Seagate Expansion 640 GB ST906404EXA101-RK Reviews, Sale: 25 USD OFF, Portable External Hard Drive

Seagate Expansion 640 GB ST906404EXA101-RK Reviews, Sale: 25 USD OFF, Portable External Hard Drive

Seagate Expansion 640 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive ST906404EXA101-RK
by Seagate
You Save: $24.04 (23%)

• The drive is powered from the USB cable, so there is no need for an external power supply.
• Plus, it is automatically recognized by Window operating system, so there is no software to install and nothing to configure.
• Saving files is easy too, just drag-and-drop.It's not just easy to use, but it's fast and energy efficient too.

REVIEWS:

The simple, no-frills drive everyone is looking for (but bulky), By Orrie "Orrie" (Pennsylvania) Seagate Expansion 750 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive ST907504EXA101-RK (Electronics) Pros: * Fast * Easy to use (plug it in, let Windows do its thing, go to town) * No extraneous software, security partition nonsense, etc. * Nice, tiny cable Cons: * Awful bulky, won't fit in most cases * No included backup software (that's okay, there are plenty of freeware options) * Fingerprint magnet Pretty good, overall. The important features (useability, reliability, performance) are spot-on; everything else is minor.

Yes, I'm using this with both Macs AND PC's,
By Speedway Girl "Speedway Girl" (Upstate New York, USA)
Seagate Expansion 750 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive ST907504EXA101-RK (Electronics)
Out of the box, no, I could not use this drive with my Mac. The drive is formatted in NTFS. Without installing additional software on your Mac, it won't write to NTFS. No worries. The afternoon I received it, I used the Seagate Disc Wizard (available on their website) to reformat the drive in FAT32 to be able to read and write with both OS's AND be visible on my PS3, WD Live Plus HD and Seagate Free Agent Theater HD. Not a problem since.

That said, it is SOOO nice to have a 750GB drive that does not require a power cable. I have gone through three (two Lacie and one Seagate) drives that were 3.5" drives that required external power. They are just too fragile for my crazy home, I guess.

So far this drive seems wonderful!


Good, but customer service sucks, By Dave (Boston, Ma)
Seagate Expansion 250 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive ST902504EXA101-RK
I got the 250 GB version for music and photos (you know, the important stuff in life). I plugged it in and the little green light showing it was running came on. I went to find the device but it wasn't there. I had this problem before with an ipod and knew all I needed to do was change the drive to something that wasn't being used but for the life of me, couldn't remember how! So I went to the website to see if I could find out how to change it. Of course, no. And of course there was no owner's manual so I then went about trying to find a number to contact customer service. It took me over 20 minutes (!!!!) to find and fill out a form before I could finally get a phone number to them. Once on the phone they were helpful and courteous, but for it to take such a longtime to get to a human being was awful! If you have this problem, here's how to fix it without wanting to toss your computer through a window (I have Windows XP Professional, may be different if you're using a different operating system):

Right click on "My Computer"
Select "Manage"
Select "Disk Management"
Change the drive to something not being used and it should show up

Outside of the awful website and lack of an owner's manual, the product itself has been operating fine and I have no complaints.


Nice drive,
By tideguy
Seagate Expansion 500 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive ST905004EXA101-RK (Electronics)
Just what I wanted: plug & play, no hassles.

Came ready to use on my xp systems. Quiet, cool, and much faster than I expected. I also have an older drive in a Vantec enclosure which works well, but this thing easily leaves it in the dust. Coulda paid a little more & gotten more capacity, but this has a 2yr warranty vs 1yr on higher capacity drives. I know Seagate makes quality drives and will stand behind its warranty, and for the forseeable future this is all I'll really need.

Has a small green LED that lights on drive activity, goes out when USB is unplugged. Since Seagate has incorporated a nice power management scheme, I just leave the power connected while it sleeps. When I plug the USB cable in to something, it wakes up in a few seconds and is ready to transfer files.

Only reason I don't give this top rating is, the connectors (usb and power) are cheap and I had a little trouble getting them inserted properly in the beginning. But this is a minor disadvantage to a nice drive. I'm happy with my purchase.


Excellent product for such a low price, December 3, 2010
By penguin
Seagate Expansion 640 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive ST906404EXA101-RK (Personal Computers)
Firstly, I purchased it to back up my research files.

Advantages: Easy to install initial software, very cool design, low price

Disadvantages: Larger than western digital models

After purchasing it, I noticed same deal for WD. I thought returning it back and buying WD, however after seeing the design I really liked it. Compared to standard rectangle design of WD, it really beats WD with its cool design.

I definitely recommend it.


Reliable, August 13, 2010
By M.G. \
Seagate Expansion 750 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive ST907504EXA101-RK (Electronics)
I've used this drive before, and so far it has been reliable (I'm using a 9 year-old computer, with WinXP). So far it's been great for my primary use of it, which is simple drag-n-drop data backup. It's certainly better than the 1TB+ drives I've used-- seemingly regardless of the manufacturer, very high capacity drives seem to be less reliable overall.

I ordered this one drive (in stock) with one other very common item (also in stock). Amazon has estimated that it will take a week to send out (4 days so far). This possibility of poor service is something one might want to take into consideration if you're in an emergency situation and need extra capacity quickly. This poor service on Amazon's part did not figure into my starred review; I ranked it purely on the basis of previous experience with the drive's performance.


