External Hard Disk for Your iPad: Seagate GoFlex Satellite Mobile Wireless Storage Review

I have to write this because I believe the Seagate GoFlex Satellite Mobile Wireless Storage is the best external hard disk ever. I know I’m slowly turning this site into a review one, but I actually started to like this idea: writing reviews of products I either bought or I intend to buy. Since I’m going through a lot of research for purchases that are more than $100 and aren’t clothes or shoes, why not let others enjoy the results as well?

So, I’ve got a Samsung Story 1TB external hard disk about two years ago and I’m still to fill it up. I think I used only half of its capacity. External is the way to go, because it’s affordable and easy to share.

What makes the new Seagate GoFlex Satellite Mobile Wireless Storage better than other storage systems

Mobility

It is powered by rechargeable battery. It’s great not to depend on the power network in order to use the external disk. The battery provides up to 5 hours of continuous streaming for one user. You can watch two movies and listen to about one hour of music between two charges. In standby mode, the battery will last for about 25 hours, which is probably more than I’ll ever need. The devices comes with a compact wall adapter with retractable pins and with a compact car charger. These two should cover your power needs in almost any situation. Well, I’d never go spend one week in the jungle, sleep in trees and eat only what I kill. Wherever I travel, I usually find a power outlet I can use every day.

Seagate GoFlex Satellite has a Wi-Fi range of more than 30 feet. Click on the image to read more about this on Amazon

It is wireless. You only need a cable to upload your media on the hard drive. After that, streaming it can be done wirelessly, via Wi-Fi connection. You can watch movies on your iPad while leaving the Seagate GoFlex Satellite in your bag. The Wi-Fi range is more than 30 feet.

Convenience & easy access to your media

The external drive supports up to three users at the same time - click on the photo above to read more on Amazon

You can share it with your friends and family. It allows up to three users connecting their iPads and watching different movies at the same time. Only think about long travels with kids: wouldn’t it be nice not to have to watch those endless cartoons with them? It’s true that you have to buy an iPad for each of them. That’s not cheap, but having to buy storage for each of them is also not cheap. You can save that money by sharing the Seagate GoFlex Satellite.

It works with the iPad, iPhone and other tablets and smartphones. The stored media is easy to access via web browser. For Apple devices, you can download the free app which is available on the App Store. The Media Sync software allows easy synchronizing with your PC or Mac, so you can always have your updated media library with you.

Flexibility

The GoFlex Satellite mobile wireless storage device includes USB 3.0 connectivity. This means data transfers are faster. USB 3.0 is fully compatible with USB 2.0, so you don’t have to worry it won’t work with your old PC which doesn’t have a USB 3.0 port. Other available interfaces, sold separately, are FireWire 800 and powered eSATA.

Data protection

This wireless storage system is equipped with the Seagate G-Force Protection Freefall Sensor Technology. This means that it goes automatically on a non-operating state in the event of dropping the device. In other words, your data is protected in case you drop the hard disk. That’s excellent while traveling, as we all know how easy it is to drop things when you’re on the go and overwhelmed with your travel gear.

Main Specifications:

• Device size: 4.72” x 3.46” x 1.26”
• Weight: 0.588 lb
• Storage capacity: 500 GB (enough for more than 8000 hours of music or 160,000 photos or 125 DVD quality movies or 125 hours of HD video)
• Battery: non-replaceable Li-Ion
• Wi-Fi standard: 802.11 b/g/n, with WPA security
• System requirements:
  Smartphone, iPad, tablets and computers with web browser and Wi-Fi connectivity standard 802.11 b/g/n
  Computer operating systems: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Mac OS X 10.5.8 minimum
  USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 port
• Supported file types:
  For iPad:
  Video: H.264 video, MPEG-4, Motion-JPEG
  Audio: AAC, MP3, Audible (formats 2, 3, 4), Apple Lossless, AIFF, WAV
  Documents: Microsoft® Office®, iWork®, Adobe® Acrobat® (PDF)
  Select file types supported by third-party apps
  For other tables, smartphones or laptops: it will play any type of file supported by the applications on your device. It behaves just like any other hard drive, therefore you can store any files on it, not just media files like music or videos.

The Seagate GoFlex Satellite Mobile Wireless Storage box contains the following:

• GoFlex Satellite mobile wireless storage device
• USB 3.0 USM adapter with detachable USB 3.0 cable
• USB to DC cable
• Compact wall adapter with retractable pins
• Compact car charger
• Instructions guide

The GoFlex Media application features functions that make it very easy to search through your files, filter by keyword, sort files or view them as folders or thumbnails.

The device comes with 3 year limited warranty. Being part of the Sagate GoFlex Storage System, it is very easy to upgrade it or to change its interface as new ones are launched. This way, you can always benefit from optimal transfer speed when you load your files.

As the Seagate GoFlex Satellite Mobile Wireless Storage is fairly new, there’s only one review on Amazon. It’s a five star one, though, and Seagate is a reputable brand in the storage market. Anyway, if you want to see more, you can go to Amazon now and check it out. It ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping.