Seagate Backup Plus vs. Seagate Expansion (3TB)? The price is about the same. Just need for huge video files, music, etc.. Is the heat an issue?
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How do I use this thing? My daughter set it up, and there are no instructions for use. So, how do I pack up my computer -- I see nothing on the
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The Seagate Backup Plus drive is the newer product with a longer warranty (2 years vs. 1 year for the Seagate Expansion drive). The Seagate Backup Plus (with measurements of 1.73 x 4.38 x 6.22 inches in height, width, and length; and a weight of 1.73 pounds) is smaller in size than the Seagate Expansion (with measurements of 1.57 x 4.96 x 8.15 inches in height, width, and length; and a weight of 2.25 pounds). The Seagate Backup Plus comes with the new "Dashboard" software, while the Seagate Expansion leaves you to choose your preferred backup software (e.g. Windows Backup and Restore). The Seagate Backup Plus drive is the newer product with a longer warranty (2 years vs. 1 year for the Seagate Expansion drive). The Seagate Backup Plus (with measurements of 1.73 x 4.38 x 6.22 inches in height, width, and length; and a weight of 1.73 pounds) is smaller in size than the Seagate Expansion (with measurements of 1.57 x 4.96 x 8.15 inches in height, width, and length; and a weight of 2.25 pounds). The Seagate Backup Plus comes with the new "Dashboard" software, while the Seagate Expansion leaves you to choose your preferred backup software (e.g. Windows Backup and... » Read More The Seagate Backup Plus drive is the newer product with a longer warranty (2 years vs. 1 year for the Seagate Expansion drive). The Seagate Backup Plus (with measurements of 1.73 x 4.38 x 6.22 inches in height, width, and length; and a weight of 1.73 pounds) is smaller in size than the Seagate Expansion (with measurements of 1.57 x 4.96 x 8.15 inches in height, width, and length; and a weight of 2.25 pounds). The Seagate Backup Plus comes with the new "Dashboard" software, while the Seagate Expansion leaves you to choose your preferred backup software (e.g. Windows Backup and Restore). « Show Less
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No heat isn't an issue. I mainly use it for backing up all my storage(music, movies, pictures, software) of roughly 2TB. No complaints whatsoever.
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I got the backup because it was what was available at the time and I needed space to save my video, music and picture files on my older dying WD drive. I also wanted to expand my video library and now have over 2TB filled. I am looking into getting another 3TB for expansion and will be looking into the differences myself. I did not realize the heat was an issue with my old drive until it started dying. I have an external fan mounted to my Seagate just in case but it seems to run cooler than the others.
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The Seagate Backup Plus drive is the newer product with a longer warranty (2 years vs. 1 year for the Seagate Expansion drive). The Seagate Backup Plus (with measurements of 1.73 x 4.38 x 6.22 inches in height, width, and length; and a weight of 1.73 pounds) is smaller in size than the Seagate Expansion (with measurements of 1.57 x 4.96 x 8.15 inches in height, width, and length; and a weight of 2.25 pounds). The Seagate Backup Plus comes with the new "Dashboard" software, while the Seagate Expansion leaves you to choose your preferred backup software (e.g. Windows Backup and Restore).
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Seagate Backup Plus is for general storage of files and very easy to use. I'm not sure what the difference between it and the Expansion is.... Since you need it for media files, I would recommend the Backup Plus... Heat is always an issue with backup harddrives... Only use it when you need it, don't leave it on...
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I'm going to take a stab and say the expansion allows you to easily open up the casing and replace the drive with another once the initial hard drive is filled? I've been searching all over and can't figure it out myself.
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One answer said you should get one with good consumer reviews. Forget it. Get one with a good sturdy case and a built-in fan. Multiple RAID drives as well. Too expensive? Right. Forget NAS and get a better solution.
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Me too! I'm not going to seriously consider purchasing anything computer related unless I see the manual that goes with it. Is it (i.e., Canvio) truly plug and play? Can you selectively choose individual files to back up? I'm not at all interested in wasting time and space backing up files that I really don't wish to back up. (I only wish to back up photographs.) Filtering through all the comments, while helpful writ large, takes a lot of time when looking for particular information. A manual please.
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I have a variety installed - mainly used for storage of movies/music and vmware. If you want reliability, stick with the reds. I went for cost - so have WD, Seagate and Hitachi. Have only had 1 WD give me an issue in 3 years (10 3 Tb drives) - so when the 3 Tb drive failed, I replaced it with a 4 Tb and let the hybrid raid expand..
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I have a "very old" External Hard drive...not this make/model...I turn it on once/quarter to backup recent files...it's probably over 3 years old. Recently, I bought one of these WD Elite 500GB models...my plan is to backup on two externals...in case one fails. I know this seems lame, but it is the only way to ensure everything sticks around. Seems like its worth the extra $100.
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There is plenty of room for normal Backups using Blue rays. Also the restore from Blue ray is also dependable. Normally I use a large removable Hard drive for this process because I can Back up and restore whole drives or clone them. I hope this helps.
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Thank you for the info, I'll take a look. By the way would you recommend a 1tb 5400rpm or a 750gb 7200rpm? Is the speed trade-off worth the space trade off? thank you
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Just to throw in my 2 cents here, the Disk Utility reformat mentioned above in Andrew's post is spot-on. The drive so far as been great to use. However, I'm running Mac 10.5.6 and it was immediately recognized when I first plugged it in: it mounted and Time Machine asked if I wanted to use it for backups... I did the reformatting anyway as the apps on board are no use to a Mac owner. BTW, the $99 price was unbelievable! Fingers crossed on reliability, Yikesboy
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From past experiences with WD I stopped using them several years ago. Seagate or Hitachi would be a better choice in my opinion.
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Haha yes just be sure you have the 250 gb option selected. I know they merge various versions under the same reviews so just be careful.
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External drives are better in quality and durability. I have both and prefer the external.
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Its all in its purpose. Back up, expansion, paperweight, Golf tee. I have by default 2 physical drives in my computers at any given time., The second drive is "an expansion" of space, but is also physically separated so it will serve as a "Backup" with a windows system image as well as all of my other files, should the operating system drive go down.Most of that is marketing on the part of Seagate.
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Most welcome. You might consider getting the 64 GB version of this drive instead of the 16 GB. It will give you a lot more flexibility, and at $24.99 you'll be paying 39 cents/GB instead of 63 cents/GB for the 16 GB drive. Just a thought.
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I have the WDE1UBK10000N and it is a solid well built external! I don't think you can go wrong with the elements terabyte hdd!
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In general , I prefer WD over Seagate. Personally, I have had more Seagate failures . The price is also very fair for the WD blue.
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I believe so but as it was always breaking and the Tech Support was so bad I literally threw it away. I would subscribe to Carbonite which is a FAR superior product and they have really good technical support. I believe that Seagate also produce a reasonable back up product but I have never used it. I hope that helps
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Awww, this is disappointing. This is the exact question I needed answered. I can't believe in two years, no one has answered it. I'm hoping someone might answer it soon. There's a 1 TB Iomega drive for $97 and a 1 TB LaCie drive for $150. I just want to know if the extra $53 for the LaCie drive is worth it.