This is a great little backup AND storage drive I am using for my iMac (mid 2011 model). I only have USB 2.0, so the speeds are not lighting fast, but I use my local drive in my Mac for the documents I am currently working on (primarily music projects using Logic Pro X).
I am using a 2TB size, and since I only have a 500GB (0.5TB) drive in my Mac, I only need about 1 TB of space to be able to provide plenty of backup space and history (and probably not that much). So if I ONLY had wanted to use it for the Time Capsule application, just the 1TB would have been fine.
But on the Mac it is VERY easy to partition the drive into two separate drives. Just Google the topic for detailed instructions, but basically you just plug in the drive (using the included USB cable), go to your Disk Utilities application, add a partition (I just split mine into two 1 TB drives), then go to Time Capsule and pick one of the partitions to use, and you are done - literally took me less than 10 minutes from start to finish, and I'm a relatively new Mac user.
So I now have two drives that show up on my desktop: one for backup / Time Capsule, and the other as just a giant 1TB storage area. The drive runs off of the USB power supply, so for performance and power reasons you probably should run this drive directly from a USB port coming from your machine (versus a hub). Overall I am very happy - this is a great piece of mind AND extra storage area for the money.
I bought this Seagate backup because I have a Macbook Pro and once I downloaded El Capitan my old hard drive backup - a Lacie - no longer worked. I'm not sure why. I tried to get it to backup, but couldn't. So, I bit the bullet and bought this Seagate.
My macbook pro is about 4-5 years old, and since downloading el capitan its also slower. the other day it was acting up, so I shut it off and it had a tough time rebooting. so that put the fear of god into me, and I bought the Seagate. there are no good instructions that come with the drive to help you in the process, which is why I took a star off.
it took a while for me to figure out how to get this to backup, so for those who are as tech-unsavvy as I am, here's what I did after I watched a youtube video or three.
1. connect the drive to the computer at the usb port.
2. once you see the seagate icon, click the apple icon on the top left and click 'system preferences'.
3. when system preferences opens, click on time machine, which on my computer is to the right in the fourth row down.
4. click on time machine. when time machine opens up, slide the bar from the off to the 'on' position.
5. you should see the seagate icon to the right. follow the prompts. I've completed my backup so I can't tell you exactly what they are but if I can do it, you can. trust me on that.
6. the mac people say you should get a backup drive thats about double your hard drive, so that's what I did. I got the 1TB.
I started my backup at about 8pm and left it overnight. it was done by 6:30 the next morning and possibly earlier. I also have a cloud backup, but, I wanted a hard drive one as well. I back it up again after I'm finished working for the day. I find it too constricting to keep it connected during the day.
I've been the person in the 'genius' bar who came in after their computer crashed and had no backup and was told it would cost about $4000 to extract the info from the crashed drive. so I learned my lesson. all computers eventually crash, so learn from my mistake and get your computer backed up. and no, I'm not getting money from the company. just tryin' to help. $60 beats $4000 and a nervous breakdown. at least in my book!
Perfect backup solution when a cable connection will do. Simplicity and durability and well crafted - right out of the box - for those tech-challenged or just tech tired. I plugged the (included) USB cable into the drive, then its other end into a Mac Book Pro (model 10,1), up popped a dialog box asking if I wanted to use Time Machine (Apple's proprietary back-up program), checked "yes" the software started a countdown to start the backup, then began following the countdown. I had 267.21 GB to backup and that took about two hours. Thereafter it is virtually invisible, backing up on schedule those changes from the original. Dead simple, completely quiet, 1-Terrabyte is the size of a (thin) deck of cards. A very discreet white LED glows when the drive is working. It uses USB power so there are NO other cords or batteries to provide.
If that is the functionality you are looking for - you can't go wrong with this drive, and at $59 - it is a value hard to beat.
_________________
Update: 21 months after purchase operating without issue backing up via Time Machine.
I read a few unfavorable reviews and was nervous about purchasing. I do a lot of video for youtube and needed a way to store my raw footage, and I had an upcoming trip where I would be filming with two go pro cameras, one handheld 4k video camera, and a Phantom 4 Drone. My trip was seven days in a small private airplane, flying from Portland Oregon to Anchorage Alaska, and packing was tight. I stored my MacBook pro and the External Hard Drive in the Phantom 4 Backpack While we were flying.
The Hard drive performed flawlessly, despite receiving a dent in the silver side of it, and falling OUT of a car while attached to the MacBook Pro (Which received a dent as well on the corner.) Car was not moving. I opened the door and everything fell out. The plug going into the hard drive got bent when it impacted the pavement, but the Seagate still performs flawlessly. I filmed so much video on the trip that I almost filled this little hard drive up. Highly recommended, Very tough little unit.
