And now yet another Trek/Tech story. Seagate, the largest maker of hard drives, has teamed up with Paramount Pictures to offer new portable hard drives with the 2009 Star Trek movie preloaded as a bonus.
Free Trek with Seagate FreeAgent Go
If you are in the market for a new backup drive, you may want to pick the new Seagate FreeAgent Go 500GB. Because these drives come with a free copy of the 2009 Star Trek movie pre-loaded. After purchase you just need to register your drive to unlock the film. 30 additional Paramount films come pre-loaded as well, but those will cost you $9.99 each to unlock.
Get free digital copy of Star Trek with Seagate FreeAgent Go drives
The manufacturer’s suggested retail price of the 500GB FreeAgent Go hard disk drive is $139.99, but as a promotional offer for the first month, it will be available on the Seagate website at the special price of only $99.99. The offer will go live at 8:00 AM on Monday, April 12th.
Press Release
AN INDUSTRY FIRST: SEAGATE OFFERS FREEAGENT GO™ HARD DRIVES PRE-LOADED WITH PARAMOUNT PICTURES’ FEATURE FILMS
Ultra Portable Drive Comes Pre-loaded with One Movie for Activation and Twenty Other Films for Purchase to Help Jump Start Consumers’ Digital Movie Collections
SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif. – April 12, 2010 – Today, Seagate (NASDAQ: STX), the worldwide leader in hard drives, and Paramount Digital Entertainment, a division of Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, announced their agreement to pre-load a selection of 500GB FreeAgent Go™ ultra-portable hard drives with Paramount movies. Beginning immediately, United States’ customers who purchase specially-marked packages of the award-winning FreeAgent Go ultra-portable hard drive will be able to activate Paramount Pictures’ popular film, Star Trek (2009), for no additional fee. This collaboration between two industry leaders underscores a new era in digital movie collecting by enabling people to build, store and enjoy their personal libraries of favorite films in their preferred medium-whether on the computer or the TV-at home and on the go.
In addition to Star Trek (2009), those who have purchased the specially marked hard drives also receive an assortment of 20 Paramount Pictures movies pre-loaded on the FreeAgent Go 500GB ultra-portable drives that can be easily and securely unlocked through the online purchase of a license key. The films will be licensed for multiple devices to allow for portability and enjoyment of them on a desktop computer, laptop computer, or widescreen television, using the FreeAgent Theater+™ HD media player[1].
"Seagate and Paramount Pictures are delivering major motion pictures to consumers in a unique and innovative solution. For years Seagate hard drives have been powering the devices that allow consumers to enjoy their digital libraries. Today, we are simplifying content delivery by giving consumers the ultimate flexibility in how they enjoy their movies all in a convenient package," said Dave Mosley, executive vice president, Sales, Marketing and Product Line Management, Seagate.
To take advantage of this special offer, simply purchase a specially marked 500GB FreeAgent Go ultra-portable drive from Seagate.com, or wherever Seagate FreeAgent Go portable hard drives are sold. After online registration of the drive, a promotional code will be provided for redemption at http://seagate.paramountshop.com. Redeeming the offer code provides the license key to unlock Star Trek (2009) and the option to purchase additional keys to unlock the remaining film titles that are pre-loaded on the drive.
A choice of up to 20 popular Paramount titles can be unlocked for a fee[2] including:
* The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
* GI Joe
* Shooter
* The Hunt for Red October
* The Italian Job (2003)
* Ghost
* Patriot Games
* Beowulf
* Enemy at the Gates
* The Spiderwick Chronicles
* The Love Guru
* Coach Carter
* The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
* Nacho Libre
* Jackass 2.5
* A Plumm Summer
* Carriers
* Dance Flick
* Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius
* Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
"Collaborating with Seagate on this massive movie pre-load reinforces our commitment to embrace technologies that give consumers choice and flexibility in how they access and purchase their digital entertainment. Paramount Digital Entertainment has created a powerful solution that allows companies like Seagate to offer a seamless experience for consumers to access and securely activate pre-loaded movies, ensuring that exciting films are available everywhere they wish to enjoy them," said Malik Ducard, senior vice president, Digital Distribution The Americas, Paramount Digital Entertainment.
