Tablet computers generally do a good job of playing videos and music, and displaying photos and documents. But they have limited capacity to store all these files, so you typically can carry only a fraction of your PC's data on them.
You can get apps that allow tablets to access files you've stored in the cloud on services like Dropbox or SugarSync, but these require an Internet connection and can be slow.
Now, two companies are coming out with small, portable, companion hard disks that massively increase the storage capacity of tablets. And because most tablets lack USB connectors, these external hard disks stream their content to the tablets over a special, local Wi-Fi network they create. No Internet access is required. The content remains on the external device, though you can download files to the tablet's own memory for permanent storage there.
I've been testing the first of these gadgets to emerge. It's from Seagate Technology, the big hard-disk company, and is called the GoFlex Satellite. It costs $200, and holds 500 gigabytes of data, far more than the 64 gigabytes that is the maximum on typical current tablets.
It was initially designed for use with Apple's iPad, though it also works on Android tablets, as well as on iPhones and Android smartphones. It works best with a special iPad or iPhone app you install, though it will operate through the Web browser on Apple and Android devices.
In my tests, the Satellite basically did its job, smoothly and rapidly streaming movies, songs, pictures and documents to an iPad and other devices. It is battery-powered, so you can carry it around with your iPad, or leave it plugged in for longer use, as long as the iPad remains within about 150 feet. It isn't tiny -- about 5 by 3.5 by 1.25 inches, and just over half a pound -- but it's quite portable. It can stream different content to up to three devices simultaneously.
However, the Satellite has some drawbacks and trade-offs. The main trade-off is that, while you are connected to it via Wi-Fi for streaming, your iPad or other device can't access the Internet, so you're cut off from things like email, Web browsing and social networks. If you launch the Web browser while connected wirelessly to the Satellite, it just brings up the Satellite's menu of files, regardless of what website you type in.
In addition, both the companion app and the Web-browser-interface display, while attractive and simple, can be clumsy to use. It is awkward to play photo slideshows or to listen to multiple songs in a row. And the Wi-Fi connection dropped several times, even when the iPad and the Satellite were located very near each other. For me, the battery life fell short of the company's five-hour claim.
The Satellite's main competitor, due out later this month, is called the G-Connect, from Hitachi. Like the Seagate offering, it costs $200, holds 500 gigabytes of content, and is initially designed for the iPad and iPhone. Unlike the Satellite, it has no internal battery, though it will accept external batteries made for the iPad.
Also, unlike the Satellite, it allows simultaneous media streaming to an iPad and Internet connectivity, though only when the G-Connect is hooked up to a wired Internet connection via its Ethernet jack. I wasn't able to test the G-Connect, so I can't say how well it will work.
A third contender in this category, the Wi-Drive from Kingston Technology, is a bit different. While it has an internal battery and uses Wi-Fi to stream content, it has no hard disk and uses only memory chips. Thus, it has much less capacity than the other two, and doesn't add much storage to a tablet -- only up to 32 gigabytes extra. It isn't yet available, according to the company's website, which also lists no prices, and I didn't test it.
So, how do you get content into the Satellite so you can use it on your iPad or other tablet?
First you plug it into a USB port on your PC or Mac. Then, you have two choices. You can either drag whatever files you want manually to the drive. Or, you can use free software that syncs music, video and photos. This software can be set to fetch only content that is playable on your particular device.
Using both methods, I moved 55 videos (including two feature films), more than 2,000 photos, about 1,700 songs and nearly 200 Microsoft Office and Adobe PDF documents to the Satellite, some from a Mac and some from a Windows machine. Using the sync software, the process was surprisingly fast, and this content took up less than 20% of the drive's capacity.
All the content showed up as promised on my iPad in both the special app and in the Web browser. I also tested it on an iPhone, where both the app and browser display also gave me access to the content via wireless streaming.
I tried it on two different Android tablets, where the content showed up and played fine via the browser. In addition, I tested a pre-release version of the Android app -- almost identical to the iPad app -- and it, too, worked as promised.
However, while the Satellite's app and browser display are clean and well-organized, I found them annoying in some respects.
For one thing, they lack simple slideshow, playlist and album features. While playing a group of multiple photos or songs, I couldn't manually skip or go back.
In addition, the computer-sync software doesn't allow you to easily select only certain files or to eliminate small files like record album covers or icons, or special, hidden files your computer creates that look like videos, but aren't. So your file list gets cluttered with dozens of unplayable or unwanted items.
The Satellite's battery supposedly lasts five hours when continuously streaming videos to one device. But in my tests, I only got about four hours.
Overall, the GoFlex Satellite might be a useful device for iPad or other tablet owners with large media collections. But it needs work.
