Can you use a portable hardrive with the nexus 7?

Treating myself to a portable hardrive just to keep all my downloaded films, music and media all in one place. Could i plug my hardrive straight into the nexus 7 and then just copy the files over that i want to have onto my nexus or can i even stream a film directly from the hardrive lets say?

Thanks in advance

Sure... you need an OTG cable an an app like StickMount or Nexus Media Importer though.

Whats an OTG cable mate? are they easy to get old off/safe to use for the nexus

You can get them for a buck or two on Amazon.

[Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]

Just be aware, if you have an external "hard drive" with an actual spinning disc, it may not run directly off of the power that the N7 can provide. Some will, some require an external power source. Flash based drive (USB stick or thumb drives) should work.

-Suntan

Is there any way i can pick a hardrive based on wether it will work with the nexus 7 or not? i mean is there a specific specification that i need to look for in my hardrive before purchasing it so it will work with my nexus

thanks

Short of doing a search in this forum and/or others for someone that can confirm a specific drive works, I don't think so. I don't know if there is anyone keeping a list. You could look over at xda-developers. If there's going to be a big, long, confusing list; it will likely be over there.

-Suntan

I have a Buffalo Ministation with 500 GB and it works. Still gets powered up even when the N7 is below 14% battery life.

I couldn't get my portable hard drive to work, but my flash drive works fine, make sure you get nexus media importer though.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

You can definitely stream straight from external memory--but you need to get Nexus Media Importer if your device isn't rooted.

I've used this OTG cable: [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...] and it's pretty dang fragile. Your device has to be absolutely motionless otherwise you'll get disconnected. Problem got worse over time though, so in the beginning at least, it should be fine. Might have to do with the fact that it was L-shaped in the wrong direction in landscape mode.

I can't tell you which external hard drives would work with the N7, but for sure avoid the ones that require 2 USB ports lol. How much memory would you want to store? You could always get a 128GB flash drive like this: [Only registered and activated users can see links. Click Here To Register...]' no doubt those would work just fine. Though if you want to be economical, you could always get a handful of 32GB flash drives :P.

I just tried three external drives (all USB powered) and none will work on my N7 32GB. They light up, but make ticking sounds and won't show up when I do a "scan" with Nexus Media Importer. The ones I tried and that won't work are:
LaCie P9221
Hitachi SMD/250RD
Gateway HDD in a generic enclosure.

The hard drives power consumption is too demanding for the N7 's output. I guess that means we are confined to ssd USB jumpdrives.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

There are two routes to connecting USB external magnetic media like pendrives and hard disks: unrooted using (NotFree) Nexus Media Importer app which gives a very limited read only capability, rooted with free Stickmount app which gives more or less complete read/write access and integration. The Nexus 7 currently can NOT access USB hardwired external media without a helper app.

The USB hardwired connection must be via an usb-OTG cable or adapter. WiFi and Bluetooth access is also possible, BTW.

-- nexus media importer and USB devices seem to work best if ALREADY connected BEFORE booting your N7.in my experience.

-- some hard drives are not recognized by NMI, some are - that's just the way it is. Someone with Stickmount experience can let us know about their experience.

I use a Kingston Wi drive with mine. Works like a charm!

I Help You shy, i also have a buffalo ministation 500gb, am looking at getting a nexus 7, just wondered what cable you have and which app you use (prices if you wouldnt mind?) and how well it works too. does it lag at all when watching films etc....anything you can tell me i'd pretty much like to know haha.

cheers

Andy

Sorry for asking after a long time you have posted it, but which one exactly of the 500GB Buffalo ministations are you using?