"And with over 38 hours of movie viewing enjoyment pre-loaded onto the portable device, we are offering consumers a great opportunity to jump start their digital libraries."
About Paramount Digital Entertainment
Paramount Digital Entertainment (PDE) is a division of Paramount Pictures Corporation. PDE develops and distributes filmed entertainment across worldwide digital distribution platforms including online, mobile and portable devices, videogames, and emerging technologies.
Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. The company’s labels include Paramount Pictures, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, MTV Films and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Digital Entertainment, Paramount Famous Productions, Paramount Home Entertainment, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., Paramount Studio Group, and Worldwide Television Distribution.
Am I first?
So basically you can buy hard drives where your space is already being used up before you back anything up?
I fail to see the point, bring back blank hard drives!
Nice idea, but #1 has a point. Plus, most of those movies suck. In fact the only one I’d have any interest in is The Hunt for Red October, and I could probably buy that on DVD (which is, frankly, more use to me) for €5.
Having Star Trek preloaded on there is a good idea, but filling up the rest of the hard drive with movies you can’t watch unless you pay more money is really stupid. That’s just wasting space that people wanted to use for other things, hence buying the hard drive in the first place.
Good idea, horrible execution. Pass on that thing.
I would imagine (and admittedly could be wrong) that the movies can be deleted if you don’t want them. The questions to ask are:
1) How much is the fee- one flat rate, or per movie?
2) Can I just pick the movies I want?
If those conditions are met and I can immediately dump Jackass 2.0 but get good, quick, high quality digital copies of Sky Captain or Red October, then it may well be worth it.
Horrid list of films. Cheaper to buy on DVD, most likely, if you can find them. A reason to stay away from this drive.
I agree, the list of films offered isn’t too impressive. Reminds me of going into a department store finding such a collection tossed into a huge bin, selling for 3.99 – 4.99. “The Love Guru?” C’mon, Paramount! Yer killin us!
maybe one loaded with the all the trek movies for free?
I dunno, I got a pretty big kick out of Sky Captain. The rest of those suck though.
6 – Agreed! The Love Guru? What is the 9.99 fee to ‘unlock’ stuff, anyway? Go to hell!
I’d never buy from Seagate anyway.
500 Gb’s? 1.5 Tb drives are only $90… What year is this?
#11, Just because we can bigger drives doesn’t mean everyone buys them. A lot of people are still in the market for 500 GB drives and I’ve never seen a 1.5TB drive for the cost of 90 dollars. And this is funny, cause I was intending on buying a portable HDD to put my films on, but had the dilemma of owning Star Trek on BD and not wanting to go through the hassle of downloading the film on the extra disk (bad system IMO) so if it comes already loaded, then that’s awesome! And I agree, most of that list sucks, but there are some goodies like Sky Captain
#11 lol I agree! Is this Hot Tub Hard Drive Time Machine!??
You can go to newegg.com and get better deals on HDDs.
I agree, this would have been cool in like 2005.
good luck with the HD
I bought an external HD from Seagate, It lasted 2 months and then died.
I checked the forums for the model & guess what, there was literally hundreds of post from people having teh same problem.
& their customer support is sucky, if you want a replacement you have to send the old one to them, & TOUGH SHAT if there was important files on there.
rant over
Already own ST09, and don’t need something for space that has no space. duh.
I agree that buying a portable hard drive that is already full of crap (as per your personal tastes) is not too interesting but I’d think that you can buy the same version with no movies on it. More likely, I’d think this is a ‘testing of the waters’ of selling drives specifically for the content on them or ability to add/change/collect digital info, whether it be movies, music, or whatever. Although most of us can do this quite easily without the extra purchases, there are many who aren’t that computer literate that would love to buy a hard drive that is full of movies and that should be able to tie into an online movie catalogue…
Although I’m told that’s what a mac is for…
I mean… WHY?
