Seagate - FreeAgent GoFlex 500 GB External Network Hard Drive - Black

Pros Love the ease of use and its ability to stream videos or music to multiple mobile devices. Worked fantastic with my iPad and iPhone !! 500 GB of photos, music, & videos on demand, like WOW, I love it for exactly that reason. CONS Locked up on me. After doing research, I found that doing the firmware update is a must like day one, or it will lock up on you sooner or later and doing a reset (pressing the reset button and the power button for 20 secs isn't in the manual). Can not upload to the Satellite. Would like the ability to upload from an iPad to the satelitte (backup photos)

The Seagate GoFlex Satellite Mobile hard drive is likely the precursor to what mobile hard drives will become. As a 1st generation device it will undoubtedly have some kinks. Many of these kinks have some workarounds. I am going to review the device with what I did, in hopes that some of these steps will help others. Step 1 - Unpacking After the unpacking, you will see the box contains the following: *The Drive * Quick Start Guide *USB 3.0 adapter *USB Car Charger *USB to DC Power Cable *Wall Charging adapter *Warranty Card. The device is partially charged. I was able to immediately attach the device to my PC (Windows 7 Ultimate x64) via USB and navigate the drive. I copied a couple videos and music files to the device to test it out. in order for the WiFi to work, the device needs to be disconnected from the PC. After disconnecting from the PC and pressing the little button on the side, the green status light will begin blinking blue. This indicates the device is broadcasting. Step 2a - Connecting to an iPAD/iPOD. On the iPad go to the App Store and download the GoFlex Media (Seagate technology) app. Next go into the Settings section and click on the Wifi Settings and look for something called GoFlex Satellite QH2. After you are connected, you can start the app and navigate the device. Step 2b - Connecting to an Android device. (specifically Samsung Droid Charge) It is understandable to see why Seagate kept touting the iPAD features of the device. That is the easiest thing to set up. To get the streaming to work properly on some android devices, you need to install a couple 3rd party software apps. If you do not, when you try to stream something, your device may try to download. The 2 apps I had to use are UpnPlay and Rockstar Player Lite. The UpnPlay allowes for the navigation of a UPnP (Universal Plug and Play – protocol for letting devices to integrate and discover one another) or DLNA (Digital Living Network Allinace – 250 member consortium setting standards for streaming media) devices. Much like with the iDevices, you wil need to go to your wifi settings and connect to the GoFlex You can start the Upnplay app. Once started, the app will show the drive and all your media. When you long press on an item, you can ‘Play the track’. When you do, select the Rockplayer as your video. Viola Summary I will give it 3.5 stars, but since no half stars are available I will go with 4. The extra 1/2 is benefit of the doubt that any issues will be addressed in future firmware release, or a better future product. + Small portable drive + Does what it says it will do +The accessories with the box + Battery life is what to be expected with a device spinning mechanical parts while sending information out. I was able to get a couple movies out of a single charge, but I use the device for commuting and it is plenty. - Documentation is overly simplistic at best. Much of what I discovered I had to do on my own using THE Google ;) -The organization of your media is a pure list with very little organization. This is very clumsy and hard to navigate unless you name your files with the organizational structure. -Not intuitive for the lay android user. Extra tidbits *The IP address for the Drive is 192.168.0.1. If you use any browser to navigate to that IP while connected to the device you will get the menu for navigating the drive. *Change your Password!!!! By default there is no password associated with the device. When you enter the IP Address above, you can click on Settings and then Change Password . Be sure to turn your security on.

This Seagate GoFlex Satellite wireless hard drive is a 1st generation model and so I'm inclined to cut some slack with hopes that Seagate's future firmware & software updates will improve to a more "user-friendly" experience. As of this writing (15JUL2011) it's definitely a work-in-progress; hopefully the folks @ Seagate will read some of these product reviews and tweak some features. First: installing on my Mac was super easy and the iPhone app as well as the iPad app are equally "frustration-free" I cannot comment on Windows PC installation as I have zero Windows products. Second: moving/copying files (sync) is also easy & nearly brainless when using Seagate's Media Sync software that's included on the HDD....or it can be downloaded from Seagate website too. My only complaint with this "SYNC" software is the lack of progress % window. It's simply a spinning circular arrow but no indication to help me know "time-to-completion". Third: the Seagate Media Sync software does a great job placing the various files into the exact same folders hierarchy as the source files. However, as other user reviews state, the inability to make playlists is sorely missed. While it is possible to open a folder and "Select All" + play, this is only enjoyable if I want to play an entire album. Fourth: as with the music files, the photos transfer (sync) seamlessly and remain within the same folder organization as the source files. It is possible to play a slideshow, but only from within one folder using EDIT & SELECT ALL. Finally: i have had success in moving, copying and playing several different video file types...specifically .MP4 and .M4V but I cannot comment on .WMV or .AVI files....sorry! The ability to locate a movie or TV show is fairly quick even though I have a large & complex archive (movies, TV shows, music videos) ripped and/or iTunes downloads. Streaming a movie or TV show from the Seagate Satellite to the iPad 2 is nearly instantaneous using the free app from Apple's App Store, but it's a little bit sluggish when using the same App on the iPhone 4. I suppose it's a good buy if Seagate makes a few minor tweaks here and there, I expect there will be more of these devices popping up soon from Buffalo, Western Digital and HP. Right now, without any competition, the $199 price tag for 500GB is difficult to justify even with its' wireless connectivity

