Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Home 1TB STAM1000100 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I give this item a 3.5 stars. It looses some stars because it really is not "simple set up" as it states. It takes some time to get it up and your files to back up the first initial time. I was extremely excited to try this product with my home network since we have two Windows PCs (1 XP & 1 Windows 7), and one Mac computer.For each desktop computer, I have installed wired external backup drives. The idea of having ONE back up drive to backup all my files, photos and iTunes music seemed to be like a dream come true. Features a 1TB storage, which is equivalent to 1024GB.
Lets start with the installation. I am using the Windows 7 PC for initial setup. First and most important, you need a Home Network, a wireless router and of course an internet connection. Enclosed in the box is a very basic "Quick Start" guide, I recommend going to the manufacturer's website and downloading the 82 page manual which gives more information. I plugged in power and Ethernet cable to my wireless router. I powered up the drive and inserted the installation CD. I named and registered my drive and added additional user accounts , one for each computer. After that was complete I had to install the software on my other Windows PC and Mac. After I installed the CD on the other PCs, a screen pops up asking to insert the username and password. It's that simple. On my Mac the installation was a little different, but I was able to easily follow the instructions and get it connected using Time Machine with no hassles. One bit of advice for Mac users, if you plan on using Time Machine to back up your files instead of using the optional Memeo Instant Backup, you need to go to Seagate Share Preferences before installing the program on the Mac. Once you are in the preferences page, enable ComputersBackup. Create a password, this password will be used to configure the program when it is installed on your Mac. This information can only be found in the downloaded Users Manual online. Luckily I read the entire manual before attempting to install the Seagate GoFlex. It did take a long, long time to backup all files and folders from all three computers, but I had no bugs or issues. Depending on how many files and folders you are having backed up, it may take all day and night. The program will just run in the background and you do not have to do anything.
The drive will automatically created three folders for each PC account, a public, personal and backup folders. The Seagate Dashboard is the centralized location for all the computer files. This only works with Windows, this is the reason I used my Windows 7 PC as the main system. On the Mac it is Seagate Share and you must use the internet to access the files. You do have the option to use the internet storage base for Windows as well if you like.
There are a few options on how you want to backup your files, I went with the automatic backup. I clicked on instant backups on my menu and the computer shows you the amount of storage that will be included in the backup. If you only what to choose certain files, you can use the advanced settings and drag which files to backup. After clicking "Start Backup", my files started backing up. Whenever I add a new file to the folder or make and changes, the Seagate GoFlex will automatically back up the new file.
Every computer in my home already has a wireless printer, so I really have no use to for the share printer option. But if you do want to use a printer wireless throughout your home network, you must attach the printer via the printer's USB cable to the Seagate GoFlex Drive.
There are many other features and options that can be used, but my primary reason for using this device is to backup the iTunes and photo files on all the computers. When you have thousands of songs and spent several hundreds of dollars on iTunes purchases for every iTunes account on each system, you want to make sure you can access your file in case something terrible happens like the internal hard drive dies. Trust me, I have had this happen to me. I always burn my photos to a CD for added protection, but this way we can share our photos from any computer.
Overall, once you get the unit installed and your files and folders backed up it is extremely easy to use. I guess time will tell if the unit is reliable for retrieving backup files if your system crashes or dies. Hopefully I will not have to find that out! :-)
UPDATE: Sometimes I am not able to gain access to my account online. This is because I use Firefox with a 64-bit operating system and currently "Flash" is not not supported for this OS. I keep getting the "Flash Crash Error Report". However, I can sign in with no troubles using Internet Explorer. So if you have troubles signing into the account online, try a different browser.
If you notice that the drives are not showing under devices in your computer, best thing to do is to unplug it for 15 seconds and then plug it back in to reboot.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Home 1TB STAM1000100