Honestly seems dumb, I mean its cool they picked Trek to be the free movie, but still. I just don’t think these days people are going to pay a lot of money to have a movie that, chances are, they already own on DVD to also have on their hard drive. And lets face it, its not right either. They wonder why people pirate stuff. Well, if I go out and buy a DVD why should I have to pay yet again to take that movie with me in digital format? I have Star Trek on my iphone only because the Bluray came with a free digital download of it, which they all should. I don’t mind going out and buying a movie, but once I do I feel no guilt in going and downloading it digitally for free to take it with me. And yeah 15, Seagate is probably the worst hard drive manufacturer I know. When I worked at Staples I outright told people not to buy them because they break in no time.
Yeah, but are they Windows Media Player/PC-only or iTunes/Mac-friendly digital copies???
A: How much space do they take up?
B: How good a quality are they? Stream? DVD? HD?
It’s a silly idea to clutter up your new storage space with stuff you don’t need or want. Not that I buy Seagate but I’d re-format this puppy as soon as it was connected to the PC.
So what can you use the portage drive on? Pcs only?? Laptops? how about can it be plugged into my Playstation 3 and used as extra storage space since I have an older one that has only 60 gig on it…hmmmm
Off topic but I’ll throw this out there. In the tradition of Kirsty Alley and Kim Cattrall, how about Christina Applegate in the new film? An older woman for Kirk? A turncoat Starfleet officer? Just a thought.
2. Benjamin Button, Patriot Games and GI Joe are good. In that order, as quality goes. Benjamin Button is amazing. Clear and Present Danger should have been on the list: it’s better than Patriot Games, which is still pretty good. GI Joe is a pointless thriller, but it’s a GOOD pointless thriller.
#5. You can go to Walmart bargain bin and find some of these movies for $5.99
I soon choose my own movies the old fashioned way DVD
Yes, I still like browsing in an actual store for dvds, cds, books…. I’m sure these venues will eventually go the way of the dinosaur, too.
I don’t mind Patriot Games or Hunt For Red October… the rest, I’d have no interest in seeing.
Hard drives full of Star Trek…? If they could ever see their way clear to an affordable drive full of ALL Star Trek series and films, I’d consider it. I wouldn’t want to have to take out a loan to buy it….
There are a few good movies. Hunt for red october and of course Trek and Ghost and Sky Capt. But the rest are so so at best. But I like what they are trying to do. But I will wait a while as Im sure there will be better things coming out. Just like the I Phone from a couple of years ago.
Dumbest. Idea. Ever.
One word. Format.
Where the heck are the eSata drives, Seagate?
Until you start moving large amounts of data across a USB 2.0 conection (vs. using eSata) you won’t know what I’m talking about. It’s akin to riding a bicycle instead of racing a Ferrari.
Then again, Seagate drives are hits and misses… like Ferrari engines. :)
At least is comes preloaded with a good movie.
LAST year I bought a Seagate 1 TeraByte external drive for $115. It was on sale at one of the office supply chains. It’s very reliable and harder than heck to fill.
FAIL
does anyone know if u can plug this into a ps3 for extra hd space
D•U•M•B
As for the quality of Seagate, a few years ago I bought an iomega 500gb drive to hook up to my Mac. It was €170 (expensive, I know, but it was three years ago), and came with USB2.0 (with a built-in hub) and FireWire400 built in, the latter being my interface of choice since I find USB2.0 too slow and I had a FW400 port free on my Macs. So, I recommend iomega. It’s stood me in good stead since then.
A better deal would be one of those new solid-state drives…
I love Sky Captain… that should have been a series.
