Seagate (STEB8000100) Expansion Desktop 8TB External Hard Drive HDD – USB 3.0 for PC Laptop

Part 1. When I purchase a product from Amazon I always check 1 Star certified purchases reviews to evaluate any issues reported. So I will start my review by saying that I received today (well before estimated) a well packaged and well protected device, after unpacking it there are not any external damages. The USB 3.0 and AC ports and cables are in perfect condition, so the drive (Seagate Expansion 3 TB external USB 3.0) is already connected (plug and play) to my PC running and recognized by Windows 10 (64 Bits). Files (documents, pictures, videos and music) are being transferred to it from my internal HDD Data disc as I type this. There isnt any signs of internal troubles: good transfer rate (up to 40 MB/s depending on the type of file) as it is connected to my PCs USB 3.0 port, there is only very slight write sound but you really need to rest your ear on the drive to be able to hear it. The auto start program (for registering your drive on Seagate) tries to open a web page that doesnt appear to exist (or theres a typo on the command line). But you can also register bu going directly to: [...] and entering your e-mail and product serial Number (on the case and on the Package).

I run a small business studio where I keep my clients footage from years passed. This has been a reliable storage unit that doesnt rely on power from my computer.

I had completely given up on full-sized external hard drives. They are heavy, noisy, require a power supply connection, and generally are matched in storage size by their diminutive, ubiquitous 3.5 counterparts. So why the five-star review here? Well, sheerly out of desperation, I bought this because I needed a large storage drive for a relatively massive file transfer process I was about to undertake. Boy did this turn out well. Yes, it is still big. But it is surprisingly quiet, and actually looks good, with a beveled black case and integrated rubber feet. But more importantly, not only does this thing hold 8 (yes, you read that right, EIGHT) gigabytes of data, but it is fast, fast, fast. When I connect it to my laptop, I routinely get 160Mb/s transfer speeds, blowing away the standard USB 3.0 speed of about 100 Mb/s. I must say I was completely surprised. Is it because perhaps they have put in a 7,800 or even a 10,000 rpm drive in it? Or that perhaps an integrated SCSI interface? I dont know, because I havent opened the case (and dont plan to). But the speed and quietness of this thing is amazing for a traditional mechanical drive. And when one considers the ridiculously low cost of the unit -- only $180 for eight gigabytes of space -- it hits all the right bells. Bought out of forced desperation, it is now a favorite drive of mine. Five stars. NOTE: A word of caution that applies to ALL storage, not just this device. When someone purchases a drive this size, it is usually for backup reasons (like it was for me). REMEMBER THAT A BACKUP IS ONLY A BACKUP IF YOU HAVE A *DUPLICATE* COPY OF THE DATA SOMEWHERE. So, if you copy your data from your computer to this drive, then delete that data off your computer, THAT IS NOT A BACKUP. It may be an archive, but it is certainly not a backup. If the drive fails, you may lose your data. You have to DUPLICATE your data in TWO SEPARATE LOCATIONS to have a true backup. Its just worth reminding everyone of that because it is easy to forget.

Removed from external enclosure, used as internal drive, dead after 3 months... Seagate says no to warranty. UPDATE I contacted Seagate about a warranty and they said I should not have used an external drive as an internal drive. I not only used the external drive as an internal drive but I had all of my steam games on it and it was running constantly. Seagate first said they would not replace it that it was not their policy. I wrote back and told them it was not my policy to purchase another drive from the same manufacturer when this one only lasted three months. This was when they wrote back and told me that external drives were not designed to withstand the rigors that drives designed to be internal were designed to withstand. Then they kindly said they would, this time only, replace my drive with a refurbished drive and they would also replace it with a refurbished internal drive designed to withstand the data reads and writes that I was subjecting the drive to. So I learned two valuable lessons... Lesson 1, dont trust your data on a drive that was sold as external re-purposed for internal when subjecting that same drive to other rigorous use. This is also why external drives usually cost less even though they have an extra enclosure included. The 2nd lesson is that Seagate is a great company and they go out of their way to keep you as a customer as long as you can be reasonable and understand things also from their point of view too. If I ever do re-purpose an external drive internally, it will only be to store data and not to use it with constant video streams and loading and unloading gaming data for hours on end. I hope this helps others avoid the same mistake I have made. I have another internal Seagate drive that I bought 6 months before, this internal one is still going strong. Dont try and save a few bucks by re-purposing an external drive internally. Dont use an external drive for gaming unless that is all you use it for, and your games are also saved cloud based. Definitely do not use an external drive for both your data and gaming. That is a recipe for disaster.