The GoFlex Home network storage system connects to your WiFi router, allowing you to wirelessly store and access files and back up multiple computers in the home. The GoFlex Home network storage system includes software to automatically and continuously back up all the files and folders on up to 3 PC and Mac computers in the home. By storing files in a central location on your network, you can use one drive for all your storage and backup needs. When connected to your home WiFi router, the GoFlex Home network storage system enables you to wirelessly store and access files from any PC or Mac computer in the home. The GoFlex Home network storage system also allows you to stream media to game consoles and the GoFlex TV HD media player. Store all your photos, movies and music on the GoFlex Home network storage system and enjoy your media and favorite memories from any room in the house. Additionally, you can share a USB printer with every computer in the home by simply connecting to the USB port on the GoFlex Home network storage system or you can plug in a USB drive to the port to increase storage capacity. The built-in drive can also be upgraded by simply removing the drive from the base and replacing with a higher capacity GoFlex Desk drive. With a simple guided setup process and just two cable connections, the GoFlex Home network storage system installs in just minutes, allowing you to quickly begin protecting your files, enjoying your media and accessing your content wherever you are. Additional licenses available for purchase

Click here for more information about Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Home 1TB STAM1000100

Seagate FreeAgent Theater HD Media Player STCEA101-RK Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The Seagate FreeAgent Theater is now cheap because it is old technology and it shows. It is not a bad player for old-school video formats, but the picture is composite like an early years DVD Player, not HD. The firmware is slow, ugly, and buggy. The newer Theater+ model has HDMI, networking, and HD picture, but it is not worth the much higher $ investment (currently over $200 with hard drive and dock). The new firmware is still a D+ at best. I recommend using a netbook with an HDMI port as a media server instead. A netbook will work flawlessly as a media server and you will enjoy all the other PC fuctions it can do for you.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Seagate FreeAgent Theater HD Media Player STCEA101-RK

The easiest way to move your photos, movies and music from your PC to your TV. Share and enjoy your memories in a comfortable, social environment such as your living room. With two easy steps, you will be viewing and sharing your favorite photos, movies and music in no time! With its unique dual-docking system, setup the device once and never hassle with cables again. Simply place the FreeAgent Go portable hard drive (sold seperately) into the PC docking station and it automatically copies your photos, movies and music from the PC to the drive. Then docking the FreeAgent Go portable hard drive into the FreeAgent Theater media player, connected to the TV, puts your entire media library at your fingertips with 1080i High-Definition playback and crystal clear Dolby Digital 5.1 audio surround sound support. With the front-mounted USB port, you can also plug your digital camera, USB flash drive or external USB hard drive directly into the FreeAgent Theater and enjoy the same high-quality viewing experience. Navigating through your media library is intuitive with the FreeAgent Theater¿s user interface and compact remote control. Share your memories like a pro with easy to customize slideshows, transitions, background music and zoom feature for both pictures and movies. Share and experience your memories in comfort with FreeAgent Theater.

Get 51% OFF

Click here for more information about Seagate FreeAgent Theater HD Media Player STCEA101-RK

Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex TV STAJ100 Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Ok, let's get something straight right away. The biggest thing I was looking forward to with this little device was if and how well it handled ISO files. I have great news, in that it does so very nicely. You basically browse to where the ISO files are located, and just click on the file. It starts playing immediately and at that point functions just like a DVD player. I would even suggest that it's better than a DVD player in that it has a very quick response to commands, such as chapter skips and fast forwarding. Video quality is fantastic. I have this plugged into a Panasonic 42" Plasma at 1080P and the up-conversion is very good.
So, that being said, I'm immediately happy with this device. For me everything else is just a 'nice to have' feature. Let's talk about those nice to haves...
The device is small. It has a door in the front that can open up to insert Seagate's FreeAgent's HDD's. Doing so isn't required to use the device at all. You can just as easily stream music/videos/pictures from a network device. However, on the main screen there are buttons associated with music/videos/pictures, that won't work unless you do have the drive installed and Seagates software sync'ed up with a PC (Win or Mac). At some point, I'll get around to installing that software on my Mac or my PC, but I haven't done so yet.
Plugging in and powering up was a snap. It took less than 30 seconds to power up and I was ready to go. There was no lengthy setup to perform. Literally plug and play. I was immediately able to click on some of the Internet features, such as Youtube and Flickr. Looking at pictures in HD is really amazing. Extremely clear and really a pleasure to look at.
The remote is small, but a bit cheap. This seems to be a common theme among these devices in that there's no real though put into the remote. It's not that complicated, so I feel it's very easy to use once you've learned the button layout. It has the common playback buttons, as well as arrow buttons and a home button. If you're ever lost, click on the home button to get back to the main menu. The one thing I hate is that the IR sensors aren't very forgiving. You have to firmly push on the remote buttons and make sure that you're pointing directly at the GoFlex. There's no feedback, so you essentially have to wait a few seconds to know whether or not it's going to work. I wish there was a LED on the device that blinked when it received a command.
The only other feature that I'm interested in is the NetFlix playback. It works very similar to others in that you can browse your saved queue and select the movie you want to watch. It's work very well. Video quality also is very good and is likely limited to what NetFlix is able to stream. There's seems to be zero strain on the device to playback movies.
The interface is very basic. I would place it significantly below the quality of the Roku box, but better than most other media players (aka PCH or NMT, if you know what I'm talking about) I've tested. There doesn't appear to be any way to modify or customize the interface. There's an options menu that lets you do very common stuff like check the network settings, change video resolution, etc...
Overall, I like the device and successfully met my requirements for ISO files. I hope that future updates improve on the interface as well as add other features. One feature in particular that I would like to see is Amazon OnDemand. I don't use that service that much, but it's nice to have when you want to watch some of the latest releases. That being said, I would have no problem in recommending this as a solid Media Player. It's probably one of the best values out there today.
Pros
====
- Plays ISO files perfectly
- Great up-conversion for movie files
- Excellent video quality (for 42" plasma @1080p via HDMI)
- NetFlix playback works very well
- Interface is pretty quick, even when browsing network devices
- Excellent value
Cons
====
- The remote is a bit on the cheap, but decent button layout.
- Not enough feedback when using the remote. It's hard to tell if the button you clicked is doing anything.
- Requires firm button clicks and direct pointing at the device.
Wishlist
========
- Add Amazon OnDemand
- Improvements to interface, such as better feedback when clicking remote buttons
- Improve the remote IR sensitivity
- Recognize folder bitmap images. Would be very helpful when browsing video folders.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex TV STAJ100

The Seagate GoFlex TV HD Media Playing Device allows you to view photos, listen to music, and watch your digital movies on your TV.

Get 23% OFF

Click here for more information about Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex TV STAJ100