1TB drives for under $100: http://snipurl.com/vgepm they sold their special 1.5 TB’s before I could get one!
Still, a sweet deal…
Seems like a grest idea at first, but the more I think about it the sillier it seems.
I would be willing to bet that anyone who is a big enough ST fan to make a hard drive selection because ST09 is on it probably owns the film already. Also, ST09 can be downloaded from the iTunes store, if not at $9.99, then not a whole lot more.
Plus – anyone who would willingly shell out $9.99 for a digital copy of The Love Guru is in need of serious help.
What? Where’s the Firewire? :)
I think the reason this has come out is because movie studios realize that computer literate people can pretty much already download digital copies of virtually any movie or TV show in existence through torrent sites or with Rapidshare or any other file sharing service for next to nothing. There is money to be made with digital copies and this Hard Drive is a way to try and curb illegal downloads buy making legal digital copies more accessible to everyone. If you are a fan of movies or television the biggest advantage for having 500gb-2TB is being able to store high quality HD or SD rips of all your favorite stuff without the hassle of discs. With all these excellent digital formats like good old .avi to the awesome .mkv the sky is the limit!
I bought this drive and the e-mail that came back for registering it had no coupon code for a free Star Trek movie. I tried registering three times and poured over every part of the process and the documentation that came with it. Did anybody else buy it and successfully get a free activated Star Trek Movie? I would love to hear how you did it? There is not a clear path for contacting Seagate about my roblem either.
You have to register the drive at the website to receive an unlock code for Star Trek. seagate.paramountshop.com/store/help You also have to be using Microsoft Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player 11. It does work don’t give up so easily.
I’ve been given two or three codes now from Seagate tech people and it’s still not working. Using IE and WMP 11 on brand new Dell Windows 7 system.
The error always seems to suggest that the codes are already in use.
Either:
Can not apply coupon from same rule.
Or:
Coupon has been applied from same promotions
They are still trying to help me, but how hard is it to put a code in click on a button?
Never got the code and already own the movie on Blu Ray. Just was curious about the quality. DVDs are $5 everywhere, if they offered these for less than a hard copy (maybe a buck or 2) it may be worth it but still have never received my code? As far as others who say all the movies suck, well I would have to say that is a matter of opinion not fact! I watch shows that I think suck every day on commercial TV, I still watch anyway… and pay almost $200 a month for fios HD triple play $6.50 a day whether I watch it or not.
I had a 750gb seagate desk drive die on me in less than 6 months, started clicking and almost lost everything. I have had a freeagent portable 880gb for almost a year now and it works like a dream, no wall wart so its easy to carry and hookup.
Dear Sirs:I bought my [[Free Agent Go Flex/Seagate drive]] from best buy not my favorite store.I*m not fond of (radio shack) & the jury is still out on (office depot).This is my 2nd Seagate Drive/as I recall I bought it in earley MAR.,2011.-I got an expansion drive,cause I like having the extra space.Also I don*t want to use cloud /or Dell data safe/don*t want to pay monthly for them either…{{eula`s}} give me a headache. So on my Free Agent Drive there is a 2.1 Hr copy of the new Star Trek movie. I can*t run it and the other movie clips that run 0 Sec`s,what the hell is that ! The dead line to get Star Trek to play off the Seagate was 15 Mar.2011. I*v the feeling if I*d gone on line to try to get it to run off “my“ drive it would not of worked any way..If its too late for me to run (ST) can seagate paramont send me a coupon for 60% off the price of buying the dvd/I always felt using a computer to watch a movie or run a dvd was a bit wierd/tedious and more involved then it needs to be.,JES,10 APR 11
Isn’t it great we can tell everyone how we really feel about products.
I should have read all this crap before I bought mine.
Any USB or flash drive will work on PS3 as long it is formated FAT32.
Still, Sony sucks on browser / pictures / music / folders in a folder / &
just down to earth file handling.
Still the good out weighs the bad . . .I guess.