After reading some of the other reviews on Bestbuy.com and another large website, I was concerned that this may not be the product for me. From what I read, the installation was difficult, the drive frequently disconnected itself, and there were a wide range of other issues. I can say that these "problems" just didn't happen to me. Installation took all of about 5 minutes and did so without a single problem. In fact, I have to question the other reviewers as to "what installation" because there isn't much. I simply connected it to my computer (W7 PC, not MAC), Windows recognized it instantly, and I was off to copying files. Note -- I didn 't use or try the included "synch software" so I can't review that. After copying all my files, I charged the drive overnight, downloaded the iPad app, and instantly connected it to my iPad. Previous reviewers reported that all their media files were just thrown into a folder and merely alphabetized, this is correct. I find it to be a little strange but I can work with it -- for now. I am hoping the software is updated later to include better sorting. I can't review certain things like battery life, wi-fi range (since mine was within a foot of the ipad at all times), or durability just yet. This thing "just works." I noticed no problems and it's a GREAT device to add storage to your ipad or other wi-fi connected devices with ease. I would encourage you to add a WPA password for the drive as one of your first steps. Obviously, this drive could contain a lot of sensitive documents (bank statements, tax returns, family photos, etc...) that you wouldn't want to share with just anyone. That is my only suggestion. I am sure the software will be upgraded soon and should include all features we have asked for.

I have a 16GB iPhone and was always juggling with the music, videos, and podcasts. Now with Spotify, I don't need to put music on my player, so I can just leave Podcasts. With the videos, I can put them all on this drive and have plenty of room left over. One problem that I had was that I couldn't play video over the dock connector using the included software. This was one of my primary reasons for buying this and I was disappointed at first. It would stream the video using the included player without a problem and it would play on the bluetooth headset as well. It wasn't until I downloaded an app called GOODPLAYER. This app cost me $4 and solved my issue. Here's what you need to do. Buy GoodPlayer and use the imbedded web browser on the app. This lets you view the menus just like you would on the app, but when you play videos on it, it will play on the TV if you have the TV-Out option. Their included app only sends the audio out through the Dock Connector. So, buy this excellent device but also buy GoodPlayer from the iTunes store. It's worth the extra $4. Still, I never had a problem with thumbnail generation or playback, but I do wish that I could use Spotify or something like that with it as well. But since I have Spotify and have so much free space now on the device thanks to this Wifi drive, I can use all of the space for Spotify's offline music catalog and podcasts. Very nice. Instead of spending an extra $200 for a 64GB iPad, get the 16GB and get an extra 500GB with this drive. Plus you can share the videos with your friends that are nearby. No SMB support for direct access to files on iPhone, which would be nice. Also, firmware upgrade page is non-existant. I can't find it from the URL in the help file.

This is finally the product that allowed me to buy an iPad. Use it mostly for travel, able to bring hundreds of movies along for car, plane or hotel to watch for the whole family. Haven't had to stream different movies to different devices simultaneously but other reviews said it was good. Usually synchs easily with our iPad on first attempt. Once the movie starts, no playback issues at all with iPad. Very rarely you will need to hard boot both to get it to work. Free synch app from Seagate is passbale. Wish it was able to diaply full title but is character limited, as long as you dont name the file too extensively (Season, Disk, Episode...) you'll be OK. Haven't seen any larger GB drives for this line but if you NEED a 500GB you'll probably WANT at least a 1TB to be safe, otherwise you're still back to deciding what to bring... I do recommend and have told all my friends with iPads that it is a great addition. I love the fact that it doesn't always need a power source. I use it all the time at the kids sports practices in the bleachers, even works being carried in a pocket of your cargo pants...

Awesome product. You no longer have to buy the most expensive iPad just so you have enough room to put more than 4 movies on it. Update the hard drive and the app that you ca down load from the app store (free). Just came back from a long field exercise and put this device to the test. The range for the network the drive puts out is pretty good. I have three different people in a building streaming HD movies from it at one time and there were no delays. Only down side is you have to connect the hard drive to a computer to transfer data to it. YOU CANNOT upload data wirelessly to the drive. Think of it like an ipod, you have to connect it to your computer to load media on it. Only with this device you just drag and drop your content. Truly a great device that allows any Device that has wifi the ability to do so much more. It is Mac and pc friendly.

I purchased this with a promotional coupon $ 20 off, plus I got my reward zone discount, with that I paid $40 less than the store price. I had read about it on Seagate's website and immediately said, this is what I always wanted. Well, it does the job - kind of, not completely. I have an Acer Iconia 500 tablet, which supports most video formats, my videos (MP4) from the Seagate are not playing well, the picture is grainy, the video keeps stopping, even after I converted to a different format, which is listed as supported by Android, the picture is still very grainy, no fun to watch. Photos are looking decent, documents open well and quick. Wi-Fi setup was very easy and quick, the Sync Software works very good, but even with a USB 3.0 connection it took forever to transfer my files to the Seagate. Seagate promises to update the internal Software from time to time, and I hope they do. I will keep the Seagate, hoping for improvements over time. I still like the fact that I can access my files, documents etc. from my laptop without transfering them to a flash drive, since I keep all personal files on an external. So far I had to unplug that external from my desktop PC and plug it in the laptop. With two laptops and a tablet in the house it is much easier now. If you are not in a hurry buying something like this, I recommend to wait for a newer version. If you don't mind the little problems, then there is nothing wrong with buying it now.