Anyone know what type of drive is inside? Last Seagate drive I bought died with my data on it, just sitting on a self. :-( Not too much of a fan of Seagate after that.
2TB drives are actually better than anything bigger -- if you're trying to use them with Android USB OTG that is. For whatever reason (32-bit OS most likely), many Android tablets/phones completely choke when you try connecting a drive larger than 2TB to them. You'd think they'd let you use the first 2TB and leave the rest alone for use on a different computer that runs a full 64-bit OS, but no, in my experience, they just totally freak out and don't let you use any of the drive. But connect a 2TB or smaller and they work fine.
I don't have any experience with these Seagate portable drives. I mostly use Toshiba Canvio, and they've been perfectly reliable for me so far. I also have a Western Digital 2TB portable drive, and while it works fine, I find that it often seems to interfere with 2.4GHz wireless WiFi and Bluetooth radio signals, especially when I have it plugged into a USB 3.0 slot. So, Western Digital gets a minus on that point.
The downside of these portable drives is that they steal power from the device you hook them up to. That may be fine if you're using a powered hub or have a strong desktop/laptop USB port, but it often demands too much power from a tiny Android device, so you might want to consider using a "non-portable" external hard drive that uses it's own power brick. YMMV.
As of a few minutes ago on 11/25, this deal is still available at This is a pretty good price with the $15 off coupon code. About $8 cheaper than Costco for the same capacity but its the Backup Plus Ultra there. Not sure what more you get with Ultra other than backup software I believe. I almost bought but really need a 4TB drive and will see what turns up on Black Friday.
Comments & Reviews (4)
2TB drives are actually better than anything bigger -- if you're trying to use them with Android USB OTG that is. For whatever reason (32-bit OS most likely), many Android tablets/phones completely choke when you try connecting a drive larger than 2TB to them. You'd think they'd let you use the first 2TB and leave the rest alone for use on a different computer that runs a full 64-bit OS, but no, in my experience, they just totally freak out and don't let you use any of the drive. But connect a 2TB or smaller and they work fine.
I don't have any experience with these Seagate portable drives. I mostly use Toshiba Canvio, and they've been perfectly reliable for me so far. I also have a Western Digital 2TB portable drive, and while it works fine, I find that it often seems to interfere with 2.4GHz wireless WiFi and Bluetooth radio signals, especially when I have it plugged into a USB 3.0 slot. So, Western Digital gets a minus on that point.
Thank you!