Seagate GoFlex Satellite Mobile Wireless Storage 500 GB USB 3.0 External Hard Drive STBF500101 Black

by Seagate

• Carry your media library with you and wirelessly stream to your iPad
• Syncs the media and documents on your PC or Mac, so that you can take your library with you on-the-go
• Stream 3 different movies over Wi-Fi simultaneously to 3 iPads
• Never worry about running out of storage capacity on your iPad or forgetting a file at home
• Stream up to 5 hours of video on a single charge

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 2.1 x 6.7 inches ; 1.1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B004Z0S7K6
• Item model number: STBF500101
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (444 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #93 in Electronics > Computers & Add-Ons > Data Storage > External Hard Drives
• Date first available at Amazon.com: May 16, 2011

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

GoFlex Satellite mobile wireless storage allows you to carry your media library with you while on-the-go and wirelessly stream movies, photos, music and documents to your iPad, tablet or smartphone. The GoFlex Satellite device includes a fast USB 3.0/USB 2.0 connection and downloadable Media Sync software to easily transfer media and documents from your PC or Mac computer. The GoFlex Satellite device can store over 300 HD movies, so you'll never have to worry about running out of space on your iPad or tablet.

Stream and surf on almost any device that has Wi-Fi and a web browser

Always have easy access to your media with Seagate's free app

Three different HD movies on three different devices-- all at the same time

Easily access and stream your media library wherever you are

Easy Mobile Wireless Storage

Take your media library with you. Stream it to your iPad. GoFlex Satellite allows you to take more than 300 HD movies on-the-go, and stream media over Wi-Fi to 3 iPads at the same time. You can also automatically sync media and documents from your PC or Mac computer. Satellite also enables you to stream media and connect to a nearby Wi-Fi hotspot to surf the Internet.

Your Entire Media Library, Now Mobile

The GoFlex Satellite device goes wherever your iPad goes and lets you wirelessly access all your movies, photos, music and documents. No more worrying about running out of space on your iPad. Satellite offers 500GB of storage capacity, with up to 7 hours battery life and up to 25 hours standby time.

Stream HD to Three iPads Simultaneously

Three different HD movies, three different iPads, all at the same time. Everyone in the family can wirelessly access the hundreds of movies you load on your GoFlex Satellite storage. Stream to almost any Wi-Fi enabled device using a web browser or the free app optimized for iPad. Up to 8 users can connect to the GoFlex Satellite to access photos, music, or documents.

Reliable Wireless Streaming with Tablets and Smartphones Too

With a GoFlex Satellite device in your backpack you can stream all of your HD movies to your iPad--without tangled cords or cables. A GoFlex Satellite device streaming wirelessly by your side means you can multi-task to your own beat. While you stream your favorite tunes or ebook, stay on top of email or surf your favorite sites. 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi connectivity delivers reliable skip-free streaming, with a wireless range of more than 30 feet.

Stream to almost any device that has Wi-Fi connectivity and a web browser--including laptops, Android phones and tablets, iPhone, iPod Touch and more.

Simple 1-2-3 Setup with Flexibility Built In

Simply plug the GoFlex Satellite device into your PC or Mac computer and load your media. Next, charge it with the included portable wall charger or car charger. Now you're ready to start wirelessly streaming media to your iPad for up to 7 hours of continuous play.

The GoFlex Satellite mobile wireless storage device is part of the Seagate GoFlex Storage System. This innovative system makes it incredibly easy to upgrade or change the interface on your GoFlex Satellite device, so you can always get optimal transfer speeds when loading and syncing your media. Satellite includes USB 3.0 connectivity for fast data transfers (fully compatible with USB 2.0). Other available interfaces include FireWire 800 and powered eSATA using compatible cables (sold separately).

What's in the Box?

GoFlex Satellite mobile wireless storage device, USB 3.0 USM adapter with detachable USB 3.0 cable, compact wall adapter with retractable pins, compact car charger, USB to DC cable, quick start guide, warranty.