Seagate FreeAgent Theater+1080P HD Media Player STCEA201-RK Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I purchased this unit to replace the previous version (Seagate FreeAgent Theater HD Media Player (STCEA101-RK)) that didn't play MKV (high definition) video files.
CONSIDERATIONS
1. The previous version only displayed 6 items on the screen and it was somewhat difficult to find things with a large number of files. I have a 1.5 TB external drive to hold my movies. Both versions allow me to keep multiple files within a folder, which is handy for a TV series. This newer model displays a whole lot more on the screen--every file on the hard drive--10 at a time. You will need to learn to use the settings available from the Menu button on the remote to view folders and files according to your taste. I have over 300 files on the drive and most of them are TV series, so the interface is somewhat of a challenge if you don't use the Menu button. The unit plays one file after another, so a series with 10 episodes will play all 10 episodes in the order of their alpha-numeric file name.
2. NO S/PDIF coaxial output. This one has an optical outlet for sound, as well as stereo outputs using an A/V mini-plug.
3. Documentation/instructions need major help.THE GOOD NEWS
1. It plays every video file format that I use. It will play a DVD image and most other video formats, including MKV. The audio and video quality are excellent. I compared a DVD movie using a high-end DVD player, my Blu Ray player and a ripped version of the movie using the Seagate FreeAgent player. The movie looked best on the FreeAgent player. It apparently up-converts the video signal, and does a great job of it. It's like having a Blu Ray/DVD player without the delays.
2. My video source is a DLP projector displaying on a 92-inch screen. The long length of my video cables (75 feet) requires me to use component video cables, not HDMI. This unit can output video in both component and HDMI formats, so it's the major reason for me buying the Seagate versus the Western Digital equivalent.
3. Movie, picture and music folders show up 10 at a time. Individual thumbnails show up 10 at a time. Selecting a music album brings up 10 thumbnails of the songs. Click on a song and it shows the song's run time and 4 adjacent songs within the album. Use the Menu button to View List and you'll get a clearer view of the titles. You can play a music selection while viewing pictures.
4. If you have hundreds of movie/music/photo albums, you might find this interface to be a challenge. However, you can quickly scroll the list by holding down the remote up/down buttons to find what you want. Lists of your music files can be searched using the on-screen keyboard--kind of a "clunky" way to do so.
5. The remote is a standard IR type, so you can train your universal remote with its commands. Power off/on is done only via the remote, and the external drive powers off when the unit is off.OTHER
Immediately after installation, I connected to the Internet to download the latest (26MB) firmware update. The unit did everything on its own and the process took about 15 minutes.
All cables except HDMI and optical audio are included.
Connecting to my home network was simple, once I figured out how to find the on-screen keyboard (you have to hit the remote's OK button at the Network log on screen for it to appear). I was able to play music from my network while scrolling through my pictures on the network.
Wow! This box connects directly to a number of web sites, including Netflix, your local weather forecast, CNN, Youtube, etc., etc. Even a stock market overview!
It operates similarly to a netbook without the keyboard.
Very cool device for the money!Developer Recommendations:
1. Add a wireless keyboard (you can access an on-screen keyboard via the OK button on the remote).
2. Allow it to appear as a media server on networks.
3. Expand the Internet interface to use typed input.
4. Add coaxial.
5. Improve documentation so the buyer knows how to use it! (you can download the documentation from the Seagate website).
UPDATE 04/06/2010
After 2 months of use, the box decided it could no longer access the Internet--even though it could find other computers on my network that can access the Internet through that same network. It also decided that every time I turned it on, it wanted me to perform an Initial Setup process. It lost my audio settings and the only way I could access them was to remove the power plug from the unit before turning it on. Updates from the Seagate website were of no help in addressing the problems. I contacted Seagate and they are replacing the unit by RMA. I like the box enough that I have just purchased a second one for backup.
UPDATE 10/08/2010
FYI, I was playing all videos from a networked Windows XP laptop that has 5 external hard drives attached (8TB of space). One frequent issue I have is that the Seagate has trouble finding my XP laptop on my wired network if it's the only one on the network. If there are two or more turned on, it finds all of them. Today I installed Windows 7 on the laptop to use is as a media server. That didn't work as well as I had hoped. I finally found a fix on the Seagate blog. Simply enter the IP address of the computer that has the files on it and the Seagate will find everything on the PC! This is a great box, but it someone at Seagate needs to work on the software that operates it. I'd buy the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex TV STAJ100 but it seems to have the same limitations that this one does.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Seagate FreeAgent Theater+1080P HD Media Player STCEA201-RK

The FreeAgent Theater+ HD media player provides an easy way to store and move your photos, movies and music from your PC or Mac computer to your TV, allowing you to share and enjoy your digital media in a comfortable, social environment such as your living room.From your home computer, use the included sync software to automatically copy all of your media files to the FreeAgent Go drive, or simply drag-and-drop files directly to the drive. By then docking the FreeAgent Go drive into the FreeAgent Theater+ HD media player, connected to the TV, it puts your entire media library at your fingertips with 1080p high-definition playback and crystal clear surround sound audio. With the front-mounted USB port, you can also plug your digital camera, digital camcorder, USB flash drive, or external USB hard drive directly into the FreeAgent Theater+ HD media player and enjoy the same high-quality viewing experience.With the built-in Ethernet port or optional Theater+ wireless adapter, the FreeAgent Theater+ HD media player can connect to your home network to access content from shared devices, including networked computers and NAS (network attached storage). The network connection also allows the Theater+ HD media player to access internet content such as pictures, weather, stocks, and more.Navigating through your media library is intuitive with the DVD-like user interface and compact remote control. Browse your files with a familiar folder structure view, thumbnail view or filter by media type such as movies, pictures or music.

Get 29% OFF

Click here for more information about Seagate FreeAgent Theater+1080P HD Media Player STCEA201-RK