Wonderful product. Gotta love it.
For those who've had problems, I can understand how frustrating it is to take the chance on one of these, given that the industry is bound to have defectives in the mix, and be the one who has such problems, whatever they turn out to be. No one expects to have such difficulties, but it seems a necessary evil in today's world of technology. Obviously, as long as the drive works the way you expect it to work, who could complain? High capacity, high speed and high expectations are becoming the norm for hard drives, and naturally, the problem items will nearly always manage to garner the angst of the unfortunate customer and the nay sayers who will always chime in with the 'me too' thing. Cannot say I blame them, but without wishing to insult anyone, it often seems much a case of operator error to me as I read reviews avidly before a purchase. Not everyone is trained enough to have a 'seat of the pants' intuition about these things, especially computers and the plethora of accessories now available for them.
In the specific, Seagate markets this drive with software, some great, some not so much, and I too have completely dispensed with the included software after a few ugly moments dancing with Memeo, the dashboard, the gauge lights and some others I no longer recall, as I've long looked to Seagate as masters in this field. So, naturally, feeling as I do about the manufacturer, I have to ask myself why such software accompanies these drives and why once introduced into your operating system, there seems no being rid of the remnants they leave behind once you decide that these items are beyond your needs and comprehension. The lights on the modular USB are nice, but, they don't seem to meet expectations and having them work properly carries with it these other components that don't seem to do what was their intended purpose, so it's a reason for pause amongst novice and professional people. In the case of Memeo, once installed in a Mac environment, every startup has required a manual termination rather than a switch in the software to decline it being used. The Seagate Storage Gauge seems only controllable by a new iteration of the entire operating system, that is to say, I for one have been unable to completely terminate it by any means other than a reinstall, on a clean drive. If my experience has been isolated, I would love to have Seagate enlighten me about the proper method for controlling this item. And it is noteworthy, at least in my experience, that opting out of the included package, makes the 'gauge' lights a moot point because they do not seem to function without the accompanying software, and really otherwise seem to serve no purpose other than a 'look at me, I'm lit, don't you love me ?' and neither detract from nor embellish the drive's real purpose. The Paragon driver that bridges the gap between PC and Mac, seems to work fine, and adds a couple items to the Disk Utility that is a part of all Mac OSX revisions, nice, but precludes Mac systems from utilizing the Time Machine, now a constant as well in Mac OSX, something I don't like, being somewhat a bit of a purist, and ends up being something that I have not dedicated too much time nor effort to decide if I think it worthy in my systems. All of these recriminations are rather moot after a Mac reformat, and in my opinion, the best way for the drive to shine. I must say, I question how a company like Seagate would even consider tarnishing an image I believe to be stellar compared alongside lesser drives available today. It would seem, they neither care nor have dedicated enough resources to critically challenge the software issues that really do make the reader just a little cautious once he's brushed up against these issues, myself included. I wonder if my remarks will be picked up by Seagate and given credence.
Now, when the user trashes the software, as I have, the drive performs as close to perfect as any I have seen. I have a few WD doorstops and wonder just how they, meaning Western Digital, could have landed in such an unenviable spot, and one or two failures is enough for me to say goodbye regardless of how good they 'used' to be. Hitachi, same thing. Samsung, now owned I believe by Seagate, no real experience upon which to base an opinion. IOMEGA ?????? never, ever again, the worst and undoubtedly the poorest of pikers out there. Lousy customer service and awful products. I intend to revise my reviews of IOMEGA devices purchased in the past, but have neither had the time or inclination to do so just yet.
Again, when the user trashes the software, as I have, the drive performs as close to perfect as any I have seen.
I cannot speak for Windows environments any more, as I have been more than twenty years an Apple convert. I have never looked back even though, I see many wonderful sounding and appearing things coming along nicely, or so it would seem. I have read many a disgruntled PC users misgivings about the very same software which I've declined here, so things can only be so rosy in PC land where this software is concerned.
I would remove a star for the software, if it mattered to me, but the drive, is only going to be but so good when the user employs the really shoddy software included, and mind you, the Memeo software is only a limited license, and requires one to purchase it beyond a few months of use to continue to add insult to injury with what seems little more than garbage to me. Really sorry Seagate has hitched their wagon to this seeming junk, because it really has hurt Seagate in the long run, no doubt, but without the software, I've yet to be able to fault the drives themselves and have more than one or two upon which to base my opinions.
Thank you for reading my review. Seagate, I hope you are watching as I believe Seagate stands upon the edge of a dangerous precipice in this highly competitive business. Speaking only of the drive, I would recommend it to anyone that has need for space and be quick to repeat these remarks.
| Hard Drive | 3 TB Desktop |
|---|
