the unit tomorrow for a refund.

kimcorg

Yes, I don't see how eSata could be 5 times faster than USB2.
According to Wikipedia it's about twice as fast.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESATA#External_SATA

I picked one up today in Lidl as my Targa PC has an eSata port.
However when I plugged it in it didn't appear as one would expect in new hardware found.
Trying it with the usb cable and it worked straight away...
Haven't figured out yet what the problem is, it should have been discovered.
I'm running XP home edition.

Nothingbetter2d

ok i figured out the NAS software problem........ in my case i plugged it into my 24 port hub which then was connected to the 4 port dlink DIR655 router. By plugging the hard drive directly into the router's lan port (and not via the hub) the drive started working as it should..... windows now boot and behaves normally. still it should state that in the manual which it doesnt.

Nothingbetter2d

kimcorg wrote: »

Yes, I don't see how eSata could be 5 times faster than USB2.
According to Wikipedia it's about twice as fast.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESATA#External_SATA

E-Sata 3gbs = 300mbs transfer
USB 2.0 = 60mbs transfer

divide 60 into 300 = 5

Simple math really

Look at the table at the bottom of the wikipedia page