Seagate Expansion 4TB USB 3.0 3.5" Desktop External Hard Drive STEB4000100 Black

Pros: very fast, quiet, USB 3.0, small, inexpensive

Cons: no fan

Overall Review: I listed the size and quiet operation as pros, but that's only accomplished with its fan-less design. I haven't noticed any significant heat with my use but I'd still be hesitant to set this up as a full time external that's always on. My transfer speeds from my m.2 (sata) drive in my laptop are great, I'm getting: 176 MB/s reads 172 MB/s writes The speeds and size of this drive are solid, it's hard to beat its value. It takes under 20 sec to copy a 3.5gb file to/from my laptop. The laptop being used to test is a Dell Inspiron 7559 w/i7-6700HQ and a 250gb Samsung Evo m.2 SSD. If you're looking for a compact/portable drive, this packs a lot of bang for your buck. It's an affordable, portable, fast/high quality drive with lots of space. There's nothing more to really say, it works as it should and the numbers speak for themselves.

Pros: USB 3.0, USB is forward and backward compatible so if you only have a USB 2 port it will function at USB 2 speeds (up to about 60MB/s maximum), on USB 3.0 I achieved 129MB/s maximum and an average of about 125MB/s running a backup on a Windows 7 machine with 2 drives in a Raid 0, the limited on USB 3.0 is about 640MB/s (faster than current 3.5" mechanical hard drives). The drive inside this case is quite fast, it's very quiet, stays fairly cool to the touch however it is not fan cooled. 4TB drive, 3.6TB usable, tons of space! USB cable and power supply are of ample length, I didn't measure but about 6ft on power and 3ft on usb. Rubber feet hold it well in place, no vibration sounds on hard surfaces. Nice finishing, everything lines up nicely, snapped together snug. All my backup software detected and was able to use the drive (Acronis, Easeus, NTI, HDClone, Windows Backup, Norton Ghost)

Cons: Does require a power adapter however this is standard with 3.5" external drives. The unit is marketed on the box as "Expansion". I'd highly suggest not using as such in a long term always on situation. As the unit is not fan cooled the drive will after long periods of activity get very warm this will decrease it's lifespan. There is no included backup software, just some registration stuff.

Overall Review: For an always on solution something fan cooled would be nice. I wish it had esata for use with my older laptop. It wont be easy to take apart if you need to get the drive out of it, the case itself will likely be destroyed in the process. Great backup drive, I wouldn't leave it plugged in all the time however.

Pros: Lightweight- can be used for travel USB 3.0- fastest available that is also backwards compatible More useable space than my last 4TB hard drive, the exception being this one was already formatted so its plug and play Ample length for power supply and USb cord, was able to keep everything hidden when set up as a routine backup drive. Fast for a disk drive of its size, faster than my 7200rpm Seagate 2TB for which this replaced.

Cons: Its truly plug and play, but on older computers you may need to install drivers or at the very least make sure your USB drivers are updated and can register the full 4TB, or in this case 3.6TB usable space. MY laptop only registered 2TB and I had to update it in order for it to register the full 4(3.6) TB. Passive cooling so when run continuously it does get hot and when running a full backup on a 1TB machine it ran borderline hot where I couldnt touch it. Needs an internal fan to help keep things cool for true backup needs. Power brick could be of a smaller kind or one that plugs into a transformer of sort like on laptops. As it stands it requires a large outlet and may take up two spots on a power strip. Failed to finish my initial backup due to heat, but it was on a 90 degree day so I put one of my 3krpm fans on the vents to help cool it and it did help to an extent. Was able to rerun backup and it took 3 1/2 hours for a 1.2Tb backup.

Overall Review: I like this drive as it is fast for the speed at which it runs and its also quiet. which is a rarity among all the drives I have, needless to say I freaked out a couple times because I could not hear it and thought it had died, but alas its just that quiet compared to other drives. At least drives I own. The power brick I can deal with as I have a universal power strip designed for power bricks as all my backup equipment has them....cant wait for companies to step up and use step down transformers so we can have single space plugs. The hard drive is truly plug and play, plugged right into my main desktop and did a small backup with ease using USB 3.0, but on my laptop I had to update drivers which was no big deal seeing as I never use it. File transfer is rather fast and a bit slow with USB 2.0 but that is to be expected as it doesnt have the capability to transfer at higher speeds. Warranty is only 1 year and that concerned me seeing as the design is passive cooling. This bothered me not knowing which drive was inside, so I did open it up to check as my disk manager was not reporting the drive properly. Upon opening I found the drive to be HDD.15 ST4000DM000, like another review mentioned these drives do not have the best reliability. After my initial testing and having to use the fan on the vents to do a backup, i decided I wanted to make the fan permanent. I traced out the fan slot on the cover I removed and cut it out. For this part I used a mesh fan cover and a slimline 92mm Silverstone fan. I know this voids my warranty entirely but after having several drives fail over the years I rather run on the side of being cautious and over prepared to help the drive last longer than a year. All in all I would buy this drive and use it for backups, but only when needed and not plugged in all the time to better extend its life cycle

Pros: Solid built, attractive, heavy for being a plastic case. Rubber feet keeps it stable on hard surfaces. Plug and play, the drive was already formatted to 3.6TB. It fired right up once plugged in and was recognized by windows. Simple and mild blue LED to know it's ON, blinks when being accessed. Included HDD.15 ST4000DM000 is fast for 5900 RPM due to the 1TB/platter and cache algorithm. Works with 3.0 and 2.0, tried both without issue. Generous 4ft USB cord.

