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17 of 19 found the following review helpful:
 The Lexar Echo SE 16GB USB Thumb Drive - Nice Performance, OK Software, Terrible Build Quality Jul 15, 2010
By Mark
"Technology, Music and Movies"
The Lexar Echo SE 16 GB USB 2.0 Backup Drive is a disappointment. I purchase a lot of USB drives, from cheap to expensive, for a variety of needs. Even out of all the low cost budget drives I have bought, this one has one of the weakest constructions.
One reason to purchase a thumb drive is portability. The plastic surface has a tacky texture that doesn't seem fragile. I learned how easily broken this drive could be when the lanyard bar broke from simply having a lanyard attached to it to carry it. So this device would be easily lost if you were to have it break on you or if you were carrying it loose in your pocket.
PROS:
++ Data transfer speeds are better than most similar drives
++16 GB capacity allows for good sized backups
++ Fat32 formatted for compatibility
++ Compatible with Mac and PC operating systems (Windows 7, XP, Vista, OS X)
++ Very light case
++ USB 2.0 connection is backwards compatible for older computers
++ Retractable designs means no worries about lost caps
++ Easy to format and enable encryption to protect your data
CONS:
-- Body design is weak and larger than necessary; rear bar is easily broken
-- Slower mounts and stops than other USB drives I have
-- Premium cost
-- Other software alternatives can do the same and be installed on any drive
THE SOFTWARE
The included software is OK and is much less disappointing than most included software. For those wondering why it doesn't "do anything" when they insert it, you have to launch the software manually and can then have it install on your computer for automatic backups. That's actually a good thing. Companies have gotten a lot of flack over software that installs itself without giving users the choice.
The install files include "EchoBackup_Win.exe" for Windows computers and "EchoBackup_Mac" for Macs. I only tested the Windows version, but it has a sufficient number of options, including encrypting backups and setting up folders that will automatically get backed up whenever the drive is inserted. My only comment about it is that there are tons of free software programs that will do the same thing and can easily be copied to a thumb-drive. So I wouldn't choose this drive based on the added software.
There are a few ways in order to enable encryption. The best way may be to use another tool to encrypt the drive after re-formatting it. This way you can test the drive as well as use the encryption you prefer.
THE PERFORMANCE
Copying files to this drive was on the higher end of the speed range offered by USB 2.0 thumb drives.
Average Read Speed: 21.2 MB/s
Average Write Speed: 9.5 MB/s
Speeds with the included software were comparable, which is better than most software offers.
CONCLUSION
The 16 GB capacity makes this drive useful for file backups and USB storage. The retractable head means you don't have to worry about losing a cap, but you might have to worry about getting dust or debris into the tip.
Everything about this drive would have been acceptable if not for the poor build quality. Considering the premium, I would lean on choosing an alternative. This is a drive I wanted to love but it doesn't perform up to par. There are many higher end drives by Kingston, Sandisk, Patriot, Corsair and others that can be used for backups but have much better builds. I would research some of those.
Happy shopping.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Hot flash Jul 08, 2011
By Amanda Richards
What looks like a flash, acts like a flash, but is much more than your average flash?
This gadget provides a painless backup solution for businesspersons and students who can't survive without their trusty laptop/netbook/notebook and the information therein. Even for users unfamiliar with backup software, the Echo software included on the drive is a snap to use. Once the backup drive is inserted into a USB port on your computer, it will take you through some simple steps to configure the backup. You can choose the easy predefined Automatic plan or you can choose the more advanced Custom backup plan. There is a Quick Start Guide, also included on the drive, which provides a brief explanation of the options that are available.
When configuring your Custom backup profile, you can specify which file types you want backed-up. You can select ALL files, or there are some basic ones such as text, spreadsheet, presentation, music, videos, photos et al that you can select. There is also an OTHER category where you can define other file types that may be important to you, for example, zip, rar, pdf, etc. In addition, you select which folder(s) you want backed-up, set filters if required, and set the number of versions of files to keep, a useful option if you accidentally delete or modify a file. There is also the option to select an Automatic backup which activates every time you plug in your flash drive, and Live which continuously backs up your modified files to the flash drive without your intervention.
Restoring files is just a matter of clicking on the Restore menu button, selecting the files and/or folders you want restored and setting the location where to restore the files, then hit RESTORE. Alternatively, if when creating your profile, you had decided not to password protect it and encrypt it, the files can be accessed quite easily from directly on the root of the backup drive in the My Backup folder.
To backup another computer, you would have to install the software on that computer and set up another backup profile.