平板电脑一般都能流畅地播放视频和音乐，显示图片和文档，但是在存储文件方面能力有限。和PC电脑相比，它的数据存储能力相去甚远。
用户可以通过应用软件来访问其存储在Dropbox或SugarSync等云端服务器上的文件，但这需要连接互联网，并且访问速度可能很慢。
Seagate Technology“GoFlex Satellite”便携式硬盘可以同时向多达三个设备传输不同的内容。现在，两家公司针对平板电脑推出了小型便携式硬盘，这种小型硬盘可以极大地扩展平板电脑的存储容量。由于大多数平板电脑缺少USB插口，这种外部硬盘一般通过平板电脑和硬盘之间的专用本地Wi-Fi网络将外部硬盘上的内容通过数据流的方式传输到平板电脑上。不需要连接互联网。用户可以将文件下载到平板电脑的存储器上进行永久存储，外部硬盘上存储的内容不会改变。
我最近一直在测试市面上出现的第一款此类硬盘。这种硬盘叫做“GoFlex Satellite”，由知名硬盘制造商希捷公司（Seagate Technology）推出。该产品定价200美元，能够存储500G的数据，远远超过目前多数平板电脑64G的最大存储容量。
这款产品最早针对苹果公司的iPad设计，虽然它也可以应用于安卓（Android）的平板电脑、iPhones和安卓智能手机。这款产品与专用的iPad或iPhone应用软件搭配使用效果最好，不过它需要通过苹果和安卓设备的网络浏览器进行操作。
在测试过程中，这款硬盘的表现基本良好，它能够流畅、迅速地将电影、歌曲、图片和其他文件传输到iPad和其他设备中。它采用电池供电，因此用户可以将它和iPad一起携带，也可以将它插在固定电源上长时间使用。只要和iPad之间的距离在150英尺（约46米）之内，都可以实现数据传输。虽然它的体积算不上是“微型”──大约为5英寸×3.5英寸×1.25英寸（约13厘米×9厘米×3厘米），重量为半磅多一点──但是携带很方便。同时，它可以同时向多达三个设备传输不同的内容。
但是，这款产品也有缺陷和不足之处。主要的不足之处是，在通过Wi-Fi连接该产品进行数据传输的过程中，iPad和其他设备不能访问互联网，因此，在这种情况下，你就无法使用Email，不能浏览网页，不能登陆社交网络。如果在无线连接该硬盘的过程中打开网络浏览器，不管你输入什么网址，系统都会立刻打开硬盘的文件菜单。
另外，无论是配套程序，还是网络浏览器的显示界面，虽然都很美观，但是用起来很不方面。用幻灯片的形式显示图片、连续播放多首歌曲的操作都很麻烦。Wi-Fi频繁掉线，甚至在iPad和该硬盘之间相对位置很近的时候也是如此。在我试用的过程当中，该硬盘的电池续航时间没有达到厂家宣传的五个小时。
该硬盘的主要竞争者是日立公司名为“G-Connect”的移动硬盘。该产品将于本月晚些时候推出。和希捷的产品相同，日立这款硬盘的售价也是200美元，存储空间为500G。和希捷的产品不同的是，日立的硬盘没有内置电池，不过它可以兼容针对iPad设计的外部电池。
另外，和希捷Satellite硬盘的不同之处还有，日立G-Connect硬盘可以在连接因特网的同时向iPad传输媒体内容，不过只能通过有线的方式用以太网插口连接互联网。因为本人目前无法测试G-Connect，所以难以对它的使用表现下结论。
Seagate TechnologyGoFlex Satellite硬盘希捷Satellite硬盘在这方面的第三个竞争者是金士顿科技公司（Kingston Technology）生产的Wi-Drive。这款产品比较独特。虽然它也有内置电池，并通过Wi-Fi传输内容，但是它没有硬盘，只能通过存储芯片进行数据存储。因此，这款产品的存储容量要比前面两个品牌的产品小得多，无法给平板电脑增加多少存储空间──最多只能提供32G的空间。据该公司网站透露，这款产品现在尚未上市；公司网站也没有标出预计价格，因此我没有对这款产品进行测试。
那么，怎样才能将内容传输到Satellite硬盘里，以便用iPad或其他平板电脑播放或显示这些内容？
首先，将这款硬盘与PC或Mac电脑的USB端口相连。接下来，用户可以有两个选择：可以手动将文件拖动到该硬盘中，也可以使用免费软件对音乐、视频和图片进行同步。用户可以对其使用的免费传输软件进行设置，使得在内容传输时，只传入该设备可以播放的内容。
我尝试了两种方法，将55个视频（包括两部电影）、2,000多张照片、约1,700首歌曲、近200个微软Office和Adobe PDF文件传输到Satellite硬盘里。一部分文件来自Mac电脑，一部分文件来自安装着Windows操作系统的电脑。运用同步软件，这个过程出奇地快，所有这些内容只占用了硬盘容量的20%。
不论用专门的应用程序，还是用网络浏览器，我使用的iPad都可以正常播放或显示所有内容。我还在iPhone上做了测试，用应用程序和浏览器都可以通过无线数据流传输访问相关内容。
我在两个不同的安卓系统平板电脑上做了测试。浏览器可以正常地播放或显示相关内容。另外，我还检测了一个测试版的安卓应用程序──它几乎和iPad应用软件完全相同──运行结果和软件描述相一致。
但是，虽然Satellite硬盘的应用软件和浏览界面美观大方，但我发现它在某些方面非常不方便。
第一，缺少简单的幻灯片、播放清单和相册功能。在连续展示多幅照片或播放多首歌曲的时候，我不能手动跳过或重放先前播放过的歌曲。
另外，因为使用电脑同步软件，用户无法轻松地选择某些文件或删掉唱片专辑封面和图标这样的小文件以及电脑创建的隐藏文件。这些隐藏文件看似视频文件，其实不是。这样的话，几十个可播放文件和不需要的文件都会出现在文件列表中，显得混乱不堪。
按照说明，在持续向一个设备传输文件的条件下，Satellite硬盘的电池续航时间应为五个小时，但在我测试过程中，只有四个小时。
总的说来，对拥有iPad或其他平板电脑并需要存储很多媒体文件的人来说，GoFlex Satellite硬盘确实有用，但它还需要改进。
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