Cons: Only 1 year warranty, the drive inside by itself has 2 years. The drive is a HDD.15 ST4000DM000 which does not have the most robust track record for reliability. As an external drive their NAS version could be better suited. Power brick [wall wart] is on the larger size.

Overall Review: No active cooling, it does have vents in the back and bottom of the case. Once it heats up with file transfers it does not appear to cool down fast but remains stable. That said with sustained transfers it reached 96F which is well within spec and should not be a concern for longevity. Crystal numbers empty: Sequential Read : 160.799 MB/s Sequential Write : 154.354 MB/s Random Read 512KB : 72.375 MB/s Random Write 512KB : 108.173 MB/s Random Read 4KB (QD=1) : 1.240 MB/s [ 302.7 IOPS] Random Write 4KB (QD=1) : 1.929 MB/s [ 471.1 IOPS] Random Read 4KB (QD=32) : 1.282 MB/s [ 313.1 IOPS] Random Write 4KB (QD=32) : 1.998 MB/s [ 487.8 IOPS] HDtune 5.50 read Minimum 83 Maximum 190 Average 149 Burst 191 Overall a solid, simple external drive which is quite fast without any frills.

Pros: Simple plug and play. Already formatted NTFS USB 3.0 speeds won't choke on data transfers. Based on weight, I know there is a full size 3.5" drive hiding inside. Hard drive is reported as a SATA3 (6.0Gb/s) and 5900rpm. Monolithic design looks utilitarian. Seeing it in my hands reminded me of the opening from the movie 2001(Thus Sprach Zarathustra).

Cons: Needs a large wall wart to power up. Relies on your own back up methods. Failed a Windows Server 2008 R2 Backup Once, twice "because of an I/O device error". Gave up after that and went with just a copy and paste of data. Took 2 1/2 hours for just 1.00TB of mixed data, from a 4 drive RAID 5. LED is on the top, and rear of the case. Not very bright either. Only illuminates when the drive is accessed.

Overall Review: LOL looks like someone stole my review. I already ran Crystal and HD Tune tests on the drive but came up with, oddly, different numbers. Same HDD though. I am taking off an egg due to Windows Backup failing and requiring a power supply for an external device. For some reason Read I/O was always 1/3 of Write. HD Tune Pro v5.5 (trial) 186MB/sec max 85MB/sec min 148MB/sec ave Sequential Read 173MB/s Write 173MB/s 4KB random Read 143 IO Write 421 IO 15.5Ms access 197MB burst 16.2% CPU usage Crystal Disk Mark v3.0.4 x64 Read MB/s Write MB/s Sequential 178 177 512K 52 92 4K QD1 0.6 1.5

Pros: - Works flawlessly until now; I use it to backup a Ubuntu desktop - The HDD inside is model ST4000DM000-1F2168 firmware CC54. This is a desktop model, which seems to be a lot more reliable than the preceding 3Tb model from what can be seen on the web. I already own 2 of these 4Tb in my desktop in a raid mirror configuration, and they run without failure since 2 years (= 10 months of continuous use from the SMART data). - Fast enough for the purpose: write 131 MB / sec, read 100 MB / sec, access time 15.3 ms; the same model used internally in my raid configuration gives 144 MB/sec for reading and 18.4 ms for access time (sorry, no write tests - this HDD is in use!). - Runs warm but not hot after a few hours of continuous use. - For the geekests: the health of the HDD can be evaluated from the SMART data, which can be listed through the USB controller.. See below.

Cons: - For those who intend to use the HDD internally after the warranty period: the case has no screws, it seems it cannot be disassembled without breaking something. I got the identification of the HDD model inside with a Linux command - see below.

Overall Review: I would recommend this product, for the capacity, the expected reliability of the HDD, and the price. I found nothing about the reliability of the USB 3 controller, though. The HDD model can be queried without breaking the case with this Linux command, as root: hdparm -I /dev/sd<N> And you can get the SMART data with this command, as root: smartctl -d sat -a /dev/sd<N> I bought this external drive to replace a Seagate 3Tb, whose capacity is not enough for what I need now. This 3Tb is the model which is infamous for its reliability (search the web!). But all is relative: I have no problem with it until now and I would continue to use it as a secondary backup tool. An external HDD is typically used intermittently, not as intensively as an internal one. The SMART data of my 3Tb shows only 30hrs of continuous use. But anyway I wouldn't recommend the Seagate 3Tb over the 4Tb, even at half the price :-)

Pros: Does what it says on the can. Not only that but very speedily too. From an SSD to the Seagate on a 24GB file I'm getting 160MB/s transfer rates.

Cons: None

Overall Review: I have 5 of these drives used for various purposes in various settings and no issues with any of them. The oldest is a little over 18 months old. Just added another to my collection, I pick these up whenever they appear in sales, got this one for a little under a hundred.

Pros: Large capacity, good price

Cons: You cannot use multiple of these drives with Windows Storage Spaces, as the USB controllers will give all drives the same "UniqueID." I bought 2 of these to add to a storage pool but Windows refused to add the second drive to the pool due to the conflicting UniqueID. I had to remove one from the external enclosure and use it as an internal drive. Once the drive was attached internally, it got own UniqueID and worked fine.