Purchase and Unbox Pics: Buffalo DriveStation Duo 1.0 TB (HD-W1.0TIU2/R1)

So I finally decided on a backup solution for my MacBook. I couldn't find a "white" two hard drives in one enclosure solution I like, so I settled with the DriveStation Duo (Unbox pics can be found here on Flickr).  It's not white so I'll be putting it under my desk where it's not visible.

Here in Japan, I bought it for 19,840 yen (around 180 USD). If you're in the US, on Amazon, you can find it for $253.99.

What I like:
It's 1TB split among 2 500GB hard drives. Here's what I like about it:

• no power brick 
  
• auto power feature - Turns on when your computer is on and off when computer is off. 
  
• dual interface for USB and firewire - I could use firewire and leave one more USB port open.
  

How I'm using it + Impressions

Instead of using RAID, which is supported, I wanted to use one drive as an external drive for data and the other one for Time Machine. The drives are pre-formatted as FAT32, so the first thing was to reformat to Mac's format and configured it. The process was smooth, no problems.

The fan seems quiet, and so far it's working like it's suppose to. If you plan to put the hard drive a little further from your computer, you might find the USB cable and firewire it comes with too short.

Want another 2TB one for my Mini
My Mac Mini, which serves as a media center, is hooked to two separate 500 GB hard drives right now. A 2TB Drive Station Duo would be nice for my Mini - one less cable and one less plug. I'll wait and hope some price dropping begins before I fill up 500 GB hard drives.

Unbox photos here!
Lastly, you can find the unboxing photos here at Flickr.

Thanks for reading SWG!