Archivo

I purchased this USB drive to be a Time Machine Backup of a Mac OS X Server for a marketing company. This drive was pleasantly surprising on several levels. The case seemed solid and compact, and the textured plastic really helped with the confidence of a one-handed grab. The USB cable seemed of reasonable quality. But what was really interesting to me was that the drive came partitioned with the GUID partition scheme, which is the default for Macs (though it is supported on newer Windows systems and hardware for data drives only not for boot drives). Up to this point, all of the external USB drives, unless they were a specific Mac model, would come formatted with the older MBR (Master Boot Record) partition scheme. This meant no re-paritioning necessary to use it on my Mac, just a volume reformat. While this might not seem like a big deal, it is a nice bit of progress, because I have seen far too many Mac users mistakenly use an MBR partition drive when they should be using a GUID partition drive. Pros: • Nice case, good feel and solid plastic - much nicer than the case for a WD external drive, for example • Comes formatted with GUID partition scheme, full support for Macs, more realistic for use as an external drive with Windows • Seems nice and fast • Reasonable price Cons: • Comes with a wall wart style power brick. By now, manufacturers should know better, but I cant take a star away for this….

I liked many thing about this external hard drive by Seagate. I used this device on my Xbox one for almost 4 years. It treated me well and stored all the games I could ever want. My only two drawbacks I have with the device was that it required a power source in the form of a plug from a wall not just the connection to the device and the fact that this device is not a permanent type storage option for my device. What I mean by that last statement is that after these almost 4 years my device has suddenly and unexpectedly died on me. I have no known reason for this issue other than 4 years of regular use. This leads me to believe that this product hits a point in its life where it will eventually give out. Hopefully you have a new storage device by then and are not left suddenly without all the data that was on the device and the countless hours of redownload time it will take to reinstall the games I had on the device. Just know when purchasing this option that it requires power to the device and a connection to the device you are adding storage and that this storage option is not long term, even if it is 3TB or more like mine.

Bought to add to an XBox One for additional storage. Easy plug and play, the Xbox will auto detect and allow you to format device. It does require a power supply plug, make sure you have enough sockets to go around. USB cord is adequate length. I have not noticed any stuttering or extended loading times, I moved almost all games to this drive. Also works seamlessly with the remote downloads from game pass. It’s the perfect drive, you plug it in, format, change the download setting in the Xbox, then forget its even there. The box is black with a blue led light, I have it in a open face console so the light isn’t intrusive. The box has a subdued diamond design so it would be fine if placed where it can be seen. 4TB for this price was a great deal, made better with my Prime visa.

You will need a USB 3.0 interface, but at 8TB, it is cheaper than bare drives, and will store EVERYTHING. You need to backup. Cloud? Can you really restore terabytes of data? Backup needs multiple different media, and saved in different places. With this you can easily buy two and swap between them, backing up every bit of your data on two redundant drives (Im not even talking RAID here). You dont have to worry about deleting older versions. Beyond that, it just works. Plug in power and USB and you get a full drive. Suggestions: If you are on windows using NTFS, turn on compression immediately so you can store more than 8TB raw, and the transfers might even be faster. Copy everything to it (even if you are rotating two, you can sync them monthly), even if you dont think you need the old docs, you have the space. Defragment once a month - it will take a while the first time, but be easier after that. It is storing very high density, so make sure there isnt a lot of noise or vibration, and watch it if youve left it in a very warm or cold area since it gets confused until it is nearer room temprature.

I just purchased my 3rd one. 1st one is over 3 years old. 2nd one is a little over 2 years now. Both are working without a problem so far. *knock on wood* Both are always connected and on. I do fair file transfers on both back and forth to internal HDDs. So I would say intermediate use. I knew from day one that these werent intended to be a heavy use externals. A friend of mine informed me that these were designed more so for archiving and storage with occasional file retrieving purposes. And despite what information was available online at the time over 3 years ago, he told me these are 5400RPM range HDDs. (I used Crystal Disk Info not long ago and result is 5980 RPM). Some advertises as 7200 which is false information. Of course this information is not available anywhere on Seagates website, manual, booklet, so no lawsuit can be filed. Seagates playing safe. (The friend used to work for a law firm specializing in filing lawsuits pertaining to false and misleading advertising products. Simply, he buys products in question, take it apart, research/diagnose/investigate and file report based on his research). Simply put, I pretty much knew what I was/is buying. I have to agree with someone else that mentioned about HDDs are hit or miss. Sometimes even with top name brands, you can end up with an issue. Even more so then those of lesser name branded. I must say I am very lucky to have this unit lasting so long compared to others. I am a die-hard WD. All my internals (5) are WD Blacks. But the 1st Seagate Expansion 5TB I purchased was on special sale for $90 at a different website. So I figured I try my luck. $90 for a 5TB external HDD. I thought that was an amazing deal. I had second thoughts after reading others comments but having experienced with 2 units, I decided to push my luck even further. I will update if my luck ran out on this unit. :) UPDATE: 06/02/18 At the time of 3rd unit purchase, I began using a