Seagate Satellite GoFlex Mobile Wireless External Hard Drive Specifications

	500 GB1
Model Number	STBF500101
Interface	Wireless
Available Colors	Black
How Much Will it Store?
Digital Music (Hours)	8,330
Digital Photos (Files) Average file size using cameras highest resolution JPEG mode	160,000
Digital Videos (Hours)	500
DVD Quality (Movies) Based on standard 2 hour movie	125
HD Video (Hours) Based on H.264 compression at a 6.75Mbs bitrate	125
1One gigabyte, or GB, equals one billion bytes and one terabyte, or TB, equals one trillion bytes when referring to hard drive capacity.

Product Description

GoFlex Satellite (iPad) EN/FR Kit black, WiFi 802.11/USB3 with wall and carchargers, 5400RPM, 8MB Cache<BR><H2>Product Description</H2><DIV class=content><DIV class=productDescriptionWrapper><DIV style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 2.1em">GoFlex Satellite mobile wireless storage allows you to carry your media library with you while on-the-go and wirelessly stream movies, photos, music and documents to your iPad<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 70%; VERTICAL-ALIGN: top"><FONT size=1></FONT></SPAN>, tablet or smartphone. The GoFlex Satellite device includes a fast USB 3.0/USB 2.0 connection and downloadable Media Sync software to easily transfer media and documents from your PC or Mac<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 70%; VERTICAL-ALIGN: top"><FONT size=1></FONT></SPAN> computer. The GoFlex Satellite device can store over 300 HD movies*, so you'll never have to worry about running out of space on your iPad or tablet. </DIV></DIV></DIV>

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

107 of 114 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars It Works -- What Can I Say? July 29, 2011

By S. Kessler VINE™ VOICE

Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Edit on 8/6: I have now used the GoFlex on my travels, a weekend away and my commute home from work. On one charge it worked all week. I especially like the fact that I can carry it in my purse along with the iPad and I can connect to the wireless signal while train traveling. The iPad picked up the wifi signal perfectly from the device which was in my purse, on my lap and underneath the iPad. I haven't tried to use it for anything but video, but for that it works great.

I received this a few days ago from the Vine Voice program. It was advertised as a storage device for media that can be streamed wirelessly to your iPad. As someone who likes to watch video on my iPad 2, I thought that was pretty cool, so I went for it. Before it arrived I checked out the product page to read more about it and saw all the rather horrid one- and two-star reviews, and my heart sank.

Well, now that I've had it for a few days, have set it up and used it, I can report that it works beautifully for exactly the purpose it advertised itself for. After reading so many negative reviews, I am baffled at what some of the posters though this device was designed to do. As a device for storing gigabyte-hogging TV programs and movies and the watching them on your iPad, I think it's terrific? Now for the particulars.

I took it out of the box, read the instructions, and decided to first fully charge the device. Meanwhile, I downloaded a TV series that I've been wanting for a while but which I knew I wouldn't have enough room on the iPad for. The download from ITunes of all 13 episodes of The Killing in HD to my MacBook Pro literally took all night. When I got home from work the next evening, I went about setting up the GoFlex on the MacBook. I was worried about the issue that one reviewer reported of the USB 3.0 lunching their USB 2.0 on their computer. But I went ahead and experienced no problem. Within a few seconds, the image of the GoFlex drive appeared on my screen.

The next steps were not as easy. As per the instructions, I found and added the GoFlex App. That was quick and easy. I read the more extensive instructions in the App. The instructions said you could just drag and drop your media to the drive. Um, not so fast. I kept trying to to this with Killing folder, but nothing happened. I was now starting to get frustrated and wondered if the negative reviews were right. Then I noticed a folder that was in the window that opened when you click on the drive. It said "Mac Installer". Aha! I didn't remember seeing mention of this in the instructions. Nevertheless, there it was. So I clicked on it and things started happening. First, it opened a product registration window. It was easy to fill out and send through the browser. upon completion, a window appeared for doing the actual install. It worked easily and quickly; it then shut down and restarted the MacBook. With the GoFlex still attached after start up, the drive icon appeared. This time when I clicked on it, a window opended that contained a list of everything on the device. I then opened iTunes, and clicked on The Killing's folder, and dragged it to the device window. That was it! All the episodes now were listed among the videos.

I then disconnected the GoFlex from the computer, put away the MacBook, and pulled out the iPad. I turned the GoFlex on, within about 60 seconds It started flashing blue, which indicated that the WiFi was on. I went to the iPad, into Settings (as instructed), into WiFi and searched for the GoFlex and clicked on it. My iPad and the GoFlex were now connected. I then opened the App on my iPad and clicked on videos. Thumbnails of all the episodes were there, I clicked on the first, and within seconds I was watching the episode. It opens and views within the Safari browser, which I didn't realize, but that's how it works.

When I got home tonight I watched the full episode from start to finish. The GoFlex was several feet away on the coffee table. It worked beautifully. No stutters. Sound and picture were perfect.

My only two complaints are these: First, it needs clearer instructions, especially about installation on the Mac and instructions for dragging and dropping; second, if you stop a video in the middle, it goes back to the beginning when you open it again. This is not good and I'd downgrade it a half star if I could. I fairly easily got back to my place by dragging the progress bar until I found the scene I had left it at. Not ideal, but it worked.

Bottom line: The GoFlex Satellite does exactly what I need it for: to hold videos and other media I want to view in my iPad so I don't have to use up all the limited storage space on the iPad itself.

453 of 519 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Needlessly bad. Small, simple cures could have made this so much better. June 24, 2011

By Adam Files

Out of the box. The unit itself looked slick and simple. The cords needed to connect and charge this thing kinda baffled me. By that I mean they seemed redundant. Why not charge, and sync all through USB. There's probably even a good reason for this, and it didn't lessen my excitement any.

The first disappointment came when I found out the drive was ( and has to remain in ) Windows NT format requiring the installation of a special driver on my Mac to run. Not a big catching point, but as I had an older (G5 running 10.4) laptop as a media server made it unusable on my current setup. Not a deal breaker. I even kind of expected it not to run as it is an outdated computer and system. Just the reason why kinda threw me.

So to my main computer I hooked up the drive storing all my media, and my new GoFlex Satellite. What followed was a consistent string of disappointments created by this 'product'. Running a Mac means I had to install a special driver that would enable "write" permissions on NTFS (windows NT) drives. Luckily the software is on the drive when you plug it in. Separate from that is a piece of software you have to download from seagate's site that allows you to sync files over to the drive. At least that's what you are instructed to do. So with the second piece of software installed I begin the arduous task of syncing my music library over.

I'm a bit of an audiophile it's well over 300 gigs of just music so I knew it was going to take a while. But here we come to the first of many needless impediments in the system. I opted out of straight up syncing as there are some files I didn't want. And instead pointed the software to the folder containing my music on my external. This syncing software gives you absolutely no indication how far along in the process it is. No transfer rate. No percentage completed. All it gives you is a spinny wheel. So I just have to sit there watching the tech equivalent of Schrödinger's cat. Hoping it's actually doing something without really being sure. Because if it isn't I'll have to repeat a process I expect to take many hours.

I walk away (a watched pot never boils) and when I get back I see a warning. "such and such file cannot sync" would I like to continue? Immediately I grasp the future stupidity I have to wade through. The file won't sync because the file type isn't supported. I'm guessing it's because of the obscenely outdated NTFS format of the drive. Could be the seagate's software. Either way. Silly problem made worse by the fact that now I have to hit a button every time it encounters this format (wasn't really keeping track m4a was definitely one I think FLAC was too). It doesn't bother me that I'm not getting those files. At least it doesn't really bother me. What's unforgivable is that I have to actually sit there and babysit this process. Because this software is going to come to a complete stop every time it encounters this format. Why not just give me a warning at the end with a list of the files that couldn't sync. Or even an option to ignore syncing certain files types. Or an option to treat all errors of this type the same way. Or even just move the files, and if they don't play, then they don't play.

