Home Reviews Tablets Review: Pogoplug

Review: Pogoplug

628
0
PogoPlug
PogoPlug

Cloud computing – it’s all the rage nowadays, just ask any analyst worth their salt. But the trouble is that all that data you have stored online could be anywhere. Pogoplug has a device that means you can access your files anywhere in the world while they stay firmly at home.

The Pogoplug is a small white and pink-coloured device that you can place on your desk and connect into your router with the bundled Ethernet cable. You can plug in up to four USB external hard drives (three at the back and one in the front). The addition of various hard drives and cables do somewhat detract from the look of the device and can make your desk look a little more cluttered than before.

Once it is wired up to the internet, you can confige it by visiting the Pogoplug website (my.pogoplug.com), the process seems a little too simple. We ndidn’t have to . We were up and running in a matter of seconds being able to access files we had on the hard drive connected to the Pogoplug. We managed to connect the Pogoplug to a normal hard drive, a USB memory stick and a Compact Flash card – all worked.

Files can be accessed via the device in a number of ways. One of the first ways it can be accessed is via the Pogoplug website. Here you can upload and download files as you would with any website. Also, media files can be previewed on the website by clicking on the appropriate icon.

There is also software for Mac, PC and Linux that allows you to access files on the Pogoplug as you would if it was directly connected to the desktop. The software can also copy photos, videos, music and other files from your computer to the Pogoplug. This syncs the folders so there is always a backup.


There is also an iPhone app and this autmatically adds three smart folders as well as listing drives plugged into the device. All this makes the ability to stream music from your music library over a 3G connection.

Videos take a bit longer as these files need to be transcoded but you can get an 11 second preview. The only problem is that the Pogoplug iPhone app can’t upload files.

The Pogoplug website is where you can manage your device and control sharing options. Here also is where you can browse your files. You can also share folder details via social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter and via RSS feeds.

Overall, the Pogoplug is a great way to access files on your own hard drive from anywhere of the world. It is an incredibly simple thing to use to share files with friends and with no ongoing costs (which other similar solutions have) it should be cheap.

However, you do have to buy the device (cost: £99) and then fork out for an external hard drive. If you have a lot of media to share with friends and colleagues, then this is the device for you.

Rating: 9/10

PogoPlug