xxzxcuzx me by Crystal Castles
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[Review] Pogoplug v2 (Pinkie)
General Information:
- Company: CloudEngines
- Product: Pogoplug V2
- Price: $129
- Product Link
I remember when SheevaPlug arrived on the scene last March around my birthday. I was busy with all kinda little distractions, and was working on a not too shabby NAS based off Open Solaris (ZFS). Well after spending hours upon hours building that alliteration of what I now call FailNAS (my v3 homebrew NAS); I looked into other low cost energy efficient solutions, and came across <insert prefix>plug. After the “launch” of Sheevaplug many people/companies jumped at the idea to develop a platform suitable for the ‘end user.’ Pogoplug was one of the first people I asked for a review unit to examine, and pick apart… Well almost a year later I received my review unit
Initial setup was one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve had setting up a network device. I was then lead to a wonderful web interface, and plenty of options on how to access my files (mac, linux, windows, android, iphone(don’t have one to test on 
_) I was then let down by a no local access option (need to be connected to the internet), multi-file transfer throughput, and a few other quirks that nibbled away at my “perfect” introduction to the device. Follow along with me on a wonderful journey to the center of the Pogoplug & back again 
…——
Jump to the good part
- Power requirements
- 100-240V, 50/60HZ
- Drive connection
- USB 2.0
- Drive Formats
- NTFS, FAT32, Mac OS Extended Journaled and non-Journaled (HFS+), EXT-2/EXT-3
- Network connection
- Gigabit Ethernet
- Web browsers
- Safari, Firefox 3, IE 7, IE 8, Chrome
- Operating Systems
- MS Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, Mac OS X 10.4 and above (Intel and PowerPC), 32bit kernel only, Linux
- Extended Specs (Provided by Plugapps)
- Pogoplug
- Power cable
- Ethernet cable
- Quick start guide
- Limited warranty
Onto the good bits (the pictures)Front:
Nice pretty picture of whats inside. (At this point I’ve let the Pogoplug sit; alone; haven’t touched it. I’ve had to setup my lightbox, and prepare for a mini-shoot before I can open it.)Back:
Bunch of information, and hay look, an iPhone! Too bad I only have a Motorola Droid Oh wait, there’s an app for *that* too.
Top:
Bottom:
Left:
Right:
This is the most important side of the box. It includes the “includes.” It also gives a basic spec rundown.Basic Setup Guide:
Warranty:
Cables:
I was happy to see that the cables included with the device matched the overall design of the plug. Most companies would settle with the black plug, or the blue network cable because it’s a few pennies cheaper or something.
Overall the look of the packaging is very attractive. It’s the hue of pink that promotes happiness, and makes you excited of what’s to come when you open the box…
Ohh, ahhh! It’s nice how they framed up the pogoplug against the black backdrop. What sucks is that the material the black stuff is comprised of is felty & sheds all over the device. After I pulled the device out of the box I had to thoroughly clean all the blackness off of the plug. It might not bother some people, but I believe that when you take a device out of the box it should be in its cleanest/mintist condition it will ever be in
Aside from this minor trifle I was impressed with the look/construction of the device. It looks pretty, and keeps the pink theme, and has a nice white/glossy finish.
The Front of the device is stunning. It includes the pogoplug logo lit up with green (not pictured). Then the pink accent sweeps to the rear of the device. It doesn’t stop there, the designers added some more plastic, and added a cable loop. When you’re selling a device that is supposed to have a bunch of usb devices plugged into it; it’s nice to have some kind of cable organization built in. The back of the device is very simple. 3 usb, ethernet, and a wallwart plug. What’s spectacular is that the PSU is builtin to the device. Meaning there is no un-stylish boxy wallwart. It’s just a plain white cable that plugs into the back of the device.
