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

I had a 1TB HDD that was on the verge of dying (Getting lots of Read Errors, files corrupting/missing). So, I needed a new HDD quick. For the price of this Seagate Expansion 5TB External HDD I couldnt resist. Once I received the device I was shocked to see how small the device actually is. Its only a little bit longer than my Galaxy Note 3, and very light. Weve come a long way since the large bricks. In the box is a small pamphlet that directs you to the website, a USB cable and power cable. Thats it. Setup was a breeze. I connected the power waited a ten seconds then connected the USB to an open USB 3.0 slot. Once that was finished I partitioned the drive into four partitions. Done. Im not the biggest fan of Seagate as Ive had problems with their drives in the past (The failing drive is a Seagate), but so far so good for this one. I will be sure to update if things change. One note though, make sure to go into your power settings on your computer and make sure to disallow your O/S from turning off your hard drive. If you have this on with the drive then you will have to wait for the drive to spin up before using it after it goes to sleep. Heres what Im using the drive for: ■ Program Files Drive ■ Plex Media Server Movies ■ Plex Media Server TV Shows ■ Downloads Folder For what Im using the HDD for it has been great.

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.

This is an older drive that has been in daily use for several years. I bought it when the 5 TB drives first came out. I gave it four stars for capacity because now there are many drives with much more capacity. When I decided to switch operating systems with the next computer I bought, I stopped buying internal drives. The PC that I was using when I purchased this drive was finally replaced a few years ago with a Mac. One of the nice things about a USB drive is that when you switch operating systems you just plug it in to the new machine and reformat it to use on the new system. (back it up first). I like the way Mac OS manages the Seagate USB drives. When they are not in use, my Mac totally powers them down. As I have several external hard drives for different projects that is nice. I keep my operating system and program files on the internal SSD drive so even with my data on USB drives my machine is still fast where it counts. If you have other data that is mission critical and you need instant access, you can keep that drive spun up all of the time. As my drives are idle 90% of the time, I like that they are not wearing out while I am working on a file in RAM. I have a couple of Western Digital USB drives that I use to back up my critical data. The Mac OS does not seem to power them down. So when they are idle (even unmounted) they stay on standby. I back up once a week so afterward I power down my computer to make sure the buffers are written to the hard drives then turn off the surge protector for those drives. Otherwise the flashing lights bug me all week until the next backup. This Seagate drive has been a workhorse and has had no problems for its entire life so far.

Normally I dont review things until Ive had them for a long enough time to make useful comments. In this case, I wanted to comment on a couple things about it working with Windows 7 and Windows Backup. First, the disk is formatted MBR (I just bought this June 2015 from Amazon) Im running Window 7 Home Premium, Service Pack 1, with latest updates (as of 7/3/2015). I plugged the drive into a USB 2.0 port and Windows Explorer told me there were 3.63 TB available (no 2 TB limitation on how much Windows 7 can access). -File backup works fine. After completing, Im able to browse for files in the back up that were part of those selected for backing up. I havent tried a restore, but it looks like it would work. -Image backup fails with an I/O error. Time to try other software--Ill start with Macrium Reflect Ive now added a USB 3.0 PCI-e card (Anker USB 3.0 PCI-E 4 port card) to my desktop system and tried copying a couple 2 GB files to check what speeds I see: -USB 2.0 built into my Gateway DX4840: 27-40 MB/sec -USB 3.0 (Anker USB 3.0 without UASP mode): 60-80 MB/sec -USB 3.0 (Anker USB 3.0 with UASP mode on): 98-102 MB/sec -Copying 160 GB of picture files (75K files in 2.5K directories), started about 30 MB/sec and rose to 59 MB/sec after a couple minutes. These speeds are probably more dependent on what USB 3.0 card you have and what you are copying than the capabilities of the Seagate disk.

