Seagate gets NASty with Pogoplug-based FreeAgent DockStar: hands-on

Hard to believe this is Seagate's first consumer NAS offering (keyword being "consumer"), but sure enough, the FreeAgent DockStar is the company's first major effort to get its own line of FreeAgent Go hard drives onto your network. Without getting into too much detail, this simple dock is essentially a Pogoplug with a built-in cradle for one's FreeAgent Go USB (read: not FireWire) HDD. Thankfully, a trifecta of USB 2.0 sockets are littered about the edges, ensuring that at least three standard USB drives can also be connected and accessed over the web. We've yet to have a chance to put this bugger through its paces, but since we know all about the underlying technology, you can probably learn everything you need to know from our Pogoplug review. For those who'd rather opt for a Seagate'd version of an already available product, this DockStar is shipping today for $99.99. Oh, and we should mention that it comes with a year of the Pogoplug service, but after that, you'll be shelling out $29.99 per year for unlimited sharing and remote access.

In related news, Seagate is also introducing three new capacities for its FreeAgent Go family. In addition to the 250GB, 320GB, 500GB and 640GB versions already out there, the range will now include a 750GB, 880GB and 1TB version. Too bad no pricing or release details are available on those, but we'll be keeping an eye out.

Seagate gets NASty with Pogoplug-based FreeAgent DockStar

Seagate FreeAgent DockStar

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SEAGATE INTRODUCES FREEAGENT DOCKSTAR™ NETWORK ADAPTER:

THE EASIEST WAY TO SHARE AND ACCESS YOUR DIGITAL MEDIA ANYTIME, ANYWHERE

SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif. - September 16, 2009 - Extending the company's line of easy-to-use storage solutions that help people enjoy, share and store their digital content, Seagate (NASDAQ: STX) today announced the next evolution of network storage – FreeAgent DockStar™ network adapter, an amazingly simple way to access and share your digital content with anyone from anywhere.

Increasingly, people are enjoying the benefits of being always connected, yet there still remains a gap in easily connecting people back to their content at home and sharing it with others. The DockStar network adapter reinvents how people think of anywhere access and the concept of sharing their digital files. It allows the FreeAgent Go™ portable hard drive to be added to a network, giving access to its content from anywhere within or outside of the home, as well as allowing for selective sharing of files with friends and family. In a matter of minutes a drive can become accessible through any Internet connected computer, as well as through an innovative iPhone application.

"The market for networked devices is growing rapidly with the proliferation of broadband and the rise of the 'Anywhere Consumer'- those desiring to be connected everywhere they go," said Carl Howe, director, Yankee Group. "Devices that make home networks easy to use and manage by consumers will have vast market appeal."

With simple installation and an intuitive web-based interface, the DockStar network adapter will change the way people control the access and sharing of their content by creating their own personal storage 'clouds' while keeping the security and privacy of the drives' content because it is located within their home. Users will also be able to deliver linked pictures and video to social networking sites, such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter. The FreeAgent DockStar connects people and their experiences in a whole new way even though they might be thousands of miles apart. Additionally, simple syndication takes on a new meaning when friends and family can receive RSS feeds of shares created to keep them informed of changes to the content. The DockStar network adapter also has three additional USB ports, allowing connection of up to four mass storage devices at a time, providing more to share and access whether you're across the room or on the other side of the world.

The DockStar network adapter is enabled by the Pogoplug service from Cloud Engines, Inc. By pairing it with Pogoplug capabilities, Seagate has delivered a complete and simple way to have a network-attached drive in the home to share and access data wherever, whenever you want.

"The digital content and Web 2.0 era have fundamentally changed the way we live our lives. The majority of today's consumers are actively personalizing their digital experiences, sampling and downloading niche content and video with increasing frequency," said Terry Cunningham, senior vice president, Seagate Branded Solutions. "The FreeAgent DockStar™ delivers more than just a networking solution-it creates a personalized, shared experience that is controlled by the individual."

Pricing and Availability

The FreeAgent DockStar network adapter is available immediately through Seagate.com and other online retailers for a manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) of $99.99 USD. It comes with one year of Pogoplug service for remote access and sharing, the option to continue the service includes a subscription fee of $29.99/year for unlimited sharing and remote access. More detailed product information and photos can be found at http://www.seagate.com/dockstar

New FreeAgent Go Portable Drive Capacity Offerings

In addition to the introduction of the FreeAgent DockStar network adapter, Seagate will also introduce three new capacity points for its award-winning FreeAgent Go hard drive family. In addition to the existing capacities of 250GB, 320GB, 500GB and 640GB, the Seagate FreeAgent Go portable storage solution will now also ship in 1TB, 880GB and 750GB capacities. These new capacity offerings in a portable form factor allow people to carry entire libraries of movies, pictures and music in their pockets. The new FreeAgent Go drives are compatible with Seagate's lineup of accessories in the FreeAgent family, including the new FreeAgent Theater+™ HD media player, FreeAgent Go Dock™ accessory, FreeAgent Go Dock+™ accessory, and the newly announced FreeAgent DockStar™ network adapter.

As with all Seagate FreeAgent® drives, the FreeAgent Go 1TB, 880GB and 750GB drives are all compatible with Windows® 7, Windows Vista® and Windows® XP operating systems and come equipped with Seagate Manager™ software, an enhanced application that provides scheduled automated back-ups and multi-computer synchronization. The FreeAgent drives for Windows also offer security in the form of software-based AES-256bit encryption to help keep your information safe and

private. The FreeAgent Go 1TB portable drive is backed by Seagate's industry-leading; five-year limited warranty, providing the confidence of knowing your digital memories and life's work is on a hard drive you can trust.

[Craptorium Posted Sep 16th 2009 8:07AM]

Do you really need a stand alone dock for something like this? It just looks like a way to spend money when you don't need to in my eyes.

[Ryan Trevisol Posted Sep 16th 2009 8:49AM]

Article title WIN.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 16th 2009 8:49AM]

No thank you. Western Digital's My Book World Edition is far prettier and more convenient.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 16th 2009 8:50AM]

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=587

[theswiss Posted Sep 16th 2009 8:58AM]

I still wonder why it took them so long to "invent" someting like this..today nearly everybody has a network at home and nearly everybody does have an external storage solution laying around for "backing up" their notebook/Netbooks .. or did they just realize that people don't want to spend x*100$ for their pretty NAS systems but still would like to have their external harddisks connected to their network?? pffff

[big rick Posted Sep 16th 2009 9:07AM]

Any idea what performance this thing has? Usually these bridge-products lack a decent processor and therefore are simply way too slow. Turning an external USB-drive into a NAS is not the easiest thing to do. Wishful thinking from drive-manufacturers. Hooray for real NAS from the specialist manufacturers. I personally favour Netgear Readynas.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 16th 2009 9:18AM]

Very cool retro packaging, I like it!

I'm curious as to why they went with a shielded RJ-45 connector & CAT cable?

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 16th 2009 9:28AM]

Wait a minute... wtf would we have to pay an additional 29.99 a year after the first year?! Pogoplug is a free service if you buy their product.... I don't see anywhere on the pogoplug site that talks about additional costs.

[BigJayDogg3 Posted Sep 16th 2009 10:12AM]

It may just be my misreading, but I'm getting the impression that I'll have to pay to access data over my home network.

No thanks. I'll pass.

[sullivan504 Posted Sep 16th 2009 10:51AM]

There's also no mention of a subscription fee on any other engadget review of the Pogoplug. What gives?

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 16th 2009 12:19PM]

If you buy a Pogoplug, you get the service free for life. If you buy the Seagate Dockstar, you get 1 year free and it's $29.99 / year after that.

However the Dockstar has 4 USB ports, while the Pogoplug only has 1, if that is a deciding factor.

[1 Posted Sep 16th 2009 1:17PM]

A Usb hub is only a couple of quid.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 16th 2009 1:55PM]

If you buy a pogoplug you get the service free. You are also encouraged to hack the living crap out of it. http://openpogo.com

The Seagate is a crock. Sure you get more USB ports, but with an original pogoplug you can always add a USB hub.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 16th 2009 9:36AM]

I don't think you know what the term "hands on" really means. It doesn't just mean that you've physically touched it with your own hands. It implies that you've run it through its paces, at least at a superficial level. Your "hands on" of the seagate theater+ didn't even have screenshots of the GUI. Come on!

[socrates Posted Sep 16th 2009 9:58AM]

Haha, NASty... wow.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 16th 2009 10:29AM]

I wonder if the new FreeAgent Go sizes will still be using Samsung HDD in them.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=301553

[Jamus Posted Sep 16th 2009 10:54AM]

The small plug servers look interesting. I would like to see Engadget do a Roundup of the various models. The TonidoPlug seems to be my favorite so far.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 16th 2009 12:24PM]

ive been running my tonido for about a month now, its pretty good. I do like alot of their built in functionality, definitely glad I went with this over an actual sheeva since the tonido software is very useful. They also released instructions on how to move your rootfs over to a usb drive. That allows you to boot from a usb drive and give you unlimited space instead of being limited to the built in 512mb that are on all these plug computers. Once that is done I was able to install all the packages i want and get my own services running on the plug.

Id be wary of plugs from these big manufacturers, I have a feeling they are going to be alot more locked down than ones from Tonido or Pogo.

As far as performance, its fair. Since my drives are formatted as NTFS it does put a pretty big load on the plug as the linux ntfs drivers arent really that great for performance. I think performance would go up greatly if the drives were formatted for ext# or fat32 though.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 16th 2009 2:22PM]

We will be really happy if Endgadget does a review on TonidoPlug. It is a good product.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 16th 2009 2:32PM]

Can you use the tonidoplug to host DVD ISO or ripped Blu-rays inside your home and stream to a media streamer? In other words, can I share these drives within my home network, access it from multiple users within the house, and is the speed fast enough to stream this sort of content? Or is this mostly useful for accessing content via the URL when outside the home?

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 16th 2009 2:36PM]

@scott. TonidoPlug comes with an inbuilt DLNA server (Beta feature) . If you have xbox or ps3 you can watch your media from TonidoPlug. Transcoding is not supported (It bogs down the plug).

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 16th 2009 5:37PM]

Thanks! And it can handle high-bandwidth content (I'm thinking of straight rips of Blu-ray media)? I'm not looking to downconvert to mkv anyway, as I'd rather have the convenience of ripping my content in an hour or so without a lot of hassle, even if it means I've got to buy more terabytes to store it all.