Seagate GoFlex wifi Satellite external hard drive

[ginandtonic]

Hello Pensmith007, unfortunately, the Camera Connection Kit (CCK) is just that--gives you the ability to connect your camera and export your digital image onto the iPad. When I found out about the CCK, I got it thinking I could do what you concluded. But it was not meant to be. I have heard that you can do this with a jail broken iPad. I haven't tried this solution as I do not want to jailbreak my iPad. I've been searching for alternatives.

This GoFlex was the easiest solution for me. There are other threads on this forum that discusses other third party devices similar to GoFlex. I'll look around and see if I can't link you to those threads.

The best solution, in my experience, is to use the goflex satellite with the firmware from " hackseagatesatellite dot com", it works a lot better than the stock firmware ( much much faster, no indexing, can join wpa, wpa2 and hidden ssid networks, etc).
My ipad is jailbroken, I use XBMC (it's one of many good players out there, in my opinion it's the best) you can play movies from sd cards or goflex disk in any format without copying to the ipad, you can also automatically download movie information, poster thumbnails, rating, cast, subtitles, etc from Imdb and other sources, brilliant.
I have also replaced the original 500 gb hard disk on the goflex with a 1TB.

 

[MattIM]

The best solution, in my experience, is to use the goflex satellite with the firmware from " hackseagatesatellite dot com", it works a lot better than the stock firmware ( much much faster, no indexing, can join wpa, wpa2 and hidden ssid networks, etc).
My ipad is jailbroken, I use XBMC (it's one of many good players out there, in my opinion it's the best) you can play movies from sd cards or goflex disk in any format without copying to the ipad, you can also automatically download movie information, poster thumbnails, rating, cast, subtitles, etc from Imdb and other sources, brilliant.

Thanks for your input ginandtonic--I like your moniker. I don't want to jailbreak my iPad but would consider that possibility when I've run out of things to do on my non-JB'd iPad.

 

[matt5968]

Hello drb_52, thanks for the advice on Buzz Player HD app. I also got the GoFlex Media app.

The GoFlex Satellite Drive arrived today. First impression, I forget how easy iPad is to setup. The GoFlex is basically a Windows device, so it is not plug and play like the iPad. August 2011 is the age of the software on the GoFlex, i had to downloaded an update from the Seagate Website. The form factor for the drive Is 3inches x 5inches long x 1 inch thick. It is less than a pound in weight.. Documentation states that there is a 20 minute charge but the battery is good for four to five hours of continuos play back. The top of the drive is a real slick black bezel that easily shows finger prints. The bottom of the drive gets very warm--much warmer than my iPad 3 generation ever got.

GoFlex Media app is from Seagate Tech. The Buzz Player app is from a third party. GoFlex Media app, plays Apple formatted files. Buzz Player can play any video formatted file. When I did media synch app for my pc, it downloaded the files that I had in my media files onto the GoFlex.

The drive itself broadcasts it's own wifi, so once you launch the iPad app GoFlex or Buzz Player, you have to go to the settings app and select the GoFlex wifi network. This means that once you are finished accessing the GoFlex, you have join/reconnect to your home wifi again. I haven't figured out how you can access your wifi and the GoFlex but so far you have to join either the GoFlex or any other wifi.

Im going to start ripping some DVDs I own onto this drive and see how it that works. My goal was to get a central location to contain all of my media files that could easily be accessed by all of my devices. I think this meets my goal. I now can access my music that was n my original iPad on the other two iPads.

How do you rip DVD s thanks

 

[MattIM]

How do you rip DVD s thanks

Hello Matt5968:

After scanning around for your answer, I determined the best free program is Handbrake. You have to go to your MAC or PC and download it onto your computer. Judging from the program, it seems that this application started out in the Apple world. If you have a PC, you can find many sources for the application. I know CNET.COM, so I downloaded the program from that website. Do take precautions when downloading files from the internet.

Once you install Handbrake, just follow the prompts. If you want to preview what you are going to download, this is only available in chapters. It will prompt you to enter your media previewing preference. If you are downloading in seconds or frames, you can't preview--at least I couldn't make the program preview on this version.

On the right side of the app, there is a list of "presets" I chose 'iPad'.

Since I only wanted five minutes of a particular dvd on my GoFlex, I selected a range of seconds to end in seconds. For five minutes of dvd, it took 30 minutes to encode (burn). YIKES!

Once completed, plug in the GoFlex to the PC and drop the file from the PC and onto the GoFlex. This part took very little time.

I viewed the five minute file on this iPad and it looks just as good as if I was viewing it on a television.

There are probably better and faster dvd burning apps out there. I have already spent US$141 ($129 plus tax & shipping). I did not want to continue to spend money on what is basically a nice to have accessory.

BTW, I did experiment with using the 'normal' preset encoding in Handbrake. I choose the entire dvd to encode. The program calculated two hours for a one hour and 14 minute dvd. When I chose 'iPad' present encoding, the program calculated six hours.

 

[ginandtonic]

6 hours to convert each movie? You better go make yourself a cup of tea then ....

 

[MattIM]

Update on the GoFlex Satellite.

I have this device now for ten days. I have loaded all my multi-media files onto the GoFlex--very easy. I have learned how to encode a dvd thru Handbrake and then onto the GoFlex drive. The encoding (or ripping) of dvd's is a long, slow process. I have not done a full encoding of a dvd because Handbrake estimated a 5.45 hours to complete this process. This seems a lot of time. Plus the 14 minute segment I encoded created a 280Mg file! I can easily see why putting movies on an iPad would quickly consume the iPad's storage space.

The wifi signal this GoFlex creates is pretty strong. It allows you internet access if you are using its services and there is wifi available at your location. You have to be on the GoFlex's wifi first and then thru the app, you can enable the other wifi signal to be accessible to you. You can get out of the GoFlex app and onto this forum, for example. Because of this ability, you have to password protect your GoFlex as everyone else will have access to your GoFlex content. The GoFlex seems to act as a wifi signal booster for the existing building wifi. I have wifi at home. When I access my internet at the opposite end of the house, the signal is one bar weaker. But having the GoFlex on, my reception is improved.

The GoFlex battery play time is five hours. I've been getting five hours but it just seems paltry when you compare it to the iPad's battery play time. I have found that if I'm particularly interested in saving the GoFlex's battery play time, I can pull the file into my iPad's 'local' storage and then look at that file from the iPad and not access the GoFlex. Then when I'm finished with it on the iPad, I can delete my 'local' copy but the original will remain on my GoFlex drive.

This is a very good device for use on the road or where you have limited external resources. You have to plan for it. If you have migrated all of your cd's and dvd's to a local hard drive attached to a PC/Mac, then when you get ready to travel, spend a little bit of time copying your multi-media from your PC to the GoFlex. If you have to burn dvd's or cd's then spend a couple of days encoding your source onto your PC/Mac and then copy to the GoFlex. When I am at home, the GoFlex stays off--it doesn't add to my iPad experience.