Seagate DockStar + iPad = Limitless Storage On The Go

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I ordered a 64 GB iPad because I have long subscribed to the belief that you should always order and purchase the device with the largest amount of memory that you can afford. (The only exception to this comes into play when you’re purchasing a new notebook. In that case I believe that you should only order an SSD drive, but still… the largest solid-state drive that you can.) So I ordered a 64 GB iPad. It should be a good amount of space, and will likely hold me for quite some time.

Then again, if I end up loading a lot of apps, docs, books, music and video, even 64GB might fall short of my needs at some point. That’s where Seagate’s DockStar (currently on sale for $79.99) can come in rather handy.

While not specifically an iPad accessory (it can expand the storage of any device and currently does just that for my iPhone), with the ways in which I plan on using the iPad it promises to play an even more significant role after April 3. Best of all, the potentially limitless storage it promises isn’t all that expensive, it works beautifully, and it is easy to set up.

Let me explain.

A number of months ago I reviewed the Seagate hard drive and dock star combination. The DockStar integrates a PogoPlug into its base. As a result, you can set up the hard drive to automatically copy media files or documents from your computer at home for easy access no matter where you might be in the world. Better still, the DockStar has a slot for a SeaGate FreeAgent Go drive (available in sizes up to 1T) AND three additional drives that connect via USB ports. I recently purchased a new 500GB FreeAgent Go drive (my original fried for some reason) and then connected two additional hard drives for a total of 1.75T of space. I could add MUCH larger drives if need be and have more space available than I will need in a lifetime. Best of all it is simple. The PogoPlug makes creating a secure way to access your home network from anywhere in the world simple. The FreeAgent Go sits in the cradle without wires. I plugged the dock into my network router via an Ethernet cable and…

…I was able to access everything that is on the drives through the My PogoPlug web portal.

After downloading some free software,, the drive(s) appeared in my Mac’s Finder and a control window appeared which let me determine which folders from my iMac should be copied to the FreeAgent Go drive for external access. Earlier today I transferred my entire music collection over to it within a few hours (I have 70 GB of music.)

And thanks to the free iPhone PogoPlug app, I was able to access my entire library right from my iPhone. This means that no matter where I am, so long as I have an active data connection over WiFi or 3G, I’ll be able to listen to any song in my music collection. But it gets even better. You can place all of your video files on the drive and then access them through the Pogoplug, as well.

Now the media sharing functionality can easily be accomplished through other services. For example, (the now defunct as of March 12th) Simplify Media and Simplify Photo made accessing media on your home computer simple. The DockStar however, does far more than share media; sure you can load your music, video and photos …


but you can also share any folder you designate and have it automatically kept up to date. That means anything that you can store on your computer at home (documents, presentations, snippets of data etc) can also be accessed when you are out and about through the Pogoplug interface or iPhone app.

So imagine… a 1T FreeAgent Go plus three 1T USB drives means that my 64GB WiFi iPad can become a 4T+ monster… I think that will be enough storage for a while.

 

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About the Author

Dan Cohen
Having a father who was heavily involved in early laser and fiber-optical research, Dan grew up surrounded by technology and gadgets. Dan’s father brought home one of the very first video games when he was young and Dan remembers seeing a “pre-release” touchtone phone. (When he asked his father what the “#” and “*” buttons were his dad said, “Some day, far in the future, we’ll have some use for them.”) Technology seemed to be in Dan’s blood but at some point he took a different path and ended up in the clergy. His passion for technology and gadgets never left him. Dan is married to Raina Goldberg who is also an avid user of Apple products. They live in New Jersey with their golden doodle Nava.

2 Comments on "Seagate DockStar + iPad = Limitless Storage On The Go"

  1. Of course, this is dependent on you having a network connection at all times; doesn’t look like you can cache files with that program either. Have you looked into getting an AirStash?

  2. That looks VERY cool. I’ll have to look into getting one… Neat concept. Slick execution.

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