Media sharing device black, POGO-P22

When the device was plugged in for the first time, connected to power, the Internet, and a USB flash drive, it began immediately to do something extensive on the flash drive, as was indicated by prolonged flashing of the LED indicator on the drive. This activity took place before the device had been activated, or software had been downloaded. I gather from research I did later that Pogoplug was transforming the files on the flash drive into a format more suitable for use on the Pogoplug system.I did not purchase the device to transform my files. I thought it would work as a simple LAN server for a USB flash drive that could be used as temporary storage for files being moved from one computer on the LAN to another. Indeed, the device might well be able to serve this purpose, but before one can find a clear statement of how to accomplish this and only this, one is confronted with Pogoplug offers for cloud services, and indeed, one's files show up in a directory apparently accessible from the greater Internet (beyond my LAN).Having directories visible from the greater Internet and having one's files transformed are potentially desirable for some users, I am sure, but it gave me a feeling of extreme discomfort to see all of this happening immediately and automatically, without my having had a chance to specify preferences or options of any kind. I was not seeking an interface to a cloud service bureau, and I certainly don't want anything done to my files that would disrupt their integrity.Further reading I did on the Pogoplug Web site did nothing to ease my concerns, so the device will be on its way back to Amazon less than a day after its arrival. I would rank this transaction as one of my most disappointing e-commerce experiences.

It's the E02 version which allowed me to turn it into a low power Debian server that performed many functions. This form factor has the best performance to price ratio of just about any Linux device I can think of. I matched it with a Sandisk Extreme 16GB flash drive to ensure the boot I/O was the fastest possible. Next project is to turn it into a headless Squeezelite player to play music from the other Pogoplug I have which is running Logitech Media Server on Debian. You can use this as a webcam server too, this thing provide hours of experimental Linux fun and if you brick it, well, at least it wasn't too expensive. Give it a try and you will be rewarded with a silent hard working little Linux computer.

Messy and difficult interface and setup. I was very excited to have a home 'cloud' network, now I find that I have had this for 10 months and have not set anything up on it because it is a pain in the arse. If you are willing to put in the time and work, this can be a good tool to have portable documents or media. If you aren't willing to dedicate time to getting this thing going don;t bother. It is FAR from the drag and drop file transfer I was hoping for. Without going into too much detail about the specific negatives, you have to go to IE to access the device. What?????!!

Okay, I used the off the shelf software for the P22, I did not do any Linux hacking:This thing works pretty well for what I wanted:-Automatically backs up all new files and changes to existing files in all monitored folders on all PCs on my home network-Makes those files accessible for download through the internet through any web browser on any PC or tablet (of course the PC/tablet has to have a reader/player that can read that file to be useful to me)-Makes those files accessible for download (or to delete or upload) through any PC that downloads and runs the desktop software. The desktop software makes the USB drive accessible through Windows Explorer so you can drag and drop files to or from that USB drive-Streams the video files to my DLNA client software players on my Roku box and on my Kindle Fire HD - no problems as long as files do not need transcoding (if I have any non MP4 files, I convert them upfront using Handbrake or whatever and it works great)What This Does Not Do Well:-The initial load of the backup files from the PCs to the PogoPlug/USB drive is TOO SLOW. So, do an initial backup from each PC, physically connecting the USB drive to that PC. Then attach the USB drive to the PogoPlug for indexing and subsequent automatic backup. And still I had to wait days for the full indexing/backup process and during that time I had to work hard to resist the temptation to just add/replace more files to the drive manually or through the network (this seems to screw it up for a while).-Instructions and/or Support. Forget About It. Instructions Are For People Who Need Them (that seems to be their attitude). But all you have to do is: 1) Go to my.pogoplug.com - 2) Ignore the pitch for the cloud stuff. 3) Figure out how to register = find that damn button (see 2) 4) Activate your device. 5) Download backup software. 6) Sign In 7) Tell the Backup Software what folders to monitor on your PC 8) Tell the Backup Software to Start Backup 9) Configure the BackupSoftware to enable DLNA streaming to your tablet or Roku or Xbox or whatever that has a DLNA client 10) Configure the BackupSoftware to map your Pogoplug USB external drive as another drive in your Windows Explorer - Now You are Done-Sharing. Seriously? Okay, you can pick out individual files and email a link to people, so they can download the file. I suppose that's better than nothing.Thing to Keep In Mind (perhaps the reason so many don't like this device and give it bad reviews, because it does not work well if you don't do these things):-Physically back up everything to start onto the disk drive without using Pogoplug-Download the Backup Software to the PC/Mac/Tablet Devices Needing Backup-Use the Backup Software to set the "P" drive as visible so you can see the Pogoplug USB drive as visible in Windows explorer-Enable DLNA streaming for your media files using the web browser my.pogoplug settings-Set the web browser my.pogoplug settings to NOT "optimize" media files for streaming (otherwise it will take forever to backup files from your PC to the Pogoplug/USB drive-Make Sure All Your Video Files are in MP4 and encode at 1 Mbps (you can convert them using free software like Handbrake). This insures that you can download and stream without jerkiness to any tablet or browser and it won't be jerky, even on slow WiFi-If you are in a hurry to view new video or media files and the backup is taking too long, upload them to the Pogoplug/USB drive using the web browser my.pogoplug upload function - this is fast (6 minutes for a HD 1 hour video).-If you have to disconnect your USB drive to physically transfer files from your PC, dismount if first from Pogoplug using the web browser my.pogoplug settings. But try to avoid disconnecting it.Anyway, it is all peachy now. For $19 freaking dollars, it seems churlish to complain. I have now had it for several days and every file is backed up and I have downloaded a few files back through a browser on a remote PC and I have streamed several video files to a local DLNA device. It all seems to work okay.

This device is mired in confusion. Deliverewe was a 4 USB port Ethernet NAS box.What is not well described is that the data needs to stream to the PoGp servers and back to you.So, to look at a file requires external bandwidth. And PoGo handles all your data.Next, they want subscriptions to use the "extra" features.These include streaming and external access to files on your computer.I would have probably chosen to check this out, knowing the above.But having to dig it outfrom the fancy graphics web site after purchasing is not so nice...Will continue to investigate this device...