Customer Reviews

Seagate FreeAgent Go Dock+ with 3 Powered USB Ports 100563416 (White)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought the Seagate FreeAgent Go Dock+ from a large electronics chain for a few dollars less than the price at which Amazon is offering it. Before I purchased it, I looked at user reviews here and saw only one review with a mediocre three star rating. I decided to take a chance, and bought the dock saving my receipt.

Four weeks later, I can't stop praising this dock. My setup uses a Unibody Macbook Pro, meaning I only have two USB ports to spare at any time. Leaving this dock on my desk, I am able to connect my Wacom tablet, external WiFi antenna, external non-docking Seagate Backup Drive, and my FreeAgent Go with only one cable. I cannot stress just how much easier this has made my laptop life.

Obviously, I had power concerns because of the other review, but thus far I have not encountered a single related issue. Perhaps the other user's dock was defective or something to that end, but I have actually noticed that Time Machine backups and data transfers go faster now than ever. The dock IS powered as the packaging states, and my Wacom tablet's light is on all of the time-whether or not it is plugged into my Macbook.

Of course, the dock is not perfect-aestetically. Take this as a nitpick, but for a device which allows for a greatly de-cluttered physical desktop, it's odd that the power cabe awkwardly plugs into the side of the dock instead of the back. This makes the dock a little less versatile when it comes to placement. Also, the dock is very light when there is not a FreeAgent Go docked on top of it meaning that it can accidentally be pulled off the desk if one of the cables plugged into it is pulled or moves slightly. I also would have preferred it in black, but that is purely opinion.

Nitpicks aside, this is a purchase I would make again and again. Give it a chance and you will love it-especially if you are a laptop user.

I have one of these docks without the USB ports and found it to work very well. Since I wanted a dock for a second machine and also am always running into USB port shortages, I thought this device would allow me to solve that problem. I found that dock itself performs fine for the drive, but its performance as a USB hub leaves a lot to be desired. As an example, when I plug my iPhone into one of the ports it is not unusual for it to take over 15 minutes for my system to register that this device has been attached. (On some occasions however it does register much faster.) It also does not appear that the ports are powered (or at least not fully powered) when the computer is turned off--despite the fact that the drive docked in this device is still illuminated when in this state. (I have another powered USB hub that I can use to charge my iPhone when the computer is turned off. I tried that with this device and found that after about 10 hours the device had not increased its charge level.)

I had high hopes that this would be a fast USB 2.0 hub. It's not performing that way. My recommendation would be to buy the dock without the USB ports and buy a separate USB hub.

The one merit this device has over the dock without the ports is that this device uses only 1 USB port on the computer and instead runs off of a power adapter.

Here are some notes to consider before purchasing this dock. There is no power button and it constantly draws power. If you leave a hard drive on it, the drive stays powered up and spinning even with the computer turned off. The only way to remedy this is to install a Seagate program that can allow the drive to go into a low power mode after a set time of inactivity. It would have been nice to have a power button on this dock, but the program will work for now I guess.
*Also the power supply connector is not on the back like others may have said it is on the right side.

Very good design. The power port should be in the rear of the unit along with USB ports. NOT on the side. That would improve the esthetics.

After this product came in the mail, I found that it did not work the way I had thought it would. A quick search on the web showed me how to make the 2TB hard drive that I attached to it work the way I wanted it to, namely as a mounted networked storage device. I am very pleased with its ease of use. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to add storage to their home network.

This simple doc is useful for swapping out Seagate FreeAgent Go 500 GB Portable External Hard Drives and it's made much more useful by being a USB hub. It sits behind my iMac holding three USB cords that stay put. The nearer USB ports are free for stuff I swap out. The drive sits vertically, so it has a small footprint. It can also hold the thicker FreeAgent Go 1 TB Portable Drives.

The device does what it is supposed to do, dock the FreeAgent portable disk drive and provide additional USB outlets. Obviously I missed something in the description and in some of the customer reviews; the thing I was totally unprepared for was the fact that it requires a 120 volt outlet. Its power comes, not from a USB connection, but from a "brick" similar to a cell phone recharger.

I would have to do some fiddling around to connect it to 120 v. and I am not quite sure it is worth the effort. So I may be returning it to Amazon.

This device allows me to use my Seagate dock on my laptop while only taking up one USB port (instead of 2 on the other Seagate dock).

Only complaint is that it draws power all the time, even when the computer is off because it is powered separately (I plug it into a powerstrip that I turn off when I am not using it so I don't waste energy).

I found that it didn't work on one of my USB ports on my laptop, but works fine on another. If it doesn't work at first, try a different port. Not sure why, but this helped me.

I am very happy with the dock. Works as expected. My only comment is the power adapter input. It is on the side and sticks out about an inch like a sore thumb. I wish they had a 90 degree plug or made room in the back for it.

This stand works great for the need that I use it for. The extra usb ports are great also, now I do not have to wonder about free ports. Buy this Docking station if you can for your needs also.