After 7 or 8 hours I stop it. It's after 4 AM and I'm going to go to sleep. No idea how far along it is. No clue if it will pick up where it left off. Just want to be able to use it the next day.

So I got... I don't really know how much of my library (some?) on my seagate and I'm out the door. So I got less sleep than I'd like, but despite that still excited to listen to a vast library of music while in the signal free abyss of the new york subway system.

There is a struggle to connect. Turning off. Turning on. Files not loading. All the files on the screen suddenly disappearing for no reason. I should say that despite all the silliness with the syncing I wasn't really disappointed until right then. Having issues actually connecting.

It does actually start to work. Uhhhhhhh. Do not let the categories in the app fool you. The way it organizes your "music" is alphabetically by song title. Think about that. However many thousands of songs you got all in an alphabetical list. Forget that.

So I go to folder view. Better. At least it's something that's understandable. Even if it's unnecessarily nested by the silly syncing software. Once you get a few folders in to what should be the root I can browse Artist > Album > Song as god intended. Forget playlists in case you were wondering. It quickly becomes apparent that seagate learned nothing from apple as far as user interface is concerned. This is purely a simple file hierarchy. One that only loads 20 or so of whatever on any given page. So if you have more than 20 artists with their own folder. You've got to go to the bottom of the list and prompt it to show you more. So if I want to listen to "The Ramones" I have to scroll down and prompt (no exaggeration) over a hundred times. SEAGATE: You have this proprietary syncing software. What does it do? Why not have a copy of the directory move onto the ipod for quicker access to files? At least give us the option. I would gladly sacrifice a even a gig of space on my iphone to have a usable file hierarchy.

Then once I'm in. Listening to "A Perfect Circle" cause it's in the "A"s. I realize more fun things. You can only play the one song you select at a time. When the song is over you have to hit "done" to get back to the folder containing your songs, and select the next song. This prevents you from ever putting your iOS device (pod, pad, or phone) in your pocket or backpack. Which is fine because get this... the songs only play in the foreground. You can't turn off the screen. You can't run any other app. That's crazy, I can even get YouTube to run sound on in the background.

The final straw. About 20 minutes into my frustrating listening experience I lost signal on the drive, and couldn't access it. This happened a few times. This last time, however, the drive would't turn off. Press the button. Wait a minute (it takes a minute at least to turn off) nothing. Wait. Press the button again. Nothing. Wait. Off the train now. Walk to the movie theatre. Nothing. During previews hit the button again. Nothing. It's starting to get noticeably warm now. Still. Nothing. So I sit through the movie warm hard drive whirring contentedly in my pocket. My only option for turning it off slowly playing out. I just have to let it run out of batteries. Which it does just after the movie lets out.

I will be returning this. What I can't get back is the 8 to 10 frustrating hours I wasted on this. I'm a patient man with a pretty good sense of humor. And I work customer service for a tech company. So I realize customers want the impossible sometimes. But some of this stuff is so fundamental. I am surprised at how flawed this is. Really just blown away at how bad a device this turned out to be. I got to believe the department that designed this was under impossible constraints or just hates people.

144 of 163 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Not ready for prime time June 29, 2011

By Bill The Ripper

Wow, I wish this thing worked better.

Video:
- Stutters when playing a single M4V stream, re-encoded with Handbrake at at data rate of just 1000 kbps (lower than the "standard" of 1500).
- UI is barely usable
- Subtitles are not an option when using the iOs app (but are ok when using the browser UI)

Audio:
- Horrible UI - doesn't even try reading ID3 tags and displaying a music collection by artist, album, etc. It's just a list of all songs in alphabetical order. Seriously.

Photos:
- Again, horrible UI. Every graphic file on the drive (including album artwork) is treated like a photo. Folder view at least uses your own collections/groupings, but astonishingly there is no slide show mode - it's one image at a time, hitting the 'Done' button to return to the file list and select another image.

I know Seagate has worked with PogoPlug in the past. I found myself wishing they'd used the PogoPlug software this time (it's not perfect, but it doesn't suck this bad).