Seagate's DockStar can support up to four USB drives
(Credit: Seagate)Do you want to turn a USB hard drive into a cheap, easy network-attached storage device? Seagate's DockStar is designed to let you do just that. Like the preceding Dock+ model, the DockStar can host a FreeAgent Go drive in its cradle, plus up to three other USB drives. However, instead of linking to your PC via USB, the DockStar uses its Ethernet port to live on your home network.
Network access is enabled via technology Seagate has licensed from Pogoplug--in other words, it's just a Seagate-skinned version of Pogoplug's interface. That's a good thing, since Pogoplug's standalone product is exceptionally simple to set up and easy to use.
The system offers a Web interface for accessing the drive's files from any computer (on your home network, or worldwide via the Internet). The Web interface works on any Web browser, it requires no software installation, and lets you set specific folders for others to access, as well as publish RSS feeds of your files to various social networking sites (Twitter, Facebook, MySpace). Alternately, you can download Pogoplug's software plug-ins for mapping the DockStar to a drive letter on Windows, Mac, and Linux machines. Even better, Pogoplug offers a free iPhone app that lets you access files via iPhones and iPod Touch handhelds.
On the downside, Seagate is charging $30 per year for the capability to access the drive from outside your home network (after one year of free access). That contrasts with Pogoplug's standalone product, which requires no fees. With DockStar and Pogoplug both costing $99, we'd be inclined to go with Pogoplug's instead. That said, Seagate is planning to add SMB drive support to the DockStar via a future firmware update. That feature--not currently available on Pogoplug's standalone product--should allow the DockStar drives to be accessible via non-PC DLNA-compatible network devices, including Seagate's own FreeAgent Theater+.
The Seagate DockStar is available as of Wednesday. (The Pogoplug has been available since early 2009.)
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The FreeAgent Go Pro for Mac external hard drive.
(Credit: Seagate)Mac users have had many options for external storage lately. Two weeks ago, Western Digital unveiled its new My Book Studio II for Mac, and Seagate just now released a few of its own.
The company announced Wednesday a new lineup of portable and desktop FreeAgent external hard drives designed specifically for Macs. This includes two portable external hard drives, a regular-size external hard drive, and a docking station.
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Storage brands like Western Digital, Seagate, and Iomega are looking for ways to tap into the growing number of consumers who have multimedia files stored on their computers and want to bring them to their TVs without much fuss. FreeAgent Theater HD Media Player currently comes in three versions--two include FreeAgent Go storage drives (either 250GB or 500GB) as part of the package, while a third model is a "bring your own drive" version that retails for substantially less.
Previously we reviewed the Western Digital WD TV HD Media Player and the Iomega ScreenPlay TV Link, both of which are little black boxes that attach to your TV and read a variety of audio, photo, and video files from USB hard drives. Both are designed to be paired with portable hard drives that are loaded with media files. Unlike the Seagate FreeAgent Theater, however, neither Western Digital nor Iomega integrated slots for their own respective USB hard-drive products.
We loved the Editors' Choice winning Seagate FreeAgent Go external hard drive for its modern design and inexpensive cost per gigabyte, so we're even happier to report that they now come in a wider variety of colors. Just in time for the holiday season, Seagate just announced 10 exclusive shades: think pink, ruby red, solar orange, spring green, forest green, royal blue, sky blue, champagne gold, titanium silver, and tuxedo black. They're available online in 250GB ($120), 320GB ($150), and 500GB ($200) capacities.
To sweeten the deal, if you buy or receive a FreeAgent Go from November 28 through January 31, 2009, you'll also get 50 free songs from eMusic, one free movie rental, and 50 percent off your first year's subscription to photo and video sharing site SmugMug. Check out our full review and stuff a stocking with one for the holiday. Isn't expansive data storage the most rewarding gift of all?
The FreeAgent Go external hard drive by Seagate wins our coveted Editor's Choice award for three reasons: Design, cost per gigabyte, and speed. There are a ton of external drives out there to choose from, but we can definitely say that the FreeAgent Go takes the cake. Seagate offers the drive in multiple colors and capacities and the inexpensive price makes it perfect for users that need to access data on the run.
The FreeAgent Go is available in four colors (red, white, blue, and black) and with capacities up to 320 gigabytes. For our purposes, Seagate sent us a 320GB model to test that will run you $150, or $0.48 per gigabyte. In relation to their competitors' prices, the FreeAgent Go is dirt cheap- up until now, the typical price per GB ran around $0.56, so you're getting a great deal with the FreeAgent.
Read the full review of the Editor's Choice winning Seagate FreeAgent Go.
Seagate announced on Monday its fall 2008 lineup of FreeAgent external hard drives, including desktop and laptop models. They come preformatted for either Mac or PC file systems.
Seagate's new FreeAgent Go drives come in different colors and have an optional docking station.
(Credit: Seagate)The laptop models, dubbed FreeAgent Go, come in four colors for PC users--silver, black, red, and blue--and only silver for Mac users. The Mac version, however, features both USB 2.0 and FireWire connections, while the PC version has only USB 2.0. The new drives also feature a docking station for easily connecting to a computer.
The FreeAgent Go drives feature Seagate's latest 2.5-inch 5400RPM internal hard drives that offer storage space up to 500GB. These new FreeAgent Go external hard drives are thin and light--measuring 0.49 inch by 3.15 inches by 5.12 inches (PC version) and 0.69 inch by 3.15 inches by 5.40 inches (Mac version)--and are bus-powered, where they draw power directly from the computer's port.
The desktop models include the FreeAgent Desk drive (Mac) and FreeAgent XTreme drive (PC) that can provide up to 1.5TB of storage. The Mac version offers USB 2.0, FireWire 400, and FireWire 800 connections, while the PC version trade the FireWire 800 for eSATA. The two models are designed to stand either vertically or horizontally and are both made of brushed aluminum. There's another budget version of the FreeAgent Desk (PC) that features only a USB 2.0 connection.
Regardless of what platform the new FreeAgent drives are preformatted, all are compatible with both Mac and PC (though some reformatting might be necessary) and come with Seagate Manager software. The software provides scheduled automated backup and multicomputer synchronization. The drives are compatible with OS X's Time Machine and offer software-based AES-256-bit encryption and Seagate DrivePass password protection for Windows users.
The FreeAgent drives will be available in October with suggested prices ranging from $160 to $350 for the laptop models and from $160 to $300 for the desktop models.
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