There is no manual power button, just the USB 3.0 and power jack on the side. A look at the underside reveals odd angular contours that match the triangle-shaped vents around the other edges. The top of the drive is a basic rectangular slab measuring 18.0 x 11.9 x 3.5 cm with the feet propping it up by an additional 4 mm. The build quality is poor compared to metal enclosures but it is well-ventilated. The casing is made of plastic and it feels rather cheap as the top gives if you push down at the center.
The Mac version is silver while the PC model is black, but this makes it easier to look at the design of the chassis. The Backup Plus is also available in 2TB, 3TB, and 5TB capacities.
This particular model is the Mac version which can take advantage of OS X’s Time Machine feature, but it can be made compatible with PCs as well by installing a small piece of software to support the drive’s HFS+ file system. The Backup Plus ships with a 1.2 meter long USB cable, and a charger with a 1.8 meter cable. Being a basic external drive, there are no extra do-dads, just the USB port on the side. The bottom is made of plastic but the sides have a pleasing glossy finish that lends the chassis some elegance. The small slit at the corner is for the white activity LED. The case has a smooth, thick metal top that gives it a feel of quality compared to all-plastic enclosures. The drive weighs 160 grams, and measures 11.2 x 7.5 x 1.2 cm. The Slim is available in 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB capacities and in four different colors: blue, red, silver, and black. The Backup Plus Slim ships in a simple plastic clamshell container with a 40 cm USB 3.0 cable and a brief instruction guide. The device can also be charged by USB as well, but it takes considerably longer. The included AC charger outputs 2A at 5V, for a total of 10W. The power button sits at the corner next to a status LED and the tiny pinhole on the underside acts as the reset button. The battery and wireless capability obviously adds some girth to the overall package.Īt the back is a microUSB 3.0 port for charging and transferring content and a full-sized USB 2.0 port that can be used to charge another device (that’s right, the drive can double as a battery pack). It’s huskier than a typical 2.5 inch enclosure, weighing about 280 g and measuring 12.6 x 8.9 x 1.9 cm, though the rounded edges helps make it appear smaller than it is. The drive is set inside a plastic chassis with a faux grey metal top with silver trim around the edges.
It supports Windows, OS X, DLNA devices, Android (2.3 up and up), but it lacks an iOS app, a major oversight. 5 devices can connect to it simultaneously via wireless 802.11 b/g/n, and its battery lasts a purported 7 hours. The Wireless Mobile Media Streaming Device ships with a 40 cm USB cable, AC charger, and travel adapter. Samsung Wireless Mobile Media Streaming Device (1.5TB) Seagate’s software has automated backup features both for desktop and mobile devices. The Seagate Backup Plus 4TB and Backup Plus Slim 2TB are more typical wired models but they have a bit of extra functionality as well. It’s a 1.5TB 2.5-inch external drive that’s WiFi-capable and packs a battery so it can be taken out and used on the road without having any kind of wired connection, neither for data or power (at least for a few hours). External notebook drives are often marketed as “portable” but this one more accurately lives up to that billing. The most fascinating of the three is the Samsung Wireless Mobile Media Streaming Device (if you’ve forgotten, Seagate acquired Samsung’s hard drive business a few years ago). The latter point is showcased in varying degrees by the trio of external hard drives I’m examining today from being Seagate. Thus, the need for network attached and external storage is more important now than ever before, and we also require more varied ways of accessing this data. To make matters worse, the PC market has lately been shifting towards more compact systems like smaller desktops, laptops, tablets, and phones, devices that can’t spare the space for large or multiple drives. While hard drive capacity has been steadily increasing over the years, it’s barely been keeping up with our growing appetite for high resolution video, audio, and photos.