Digital Home Thoughts: Hitachi LifeStudio Plus 500 GB Reviewed

"Ever heard the phrase, "Do one thing, and do it well?" Hitachi surely has. The company took that advice, considered it, threw it out the window, and released an external backup drive bundled with a media suite that does many things-some of them potentially interesting, but none of them particularly well. The Hitachi LifeStudio Plus is an external backup drive with an interesting dock, a cool companion USB key, and a clunky, awkward integrated software suite."

Hitachi's concept seems like a solid one, but they dropped the ball with the software - and, let's face it, this isn't the first time we've seen this. Hardware companies tend to be good at hardware, and when it comes to software, they go looking for partners that have what they think they need...but it rarely ends up being a best-of-breed solution. Sorry Hitachi, maybe next time.