Time Machine  - 283gb backup take 60 days?

After about 2 years of not backing up my desktop (iMac 21.5 inch, late 2009, 4GB, running Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5) - I decided to run a back up so bought a WD My Passport for Mac, 1TB ... so I select the My Passport in Time Machine Preference, hit "start backup", and it tells me that it will take 60 days to complete the backup. Can this be right?!
Its telling me there are 1,5000,516 items and 283 GB to back up (and its now changed from 60 days to 19 days, for some reason)  - but surely this is wrong?
I know that I am a plonker for not backing it up before, but it has been running pretty much as a media / entertainment computer for the kids, and now I want to clean it up and use it properly again, but thought I should back it up before I do so.
Should it really be taking this long!?
Thanks for any help.
Matt

If your external drive has FireWire conenctivity, try that instead of USB. Even the origianl FireWire 400 is functionally faster than USB2.
I had a drive with both connections and decided to try USB2. TM said the initial backup, which was much smaller than what you are trying to do, would take 20+ hours. I stopped everything, reconnected with FW800 and the backup occurred in just a little over an hour.
Because of the "burst" nature of USB transfers as opposed to the steady-state FW transfers, you may find it worthwhile to get a FW drive to replace your current on if it lacks FW connectivity.
After the experience I had (suffered) with USB backups, now I only buy drives with FireWire. I use this model with FW800 exclusively now:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/eSATA_FW800_FW400_USB
Yes, they are more expensive but mine have been fast, transparent in opperation, and 100% trouble-free.
Another thought: does your current external drive have an external power supply? Drives for desktop use have an independent power supply. The smaller, cheaper "portable" drives typically must draw all their power from the USB cable that is trying to transfer data as well. This "power struggel" is not a good thing with which to live.
Another tip: Most "name-brand, on sale" drives come formatted for Windows. You can use Disk Utility to reformat any external drive. If the drive is ONLY going to be backing up your Mac, reformat it to Mac Extended (Journaled) and it may be faster and certainly less trouble-prone.

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