Lets start with a few transfers (Network Throughput):
fsk141@FailNAS:/ambry/Media/Photos$ time scp -r 2005-Car-My_Room root@10.0.0.106:/tmp && time scp -r 2005-Car-My_Room 10.0.0.100:/tmp # Pogoplug 020.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 974 KB 00:00 012.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 929 KB 00:00 015.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 1005 KB 00:00 004.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 941 KB 00:00 003.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 902 KB 00:00 014.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 514 KB 00:00 013.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 56584 00:00 021.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 1245 KB 00:00 002.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 1212 KB 00:00 005.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 833 KB 00:00 006.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 859 KB 00:00 001.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 1181 KB 00:00 008.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 1106 KB 00:00 019.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 975 KB 00:00 010.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 832 KB 00:00 017.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 1211 KB 00:00 022.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 1429 KB 00:00 025.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 1424 KB 00:00 009.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 32202 00:00 007.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 876 KB 00:00 024.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 1020 KB 00:00 023.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 1048 KB 00:00 016.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 983 KB 00:00 011.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 888 KB 00:00 018.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 1149 KB 00:00 real 0m5.975s user 0m0.527s sys 0m0.121s # Storage server 020.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 974 KB 00:00 012.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 929 KB 00:00 015.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 1005 KB 00:00 004.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 941 KB 00:00 003.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 902 KB 00:00 014.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 514 KB 00:00 013.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 56584 00:00 021.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 1245 KB 00:00 002.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 1212 KB 00:00 005.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 833 KB 00:00 006.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 859 KB 00:00 001.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 1181 KB 00:00 008.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 1106 KB 00:00 019.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 975 KB 00:00 010.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 832 KB 00:00 017.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 1211 KB 00:00 022.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 1429 KB 00:00 025.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 1424 KB 00:00 009.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 32202 00:00 007.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 876 KB 00:00 024.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 1020 KB 00:00 023.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 1048 KB 00:00 016.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 983 KB 00:00 011.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 888 KB 00:00 018.jpg 100% |*************************************************************************************| 1149 KB 00:00 real 0m0.730s user 0m0.403s sys 0m0.053s
The speeds are 8.18 times faster to my storage server that the pogoplug. BTW the reason I’m using /tmp and not a connected device is so that I can get the most clean results. It’s nand flash, and should be the fastest. Plus there is no abstraction layers that would complicate the transfer process…
fsk141@FailNAS:/ambry/Media/Photos$ time scp 2005-Car-My_Room.tar.gz root@10.0.0.106:/tmp && scp 2005-Car-My_Room.tar.gz 10.0.0.100:/tmp #Pogoplug 2005-Car-My_Room.tar 100% |*************************************************************************************| 23544 KB 00:05 real 0m5.742s user 0m0.474s sys 0m0.108s #Storage Server 2005-Car-My_Room.tar 100% |*************************************************************************************| 23544 KB 00:00
Single file transfer speeds are eggzactly the same, with a little better performance due to a fraction of a second speedup on multi-file transfer.
This is a big disappointment
Although most users don’t care if it takes a while to transfer a file, I do. My time is precious, and I don’t want to have to wait for extended periods of time for my files to transfer over to *any* device.——
Onto the CPU:
The ARM9 cpu is great, but it seems like pogoplug is pushing the capabilities a little far. For example, by default the pogoplug will auto encode your video/music files for streaming. This is great, since a lot of my files are in *great* quality & need to be compressed to allow smooth streaming. The only problem is that it takes upward of 2 hours to encode a 30 minute (160MB) .avi file. I guess it’s nice that it *does* encode video, but that it takes that long is kinda a bummer. It would be kewl if you could have a few pogoplugs that would work together & process your stuff (shared resources). [On a side note I'm working on a hack to allow this, but it's not supported out of the box]
Onto the web interface:The Pogoplug (web interface) is simple to setup (6 step process). Basically all you need to do is plug in your device to your network, plug in some storage, and head over to http://my.pogoplug.com to start the registration process. Once finished you are greeted by the following:
A nice little greeting of what’s to come…
After you’ve plugged in your storage device(s) you have access to them in almost any way imaginable. It’s just a matter of installing Pogodrive on your computer, which will give you access to your drives on your pogoplug:
The drive acts as if it was plugged in locally (minus the slower transfer times). I didn’t take the time to delve into the program too deeply to see if it deciphered between you being in a local/outside network to determine what path would be fastest to transfer files. I suppose it’s a hybrid process that will use the fastest route.
——
As far as the web interface goes…It needs polishing. Oh I forgot to mention that the uploader uses flash. Not javascript/ajax/hybrid. It uses FLASH! This really eeeks me. I know that web uploads are last resort, but I really wish it wasn’t flash
. Anyway there is a lot that I wish was in the web interface, and wish there were a lot more things to configure. Supposedly there will be an update in March that will address my hopes and dreams (until then I wait & hack away with plugapps)
Epic disappointment:There is no local access to the device at the moment. You have to be connected to the internet for your device to work & authenticate with the Pogoplug servers. So if your internet access goes down, well your screwed. You can always go and detach your devices and plug them into your machine; but who wants to do that? I would really like to see an update that allows for failover in the case of loss of internet connection. (To access the device via ip address)
Meh… The Pogoplug has wonderful potential, but it seems like the software is lacking where the hardware has the capability to shine. Then again the device will still be held back by the network bus. I wanted the review to be as stock as possible so I didn’t hack the device to add on testing programs (that would be cheating). In the future I will test to see if the device even has a wide enough network bus to allow for true Gigabit speeds. It seems like it *won’t*, but maybe with some optimization I can get it to perform? Overall the Plug is a decent consumer device, but I would hold off on recommending it to anyone until an update address’ some issues (configurability via web config, local access, network bus throughput optimizations, [easy] extensibility, remove flash uploader) What it boils down to is the device has a great setup, and is tailored for dummies. But when an advanced user goes to use the device they are left in the dark…
- Super easy setup
- Web interface
- 4 usb ports (way better that other plug devices that require you to have a usb hub
- Win/Linux/Mac/Android/iPhone Support
- Slow (encoding, network throughput [ ])
- Limited configurability
- No local access (via internal IP address)
- Flash file uploader in web interface
- Packaging leaves black stuff all over the device
2 Responses to “[Review] Pogoplug v2 (Pinkie)”
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Great review! This pretty much answered my questions about transfer speeds and software robustness.
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Your welcome. I hope that with a future update the pogoplug will update it’s interface, I guess I’ll wait & see…