First off, let me start by saying this... I have NEVER written a negative review on Amazon before. However, I had too. Due to the fact that Im not only disappointed with this product, but Im also disappointed in myself for being tricked into buying another Seagate HDD again. I couldnt resist the price, thus the reasoning behind the two stars. Other then that, I have nothing but malice for this drive! I purchased this 5TB External from Amazon around 5/5/15, drooling over the fact that I would soon be able to store all of my personal and business related files on this drive as a backup, before cleaning, upgrading, and reformatting my PC. My PC was already top-tier, sporting (two Nvidia 970 GTXs, the Rampage V: Extreme mobo, i7 5960x Intel Chip, 24GBs of Ram, a 240GB SSD drive, and Windows 7 Ultimate) its not a slow PC in the slightest. In terms of speed, I was shocked by the slow transfer rates, which were (at times) the equivalent of an old ATA hard drive. It took almost a week to transfer over 3TB of data. I also did not like the fact that I had no other option but to take the AC adapter out of the unit in order to turn it off. I did this, because the power switch on this unit is nonexistent. After restarting my upgraded and updated PC, I went on to install all the latest drivers, and reconnected everything. (EXCEPT the 5TB HDD) After making sure every device was in working order...I reconnected the AC adapter, and plugged in the Seagate Expansion 5TB Desktop External Hard Drive USB 3.0 (STEB5000100) into my Windows 7 Ultimate PC. What happened next, frightened me...a loud humming noise came from inside the drive, as if it was attempting to spin, but it never fired up because Windows 7 never picked it up. I tried countless of times to fire this...device up. No matter which USB slot I plugged it into, the...DEVICE is never detected. Im so tempted to take this piece...of hardware out of its enclosure and place it inside of my docking station, or internally into my PC to see if I can access all of my important files. I dont want to void the warranty by doing so. At this point, I feel as though, this...DRIVE is holding my files hostage. And Im so close to going into full John McClain mode on this piece of **** hard drive. If I cant find a solution to getting my files off this ****, Im going to take off the gloves and get on the phone. And it wont be Seagate Ill be calling, so somebody better tell me something. P.S. Thank you, Seagate...for giving me yet another reason to NEVER buy your products again. -J

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).

Ive had this hard drive for 2 years now and it hasnt missed a beat. I use it as a storage expansion for my PS4. With 4TB, I still havent run out of storage. I never experience any freezing, slowness, or hitches playing games off of it. I guess the only complaint I would have with this drive is the size. It is a little big, but not big enough to be a problem. I very much appreciate the indicator light to show me that its powered up. Its so silent that youd never know it was on. Lol I was so impressed with this drive and its longevity, that I purchased another drive from Seagate for my Xbox! Id say absolutely go for it if youre looking for reliability and performance for gaming!

listen, there are some thing you need to know before you buy this, first of all, perfection is a tall order, it will have a bug or two here and there, i bought this in late december and as of the time i am writing this, it has given me but one problem, every know and then when i plug it it nothing will happen, all i have to do is unplug it, wait about 20 - 30 seconds, and then plug it back in, problem solved, also, for the people whining about data corruption or unrecognized device, that means youre just pulling the damn thing out of your computer, if you want to avoid both of those, (windows only, i dont have a mac) 1. go to the bottom right corner and right click on the little USB stick (if you dont see it click the arrow) 2. after right clicking click the text that says something along the lines of eject seagate expansion drive wait a moment, and all connections to it will be cut off 3. unplug it 4. if it comes up with a message saying can not eject while in use that means you have something still open, close it then repeat steps 1 - 3 or if you have a laptop like i do, close out of all your programs and close your laptop, and make sure it goes into sleep mode then unplug it all in all, this thing has given me the ability to play even more games and not have to worry about any kind of memory issues

