For the PC User: Replica Back-Up by Seagate

I waited too long to back up my laptop.  In fact, I waited close to eight weeks, which is about seven weeks too long.

You see, I got overwhelmed with taking care of my son, launching a new business, and running a blog.  I was sleep deprived and working until utter exhaustion every night. {It’s not quite “my dog ate my homework,” but it’s the absolute truth!}

Somehow, the difficulty involved in backing up each document that I’d updated that week month was far more than my brain could handle.  Besides, my current back-up drive  was already fairly maxed out on space.  It’s not like I could just back up “My Documents;” I had to be selective, which was tedious and time-consuming.

So, what happened next is quite predictable.  Actually, I was in the process of turning on my laptop and plugging in my back-up drive to do what I’d procrastinated for so long.

And then, I got the blue screen of death.  I never want to have to write another post like that, again.  It was dreadful not knowing whether I could recover photos of my son.

Photos like this one taken over the summer…

It’s true that it takes a data loss in order for you to get paranoid about backing things up and avoiding that costly mistake again in the future.

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This story does have a happy ending.

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I was able to get my data recovered from my hard drive that had somehow become unseated within a certain corrupted sector–whatever that means.  It was expensive.  PAINfully expensive.  But, I needed photos of my sweet son, those marketing brochures I had created from scratch, and 6 weeks worth of electronic patient files that I did not want to re-create.  Ugh.

Funny thing is, once the data recovery company retrieved the data, they sent it to me on a Seagate hard drive.

My retrieved data arrived the week after I received a Seagate Replica for review.

Fast

It took 2 minutes to install and register the Replica’s software so that it was ready-to-use.  If you can avoid using your computer during the initial back-up, it may take only 3 hours.  This complete back-up system backs up everythang, including the operating system, programs, and settings.  Oh. YEAH.

Smart

The Replica automatically removes the oldest backed-up versions of files to free up space for newer versions.  How clever!

The single greatest benefit of the Replica is that you can leave it plugged into your PC, and it will automatically back-up any newly updated files.  It’s got a great memory, so you don’t need to worry about forgetting what to back-up.

Ta-da!  Back-ups are completed automatically.  How’s that for effortless and extremely valuable?

If you take your laptop with you to the local java house to hammer out a post or a chapter of that book that you’re writing, never fear.  Just plug in the Replica when you get home, and it’ll back up everything in a jiffy.

Compact

It’s slim and petite.  5 1/2″ wide, 4″ deep, and 3/4″ tall, it doesn’t take up much room.  It weighs just over a half-pound.

Storage-heavy

Weighing in at 250 GB, I won’t be running out of room anytime soon.  I can keep photos, videos, and tons of other files on there for years to come.  Now, I wish I had one of these 4 months ago.  That would have been great.

*The multi-PC version of the Replica ($179.99) has 500 GB of storage space, and a storage dock.

Perfect Gift

Do you know of a blogger, parent who loves to store digital photos of her children, or someone who’s particularly engrossed on working on a PC?  The Seagate Replica ($129.99) would make a great gift.  You could help someone prevent a considerably expensive and mournful data loss with a simple and easy solution.

Note: The Replica requires Microsoft® Windows® XP (Service pack 2 or higher) OR Windows Vista®.

WIN IT!

One winner  will receive a Seagate Replica for Single PC , (retail value $129.99).  Stay in-the-know and become a Seagate Fan on Facebook or follow them on Twitter.

To enter, leave a comment relevant to this post prior to Saturday, November 28th at 11:59 p.m.  Please follow the contest rules and avoid any generalized comments, or you will be disqualified.

FOR A SECOND ENTRY: complete a quick 10-question reader demographic survey. Then, leave a second comment telling me that you did.

FOR A THIRD ENTRY: Blog or Tweet about the Holiday Gift Guide (or about this giveaway), then leave a second comment telling me that you tweeted or blogged with a link to your tweet/post.

Two Seagate Single-PC Replicas were provided for the purpose of this review, one for me to use, and one for me to give away.  Read Traveling with Baby’s complete disclosure policy.

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UPDATE: Congratulations to the winner, #19 Mike.