Considering the trend of storing data to SkyDrives nowadays and immense cloudsharing surge, Pogoplug is probably the best economic way out to upload your data to internet connected data drops. Pogoplug Pro network file server is the newest in the series, comes in with a built in Wi-Fi and added on software enhancements.

Priced at $99, the all new Pogoplug PRO has the ability to turn USB data to internet connected data drop for storage. In other words, the data is shared on the network. This economic aspect and the price factor make it a very attractive buy to those who need to buy additional hard drives or NAS to cloudshare data in an organization.

Design

The design is pretty simple; the dimensions are compact, streamlined to purpose. It is pretty handy and does not occupy much space. It has a mini tower look with aesthetics constituting curves, springboard base with black color in the highlight. One can place it on some table with an AC power line nearby. It has 3 USB ports available at the backside (2.0) and one in front, just under the Pogoplug logo that comes to life when powered on. With all USB drives plugged in, the setup seems very much organized, thanks to the springy stand attached to the Pogoplug base. Plugging and unplugging hard drives is very easy and the experience is all what is called for, performance.

Connectivity & Usability

When it comes to usage, it is pretty straightforward. All we need to do is plug in media and whoa! You have started cloud sharing. Pogoplug supports many file systems such as NTFS, FAT32, Mac OS Extended Journaled and non-Journaled (HFS+), and EXT-2/EXT-3. Summing it up, it identifies and supports absolutely every major sector of today’s hard drives.

Connecting a drive is simple: Plug the device into the Pogoplug, before you have plugged the Pogoplug into a router via Ethernet and of course it needs a power supply; the Pogoplug recognizes itself and is ready to go on net.

To make it easier, the three interfaces of the drives connected to Pogoplug can be:

• Directly through a web browser via the Pogoplug Web site
• Via downloadable software client for Mac, PC, Linux that shows connected drives directly on the desktop
• Via mobile phone apps

The Pogoplug app was available for the iPhone and iPods, but now it has moved to Android, BlackBerry, and Palm (WebOS) spheres as well; the apps for iOS however didn’t register the ease of use as one would expect.

Wi-Fi experience with Pogoplug is remarkable and very easy. After plugging the Pogoplug to a wireless router through Ethernet, the device wirelessly attaches to any accessible network through the settings menu at the Pogoplug website.  This makes the usage of Pogoplug absolutely virtual, of which I mean it makes a workspace more versatile. Wi-Fi performs when it comes to share speed; the bandwidth does not slowdown, as opposed to many reviews about other network file servers available in the market.