This version of the Lexar Echo has only 16GB of storage capacity, and is really too small to back up more than one home computer with music and video files; it can barely back up one computer, much less two or more. On the other hand, it would certainly be good for business people on the road since they will generally be using smaller files and the backup is a no-brainer.
While it has a good feel to it and the retractable connector saves losing caps, it is a bit on the `chunky' side and competes for space with other USB devices. It can also get damaged if you're not careful when moving the laptop around and it gets hit during the process, as it sticks out quite a bit.
I did not check for backup/restore speeds nor did I follow up on the 2GB of free online backup space which was offered in the setup. It appears this is no longer available at DMAILER, the backup software manufacturer; but instead I was guided to check YuuWaa online backup services.
Extremely handy for business or school use, and especially for people who have senior moments and accidentally delete or write over important files on a regular basis.
Amanda Richards, July 8, 2011
3 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Nice design, easy to use May 31, 2010
By Angela Boyter
I have not used a device like this before now, so I cannot compare it to others, but I found it very nicely designed, easy to use, and effective for what I wanted.
I was pleased by the small size. It looked sturdy, too, as if I can carry it around without worrying about damage. Contributing to that was the retractable USB plug, which slides in and out via a little button reminiscent of an X-acto knife. The light gray color makes it easy to find without being garish---I am NOT a fan of neon pink tech gear!
I was a bit put off when it arrived encased in plastic on a cardboard card (which was a DEVIL to open!) with absolutely NO instructions. Lacking any guidance,I just plugged it in, and that was all I needed to do; it installed its software with no intervention required. There is PDF user's guide which was moderately helpful. There is a defined profile for files that will be backed up, or the user can define custom profiles and identify what profile is to be used as the default.
Back-up was quick and seems to be accurate.
When I plugged the device into another computer, as I might do if I were working away from my home computer, it was easy to find a particular file that I would want to retrieve.
The biggest annoyance I find is that every time I log onto my computer it now chides me if I do not have the Lexar Echo plugged in. I do not want to leave it in the computer all the time and might prefer a less intrusive message, such as " You haven't backed up in (CHOOSE AN INTERVAL);plug in your Lexar Echo to protect your data." It does seem expensive for a 16-GB back-up, but convenience is worth something.
3 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Good drive but pricey if you don't need the backup software May 25, 2010
By J. Sayer
The drive itself seems to be plenty fast compared to my older 2GB USB drive. CrystalDiskMark benchmark shows nearly 31 MB/s sequential and 512k read and 12.5MB/s sequential write which actually exceeds the Lexar's stated specs - how often do you see that? By comparison, this is 5-6x faster than my 2GB USB drive, and is even respectable compared to some older SATA drives. For my uses (easily portable storage), this drive will be a nice improvement in capacity and speed over my old drive. I was worried this drive would be huge, but it is similar in size to my old drive, and the retractable USB plug is a nice touch that makes it more compact.
Admittedly I am not interested in their backup software as I have a backup solution for my entire system (which would not fit on 16GB), and that software is probably why this drive carries a cost premium over similarly sized drives. For that reason (and for my purposes) if I were to need another drive I would probably choose a different, cheaper drive. However, if you do not have a backup solution and 16GB (or one of their larger drives) works for your setup, this may be a good solution for you. You can find the manual for the backup software on their website (here is a direct link, hopefully Amazon won't delete it: [...].). It comes with both Windows (including Win 7) and Mac versions of the software, a nice touch.
The drive is focused on backup, so it does not have any security for files you drag and drop onto the drive (like they have for some of their other drives), but you can password protect backups using their backup software.
 Good! Jan 28, 2012
By Pi
Visually this USB drive is like any other, you may like it or not. I do not care how it looks, if the texture of plastic is nice or I`m not trying to guess if it will brake until it does. But it is solid drive, it is Lexar.
This USB has backup program which I use for my .doc and .xls files, and because of the content I do take care of this drive. That said, few words about backing files.
Provided program is easy to set up and use. It makes copy of all folders and sub folders of the drive that you choose, so it looks like in my computer, but if there are no .doc or .xls files in them, the folders stay empty. You choose what type of files to back up. That`s how I found few missing pages, that were saved in different folders by accident (in mp3 music for example) just by browsing through folders on drive. It was easy - no other junk, just what I was looking for. During or after work I just plug it in and voila! full automation :) Once set up the drive does everything on it`s own. You can backup few computers, as long as there is enough space on USB drive. For businessman or student or writer this is very useful gadget. I lost my work few times in past, not going to in future. For storing pictures, music or movies, get something else - bigger or prettier - if that`s what you looking for. One more thing, during set up you can choose between many languages, which I found useful, because English is not my first.
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