Been a year and 8 months now. I still have it but I use a WD now because its a little quieter. But I still use this drive and it stop works flawlessly, of course I dont use it each day anymore but it does still work. Now Im thinking I may hook it up to my ps4 soon 5th month now, still no issues, it may have disconnected once i think but went right back. Still loads as fast as internal, i hardly use the internal for anything. I dont transfer stuff alot on it, but when i do my photosand videos i send them right to the drive and its very fast. I only currently have about 500gb on it but i just got a new cam and using lots of RAW files and my camcorder creates big files at 60fps so i needed this. I also should mention a few things again: 1 i formatted my drive before i transfered anything that way my pc can be more compatible per se. 2. Its only been hooked up to my one pc, if i wanna get something off another i use a flash drive between the two. 3. I dont move it, it sits on the floor where its basically been since i got it, again i dust it and lift it to do that but thats it. Remember its a desktop external its not made to keep moving, get a portable for that. So its been 4 months now and the only thing that has happened is it seemed to disconnect twice but reconnected immediately, although that could have just been my computer but doubt it. Other than that its still working perfectly fine. I keep up with what others write just to look for any red flags. I should also note that I hardly ever move or touch this drive, i moved it twice to dust it and that was minimal, its been sitting in the same spot laid on its front for the whole time. My data still loads as fast if not faster than the internal drive and has no lag. Seems this drive is hit or miss with other users. I saw these drives at walmart as well but didnt see the 5tb. This is my first external and have nothing else to compare it to, so buy at your own risk I rated 5 because its the first day. So I will explain as much as I can. First understand this device is as good as the device you connect it to. I use it for my pc, its a great pc if you have a slow older pc it may not perform at its best. Alot of reviews complain the speed is slow but you have to format it so that your computer can format it to its settings, once I did that my speeds went to about 179mbps i transfered about 410gb in 20 min it flew by, also I used the 3.0 port which is 10 to es faster than 2.0. The drive doesnt have many vents, ut I laid it on its side with the bottom facing out so that it can breath, it only gets warm, hasnt gotten hot. Also I read some complaining about the cords, well my port is very tight so the cord stays in and I have the drive sitting by the power cord so I mever even had to unwrap that. Seagate claims to have a file online to turn off the LED light. As far as noise, its low to me kinda like a light fan sound, its relaxing, I like it, some dont. Other reviews clai ed once you format it to xbox u cant use anything else with it...unless of course you reformat it to whichever device youre trying to use. Now with ,y computer the device shuts down when ,y computer shuts down and it boots up right along with it. I also noticed after just leaving my computer idle for awhile the drive seemed to go into standby (indicated by the blue light going off) but i could still access the files on it and 2 sec later the light came back on. So next thing I did was I wanted to see if I could access the files as quickly as my internal drive, I had a bu ch of HD videos and pics...in case you are wondering I used a HP slimline desktop very great computer and fast. Anyway, I was able to open my video just as fast as when I use my internal, same with pics, it actually seemed like it may have been faster at times. Now i dont know if its because the drive is that good or because my computer is fairly new but like i said its as good as the device you hook it to. I also want to note that contrary to another reviewer this device has not slowed down my pc whatsoever. I forgot to mention I have the 5tb model. Last thing I will say is, there was some reviews stating not to leave the drive running. Like i said it seems to spin down when not in use for awhile but i am ot 100% sure. Regardless hard drives are made to be used and running, my old crappy computer from 2009 i still have and i us3d to leave it running 24/7 for the better part of 6 years because i dont like restarting unless I have to and it still works. My current computer I also leave running 24/7 and no issues whatsoever. Lastly, understand this is a desktop expansion hard drive NOT a portable drive, meaning its not meant to bounce around from place to place or even room to room in my opinion, desktops are stationary as should any desktop external drive connected to it. If you plan to switch between computers etc, should probably consider a portable drive. If you have any questions feel free to ask me. UPDATE: So it has now been a month and this thing is still running smoothly, I havent moved it it has been on its side the whole month, has handled transfers smoothly, spins up rather quickly, quiet for the most part and still very fast. I really think the bad reviews come from people who move it around alot, like I said its a desktop external not a portable, so if you get this get it woth the intention of keeping it stationary as opposed to moble. If any questions, just ask

Very Nice XBOX or PS5 storage device