Seagate Expansion 4TB Portable External HDD - Black

Bought this in October last year and used it maybe a dozen times to store video and movies to free up disk space. Yesterday - June 23 - nothing. Tried it in laptop and chromebook but not even an led flickered. Will take it back and hopefully get a replacement to start over. Bought this in October last year and used it maybe a dozen times to store video and movies to free up disk space. Yesterday - June 23 - nothing. Tried it in laptop and chromebook but not even an led flickered. Will take it back and hopefully get a replacement to start over.

These drives get hot, but there is a simple workaround, using a heat sink.

When writing 3TB of data for 40 hours straight to a drive in a sealed box with no air holes to cool it, it's going to get hot.
When it gets over 50 deg. the drive grinds, bad sectors occur, and finally fails.
Keep the temperature to mid 30's by putting the drives on a metal surface. These drives get hot, but there is a simple workaround, using a heat sink.

When writing 3TB of data for 40 hours straight to a drive in a sealed box with no air holes to cool it, it's going to get hot.
When it gets over 50 deg. the drive grinds, bad sectors occur, and finally fails.
Keep the temperature to mid 30's by putting the drives on a metal surface.

It has the ability to hold digital files and store them - for as long as you want. I loaded some files onto it, and was amazed that they were still there when I next opened it. It's very portable too - I can just pick it up and place it anywhere on my desk, no worries. I like the colour, it's sleek, it doesn't make a statement or ask any questions - no one will start a conversation about the colour of your hard drive, great for introverts. The texture soothes me when I'm having a real hard day at work, good for general panic attacks when my other inferior drive dies.
...view more It has the ability to hold digital files and store them - for as long as you want. I loaded some files onto it, and was amazed that they were still there when I next opened it. It's very portable too - I can just pick it up and place it anywhere on my desk, no worries. I like the colour, it's sleek, it doesn't make a statement or ask any questions - no one will start a conversation about the colour of your hard drive, great for introverts. The texture soothes me when I'm having a real hard day at work, good for general panic attacks when my other inferior drive dies.
Cons: it's not portable when plugged in - you have to unplug it to move around. Disappointed.

The slowest drive available but that didn't bother me since It was just for storing old videos I didn't want to lose.
Accessed the drive a dozen times and it never left my desk since it entered my position.
When I went to add more data to it this morning it was unreadable, PC believes it has returned to being unformatted.
This thing only lasted 4 months. The slowest drive available but that didn't bother me since It was just for storing old videos I didn't want to lose.
Accessed the drive a dozen times and it never left my desk since it entered my position.
When I went to add more data to it this morning it was unreadable, PC believes it has returned to being unformatted.
This thing only lasted 4 months.

I had run out of storage for videos so this worked brilliantly as a new video folder. I plugged it in & it was ready to go, if it wasn't for the annoying requests from the seller for a review it would be perfect I had run out of storage for videos so this worked brilliantly as a new video folder. I plugged it in & it was ready to go, if it wasn't for the annoying requests from the seller for a review it would be perfect

I purchased 3 of these in the last month purely for back up purposes. After using the first one once to load it up with 1.5TB of backup data, a few days later I went to access something and the drive heads would just seek for a few seconds then click, and repeat over and over again. I've tried this drive on 4 different PC's and Mac's. Basically it is a brick now.
The other two I haven't used more than once so far but I am now worried that when I need to retrieve something from backup that these may fail as well. I purchased 3 of these in the last month purely for back up purposes. After using the first one once to load it up with 1.5TB of backup data, a few days later I went to access something and the drive heads would just seek for a few seconds then click, and repeat over and over again. I've tried this drive on 4 different PC's and Mac's. Basically it is a brick now.
The other two I haven't used more than once so far but I am now worried that when I need to retrieve something from backup that these may fail as well.

Pretty good speed. Only downside is that it's actually just 4.54TB not the full 5TB or close to at least 4.8TB Pretty good speed. Only downside is that it's actually just 4.54TB not the full 5TB or close to at least 4.8TB

What's wrong with Seagate drives these days? This is the second one which has not lasted the distance for me. When you pick them up you can feel just how flimsy they are! It's Western Digital forever for me now. Amazed to see these rubbish drives have even had a recent price increase. Shall be trying for a refund soon on these Seagate ones. A one star rating is too high. What's wrong with Seagate drives these days? This is the second one which has not lasted the distance for me. When you pick them up you can feel just how flimsy they are! It's Western Digital forever for me now. Amazed to see these rubbish drives have even had a recent price increase. Shall be trying for a refund soon on these Seagate ones. A one star rating is too high.

Don't buy if you want to spend your life doing something productive. The life you will waste waiting for this thing While you could be doing something much more enjoyable. YUk Don't buy if you want to spend your life doing something productive. The life you will waste waiting for this thing While you could be doing something much more enjoyable. YUk

I have purchased 15 or more Seagate external drives over the years. Never a failure. Western Digital 2 out of 3 failures. So yes, I am a Seagate fan - and highly recommend. I have purchased 15 or more Seagate external drives over the years. Never a failure. Western Digital 2 out of 3 failures. So yes, I am a Seagate fan - and highly recommend.

Seagate used to be a quality brand but they've been cutting corners in recent years. These drives are flimsy and will stop working within 6-12 months on average, regardless of how much you use them. AVOID AT ALL COSTS.
My hard drive was under warranty and Seagate got me to pay for shipping them my faulty hard drive, I also had to pay for customs clearance AND an additional data recovery fee once it arrived in the Netherlands.
They're an extremely shady brand with 0 quality control, got with Western Digital instead, same prices, larger and more reliable hard drives. Seagate used to be a quality brand but they've been cutting corners in recent years. These drives are flimsy and will stop working within 6-12 months on average, regardless of how much you use them. AVOID AT ALL COSTS.
My hard drive was under warranty and Seagate got me to pay for shipping them my faulty hard drive, I also had to pay for customs clearance AND an additional data recovery fee once it arrived in the Netherlands.
They're an extremely shady brand with 0 quality control, got with Western Digital instead, same prices, larger and more reliable hard drives.

Just the ticket for archiving files, putting one copy in a desk drawer and another offsite. Not as fast as the larger units with external power supplies, so more suited for archiving offline files than performing routine backups.

Not having to have a separate power supply is convenient for archives where files get written once then accessed at random as speed is not an issue. The desktop version with external power supply is more suited for daily/weekly backups and system recovery restores where sustained performance is required (fast read/write with good heat dissipation). Just the ticket for archiving files, putting one copy in a desk drawer and another offsite. Not as fast as the larger units with external power supplies, so more suited for archiving offline files than performing routine backups.

Not having to have a separate power supply is convenient for archives where files get written once then accessed at random as speed is not an issue. The desktop version with external power supply is more suited for daily/weekly backups and system recovery restores where sustained performance is required (fast read/write with good heat dissipation).