Seagate Maxtor M3 Portable STSHX-M500TCBM 500 GB

Return of Maxtor

At the end of 2016, the well-known manufacturer of hard drives Seagate decided to return the Maxtor line from oblivion. Among the new models was the hero of today's review of the Segate Maxtor M3 Portable with a capacity of 500 GB, in which the manufacturer focused on the convenience of backup and data security.

Useful proprietary software

This is reflected in the proprietary Segate Drive Manager software with several useful utilities. AutoBackup helps in backing up information from a computer or laptop. In principle, many manufacturers equip external hard drives with similar utilities, but the AutoBackup application is a little more tricky. For the first time, the user is prompted to create a full backup of the hard drive, after which the utility monitors all updates in the system and copies only the changed data. And with the help of the SecretZone utility, these backups can be protected from strangers using a password system.

Reliability and 3 years warranty

The disk itself is hidden in a patterned protective casing made of dark-coloured plastic. It works over USB 3.0, but supports older USB 2.0. The length of the cable in the kit is about 45 cm, and this is quite enough for convenient use. A longer cable can get in the way and twist on the table. The hard drive itself has a spindle speed of 5400 rpm and performs well in tests, earning it a score of 91.7 out of 100 in the iChip review with a buy recommendation. A 3 year warranty is a nice bonus.