Seagate STM310004SDAB0G-RK Maxtor Shared Storage II 1 TB Shared Storage Drive

List Price: $449.99 Discount Price: $300.38

Features:

• 1 TB shared storage drive features two USB ports and a 10/100/1000 gigabit Ethernet RJ-45 port connection
• Easy user interface provides backup scheduling for network computers, data restoration, and media playback to networked systems
• Features Drag and Sort for automatic file organization and SimpleView for quick backup/storage status
• Includes shared storage drive, software, Ethernet cable, power adapter, and user guide
• 1-year limited warranty

Customer Reviews:

AVOID AVOID AVOID! [Posted on 2008-04-14]
I just had one of the most infuriating tech support experiences ever - and I've been in IT for 30 years! My drive stopped working after a few months. When I finally got to a tech support person he flat out told me "What you have there is an expensive paperweight." They have NO options for repairing it - period. I tried to leave this feedback on their website but (not surprisingly) they have no email address for complaints or comments.

Worse then you expect [Posted on 2008-05-11]
I knew when I bought this device that I was betting that the drives wouldn't fail for a long time, because the drives are not user replaceable.

Of course, after the warranty expired, one of the drives failed. The diagnostics indicate that a drive needs replacement --- but not which drive. To make matters worse, according to Seagate's technical support --- and I quote --- "The error codes are encrypted so we would not be able to say exactly what the problem is other then it needs to be replaced".

I realized I was buying a "closed solution", but I hadn't realized just how closed. Encrypted error codes? That's insane.

Expensive Door Stop!!! - Maxtor Shared Storage II 1TB [Posted on 2008-06-04]
I purchased the Maxtor Shared Storage II 1TB version back in April 2008. I was looking at the Western Digital World Edition but the sales staff at 3 different retail outlets assured me that Maxtor SSII was the way to go.

I conducted all my research prior to purchase looking for reviews etc. User feedback was small, but nothing too revealing. Both the Australian editions of PC World & PC Authority Magazine gave it (1TB model) the thumbs up. PC Authority stated their review was an update over the review of the 500mb device which was the machine of choice in their April 2007 review.

None of the 3 (reputable) retailers I visited had any working & connected display models of any brand set-up to demonstrate or compare. All assured me the Maxtor SSII 1TB was Vista ready to go out of the box, although nobody I asked had any personal hands-on experience with them. One pointed out that the box said it was Universal Plug n play, so it must be that simple. I pointed out that's not quite how it works and it is very misleading to suggest that.

Next, I trawled the Seagate/Maxtor web-site looking for feedback in their forums. zilch. No specific references to any problems, particularly in the installation forums. Okay, so far nothing bad. Good omen, or so I thought, and went ahead and purchased.

So, here's what happened:
Day 1 was spent trying to configue and set up to run on my Vista machines via a wired ethernet LAN. Supplied software installed but nothing happened. Poured over the friendly manuals and realised that there was no reference to Vista, only to Windows or Macintosh in the manual and "Quick" start guide.
Night 1 Off to the Seagate/Maxtor web-site. Checked for newer manuals and did a seach through their forums for any reference to Vista. That took me to their download pages for new software & firmware. Bear in mind that Vista had been on the market 15 months and they couldn't even be bothered with including updated software inside their hermatically sealed box. The rest of the night was spent downloading overnight the image disk (180 mb)of the software (Vista version) needed to run the device.
Day 2. Burned D/loaded image to CD-ROM. Installed the software and presto, it loaded into Vista. Next, spent a few hours searching with a magifying glass the MAC address, model no. & serial no on the label on the back. Yes, that's how small it was. Then back to the friendly manual to set-up the LAN connection to my PCs. When the supplied software failed to find it, I deferred to Vista Network & Control Centre and did a search the old fashioned way and found it.
Now it behaves like that old Irish joke about the 2 Irishmen (I'm part Irish) testing the car's turn indicators to see if they work (You know the answer: "Now it's working, now it isn't, now it's working....")
Well it's like this, it works when I reboot the PC, and use the Maxtor "Easy" Manage software to find the drive and establish the connection. It has this allegedly "user friendly" web interface which is just plain woeful. Most of the time it does not recognise even the most basic of user and password to gain access and do anything. I then run my scheduled backup, and after that the drive disappears off the network. The backup software backups up the files okay, but the software log says it failed. I can check the files via Windows Explorer, but not the Maxtor desktop icon for my drive. I then reboot the PC and go through the whole process again of establishing the connection.
Maxtor's website support is pathetic at best and I can see this device becomming a doorstop very soon. Why? - Because if I have to return the device to Maxtor under warranty, I cannot clear any sensitive data off it before I do so. Secondly, in the Australian market, like elsewhere they replace only with refurbished units and past experience with Maxtor was not good in that regard. Believing in my persistence & experience I thought I could succeed, but no nirvana achieved with this device unfortunately.
I have been around PCs since the early 80s and this is the worst device I have ever had the misfortune to purchase and are a total disgrace to Seagate/Maxtor. If you are a pc novice, I'm afraid you won't stand a chance with it. Overall rating on a scale out of 10, I would give it 1.
In comparison, a week later I purchased and installed a Canon MX-850 Multi-Function Printer. I had it's software installed on 3 pcs (2x Vista, 1 XP/Linux), connected to the network and all working within an hour and it hasn't missed a beat since. The longest part of the job was unpacking from the carton (about 20 mins). My rating out of 10, 9.
So that's the good and bad of it.
Share your experience (good &/or bad) and let's hear from you.

Unreliable & Problem Prone [Posted on 2008-08-06]
This single drive has had more problems than all the other computer hardware in my office COMBINED.

Over the last 6 months we have had endless connection problems, and have had to return the drive TWICE because of "irretrievable hardware errors" losing valuable data and being forced to spend hours on the phone with Maxtor's torturously slow and remarkably unhelpful customer service system.

We've lost so much time and money because of this drive's repeated failure that I wish we had just bought something more expensive and reliable.

I would _NEVER_ recommend this to anyone, and would tell anyone I knew who was considering this drive to buy something else.

Nothing more than a brick [Posted on 2008-08-22]
Bought it less than a year ago. First went bad in three months after some light use. I was using it as RAID 1 but I was told by support that nothing can be recovered. So much for RAID. The replacement lasted for four months. Another replacement has just arrived and its already bad.
Whatever the specs, stay away from this product.

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