This is a no moving parts , solid state external hard drive that can be used as a backup drive for a computer and as an easy to handle portable drive kind of like a thumb drive. It plugs in with a USB cable .I used it with an iMac desktop computer with the built in Time Machine . Very easy to install and get working . It gets its power from the USB . For 2 TB's it is a great price .
Feature Product
- 200GB of free OneDrive cloud storage for 2 years is included when you register a new Backup Plus drive ($95US value)
- After registering your drive on Seagate.com, a link will be provided to add 200GB to any new or existing OneDrive account
- Only one offer can be redeemed per OneDrive account, offers must be activated by June 30, 2017 and may not be available in all countries
- Create easy customized backup plans with included Seagate Dashboard software
- Backup your mobile device photos and videos automatically with the Lyve App Quick file transfer with USB 3.0 connectivity USB powered -no power supply necessary
Description
Back up your digital content anytime, anywhere with the Seagate Backup Plus Slim portable drive for Mac. Designed for ultimate portability, the sleek metal design allows for the thinnest portable hard drive available with up to 4TB of capacity. Since the drive is powered solely by the USB cable, no bulky power supply is needed either. Share photos and videos directly to your social networks. Transfer files easily between your Mac and Windows computers. Backup Plus Slim portable drive for Mac is the simple, one-click way to protect and share your entire digital life-without getting in the way of the rest of your life;System_requirement:Mac OS X 10.6 or higher or Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista Windows XP SP3 (32-bit and 64-bit) operating system. SuperSpeed USB 3.0 port (required for USB 3.0 transfer speeds or backwards compatible with USB 2.0 ports at USB 2.0 transfer speeds). Seagate Mobile Backup app system requirements: iOS 6 or higher, Android 2.3 or higher
Fantastic drive, two year warranty, ultralight and half the height of several other drives with the same capacity. It doesn't just have a silver plastic top like most other drives in this price range, it has and actual metal top that matches my MacBook Pro. It includes backup software if you choose not to use Time Machine for back ups. It has a very thin line that glows on the cover of the drive so you can look down easily and see the status of the drive and don't have to turn the drive around to see the back, where Western Digital drives have their indicator. I have several Western Digital drives that I picked up on Black Friday last year, so they are about eight months old. Out of the three drives purchased, one is dead, one is dying and the third is fine for the moment. I treat my electronic devices with "kid gloves", I admit I have OCD when it comes to my computer equipment. Everything has its own individual storage and travel container and everything is securely stored in my computer backpack when I travel and my family doesn't touch my computer equipment when I'm working at home. I'm an author and this equipment keeps a roof over our head and food on the table. I can confidently say, if something died it was an inferior product and not due to conditions after I purchased it. I've had this drive for two months now and it still looks and operates as it did the first day. The only thing I would change on the drive would be to add rubber feet on the bottom instead of the hard plastic feet that are there. They work, but don't keep it in place as well as rubber feet would so I bought some for less than a dollar and now the drive is perfect in my opinion. I will update this review if it anything significant changes.
I have always bought Seagate drives for all my backups and have enjoyed reliable service and consistency. This one in particular was a super steal. 4tb and such a compact model. I was expecting a large drive that needed an adapter but when I got it I was thrilled because it was just powered by the usb connection to the computer. I have done 2 time machine back ups now and It is just humming along great.
Takes up very little amount of space on my desk, I actually just rest it on the bottom base of my imac stand so it doesnt take up additional space that isnt already used. I am very much a bargain hunter so I researched and looked for just the right price point. I was actually only looking for a 2 tb drive but when I saw how close in price it was for the 4tb I did not hesitate.
I look forward to many years of service and I am very happy with my little purchase.
Easy to set up (plug and play) on my Macbook Pro. I enabled Time Machine, leave it plugged in always, and it's working fine. Every time I create something new, it automatically backs up (including 5G screen recordings of seminars). Efficient, and reduces my worry about not having files secured. Would have preferred a password protection option, but I think you have to purchase a different unit to have that option.
This is the Same $99 bare drive ST2000LM007 with 128MB of cache but in an enclosure for a much cheaper $64 price.
As an avid movie maker, I was running out of space on my 128 GB MacBook Air. I am currently in the process of making a video for my Spring Break and the project file on Final Cut Pro 10.2 came out to be about 75 GB of space. Noticing this, I quickly ordered this hard drive. I have since moved my entire project into this hard drive and it has saved space on my hard drive immensely with my amount of free space bouncing back to around 80 GB. I can store raw footage and thousands of pictures on this external drive and still have a huge amount of space. Thank you Seagate!!!!!!!!!!
0 comments:
Post a Comment