My First External Hard Drive, September 18, 2010
By jodett - Seagate Expansion 500 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive ST905004EXA101-RK (Electronics)
I did quite a bit of research before purchasing the Seagate Expansion 500. Ultimately, I trusted Seagate brand the most and had an idea of necessary storage space necessary and price I was willing to spend. This item fit my criteria best.

When I received the product, I was impressed by how small it is. I really hoped it would simple to install and intuitive to use, as this is my first external hard drive. In my mind, I envisioned connecting the Expansion to my computer, being prompted by new hardware on my desktop, easy install and then drag-and-drop of files. Unfortunately, it wasn't that simple. First, I was prompted to register the product, which was fine. Then, I didn't know what to do next - there were no instructions or prompts. I pulled up iTunes to begin selecting files to drop into the Expansion, but there was no where to drag them to. It wasn't easy to figure out by any means. Alas, I played around a bit and searched for instructions online and figured it out. Once I knew where to select files and where to find the right place to drag files I was set. It's pretty simple now and the Expansion is perfectly portable.

Overall, I'm happy with the purchase and the product. I'd definitely recommend it, though I'd hope Seagate could improve the installation and set-up process.

External Hard Drive Sale: Iomega Prestige 1.5TB Reviews Sale: 25%

External Hard Drive on Sale: Iomega Prestige 1.5 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive 34474

Save: $50.00 (25%)

Easy-to-use - Simple USB 2.0 interface; just plug and play Stylish & Durable - Stylish drive, available in a dark silver brushed finish; sturdy aluminum construction with included stand Secure - EMC Retrospect Express (PC/Mac) software license is included for easy file backup (software via download). Energy Efficient - powered by an Energy Star qualified Energy Star qualified adapter for a better environment Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional; XP Home/XP Professional, Windows Vista, 256mb RAM or higher, Requires Mac OS X 10.3-1.05, 128mb RAM or higher

REVIEWS:

By Fishstick - A few things to consider when buying this drive.

First, unlike many externals on the market, this one does not use the USB port for power. You must plug in a wall wart. That's OK with me, since my house current is more reliable and predictable than USB power, but be advised. The ON/OFF switch is a nice feature. It is quiet.

Second, about the "free" software: It's not free; nothing is. THe cost is built in to the price of the hardware. Whether you elect to use it is your business. The good news is that installing the backup software--in my case, it was Retrospect Express HD v. 2.5 for Windows--is optional. It's not loaded onto the drive itself, so you don't have to install it. The bad news is that you may not like it if you do install it. There have been quite a few problems. The software will install a startup program that runs when you boot up and can't be removed or opted out of. I uninstalled the software itself, but the startup program remains and EMC tech support can't tell me how to get rid of it.

It will also establish an internet connnection to the Mozy Home online backup service. You cannot opt out of this during installation either. And why would you want online backup if you've just bought a new external? If, like me, you don't appreciate software creating unwanted startup programs and net connections on your machine, you may want to avoid Retrospect. I just use MS Backup. It's not the slickest ap but it does the job, it behaves itself, and you probably already have it on your Windows machine.

By Big Sesame Seed - Great 1 TB drive. Extremely cheap, given the capacity, and not at the cost of reliability, it seems.

It's a bit slower than I thought it would be, probably because I expected it to be somewhat closer to the "max speed" of a USB 2.0 device (an unrealistic expectation in retrospect). Oh well. I usually get speeds anywhere from 1 MB/s to 13 MB/s when transferring to my high end PC (8 MB/s seems the average speed). The cache size of the hard drive is also not too big, around 8 MB.

Still, it's not really a big deal though unless you plan on transferring large files very often. I personally use the external hard drive for archival-- putting things away that need to be safe but are otherwise rarely accessed. It serves this purpose well.

The drive is very stylish. The aluminum frame looks very nice and appropriate next to your next gen aluminum macbook and is good at dissipating heat. You'll be surprised how cold the drive feels when you first remove it from the box.

The hard drive is essentially silent aside from the startup, when it gives a "whirrr click!" When transfer begins, you'll sometimes hear some "thwacks" but they stop quickly. Basically, it shouldn't bother most people.

Oh, by the way, the free backup software that comes with the disk is terrible, don't use it.

This is a good drive overall, especially when you compare the price to the capacity. If you are not in need of a high performance external hard drive (at the time of this writing, such a drive would include a 32 MB cache and Firewire), but a dirt cheap, big, reliable solution, then this could be it. Just don't buy too many. USB 3.0 is coming out in a year or so.

By S. Roper "rope" (Logan, Utah United States) - I have used this 1 TB hard drive for about 3 weeks with no major complaint. It was a simple plug and play device that immediately showed up on my device manager and began accepting data. I have had good luck with Iomega portable drives and decided to give this drive a try, and I am glad I did.

The bonus was that the cost is similar to drives that only have half the amount of storage. I use this primarily to store music and dvd back ups. Transfer is nice and the addition of the manual on/off switch was great for me as I don't need it to be on every time my computer is on. My only complaint is that the provided usb cable and power cord were far too short and both required extensions to reach the outlet and computer.