Come with a USB cable. For charging only or can you use in plugged into your unit if you don’t want to use WiFi?
About one 1-star review for every 2 five star reviews on the mothership.
Plus this from support:
"We are aware that iTunes DRM-protected content is currently not playing with iOS devices (version 7.2 and above) when the files are saved to a Seagate Wireless Plus.
We are investigating this issue with Apple to determine if we can restore this functionality and will offer a software update when this is available.
Please note that this issue is with DRM-protected content only. Other, non DRM-protected media content should play correctly with iOS 8."
Found the answer on Amazon questions for a similar Seagate
The USB connection to my PC. This allows the drive to function as a normal external hard drive.
Used to have one of these, and yes it’s a USB 3 drive. Comes with Paragon NTFS for Mac too, though the driver only works with this drive.
Yes, if you plug it into your PC with the USB cable, the drive acts just like any other external hard drive. You can create your own folders on it, move files around, etc. It’s what you want do use when transferring files (like your music or video files) to the drive for sharing wirelessly because the USB interface will be much faster.
I bought one of these a few months ago and am decently happy with it. My main motivation for buying it was the limited memory on my iPhone. I have a lot of podcasts that I listen to during my work commute, and I was getting tired of having to swap files off and on my iPhone (I’m going to make sure that my next phone has a memory card option). The 1TB is plenty of memory. The Seagate Media App, which you have to install on any mobile device that you want to use to connect to the drive, is very easy to use. In my car, I connect to the drive’s WiFi signal with my phone, and then I’m able to access any file.
A couple of things that I like about the drive:
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While it’s connected via USB to my PC, I can create folders on it just like any other external drive, so I can segregate/organize my files a bit easier. For example, I created a folder for my music, and a folder for my daughter’s music, which makes it easier to play just the music that I want.
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I’ve read about this ability on other reviews, but haven’t tried it, yet. You can use the drive to create your own WiFi hotspot. This is particularly useful if you travel a lot with the family and stay at hotels or timeshares which charge for each internet connection. All you would need to do is connect the drive to the hotel’s WiFi service, and then everyone in your family can share that connection by connecting to the drive. Then you only end up paying for the one connection.
A few things I don’t like:
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the drive takes a minute or so to boot up and produce a WiFi signal, so you’re going to be sitting in your car for a bit waiting for it. Kind of inconvenient for shorter commutes, like going to the store, so I wouldn’t even bother turning it on for shorter drives.
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If you’re connected to the drive with your phone, that prevents your phone from accessing your phone company’s data network, meaning you won’t be able to get any live updates for your apps. For example, I like using Waze when I’m driving, and Waze, like other GPS apps, requires access to your phone provider’s data network in order to provide you with live updates. If my phone is connected to the drive through the WiFi signal, then it can’t access the phone service’s data network and I can’t get live updates. So now I’m using my iPod Touch to access the drive when I’m in the car if I need access to the data network with my phone.
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Portable means it’s small enough to carry around in a backpack, or have in your car. However, portable doesn’t mean you should be carrying it around with you while you’re jogging or bicycling. It’s an actual hard drive, so it’s somewhat sensitive to abrupt movement. I tried carrying it around in my jacket pocket while taking the dog for a walk, and if I jostled the drive, the drive would pause for a few seconds during playback. Haven’t experienced any problems with the drive in the car, though.
What’s the security like? Do you set up a password to connect to the HD’s network?
Did anyone who ordered this actually get their shipment? My order got updated with a tracking number, but that tracking number status has been at “Label Created” for over a week now, and Woot Customer Service won’t give me any actual feedback, just a canned response about crazy shipper monkeys.Oh, did I mention I only live 3 hours from where the item is being shipped from? So, not likely that just didn’t get updated in FedEx’s system. If they had actually shipped, it would be here by now.
This isn’t the first disappointment from Woot either. I’ve had TVs not show up, slow response when my card was charged three times due to their website miscounting my orders, and other issues with late/slow/missing shipments.
I had pretty much given up on Woot, but this deal brought me back. But this will be the last time. I really would just like to know that if I order something, I’m going to actually receive it. But based on previous experiences with Woot, I know that this “lost” item probably means a refund and not a fulfillment of the original order as expected. Oh, but I’ll get a healthy dose of cheeky quips in an email to help soothe me. Thanks for wasting my time and holding my money for a week (or longer) Woot.