[Review] Looking for A Reliable External Hard Drive for Your Mac?

[Anthony Bouchard]

The Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex External Hard Drive is a good option for anyone looking for an affordable external hard drive.

Something that many computer users can all agree on is that you can never have enough storage. Sometimes you need storage that can move on the go - sometimes an eight gigabyte flash drive isn't enough. For those difficult times, we've found an external hard drive that will meet all of your needs. It's called the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex external hard drive. It comes in four tastes; 320GB ($69.99), 500GB ($99.99), 750GB ($99.99), 1TB ($138.87) so that you'll always have enough storage for your needs. The 750GB model is currently on sale. It's an ultra-portable case that's not too much larger than the hard disk drive itself at 4.4 x 3.2 x 0.6 inches and weighing in at only 5.3 ounces.

This Seagate external hard drive comes with more than just an external hard drive. It has two different kinds of docking solutions - one that stands upright and one that you can lay horizontally. By preference, I use the horizontal layout because it's more versatile and portable that way. The vertical layout is intended as more of a permanent solution for desktops, while the horizontal layout seems to be intended as more of a portable solution for laptops. The way this external hard drive works is pretty cool and you can use the part for more than this external hard drive.



It's basically a SATA to USB adapter. The SATA piece is connected to the wire via a micro USB cable. You can use this piece to connect any laptop storage drive to your laptop because only laptop drives are capable of running with the low power USB voltage. Because the connector is SATA, you can connect CD/DVD drives, solid state drives, or hard disk drives to your laptop through USB. So in addition to getting the external hard drive, you're getting a really useful tool that I've found to be quite handy at times. As far as the hard drive itself goes - it's just a 2.5 inch laptop hard drive in a plastic case that spins at 5400RPM.

Seagate doesn't leave you bone-dry at USB 2.0 speeds. The external hard drive adapter is configurable. You can choose between USB 2.0, USB 3.0, Firewire 800, or eSATA. This means you can get varying speeds depending on how much money you're willing to shell out. Unfortunately for newer Mac users, there is no thunderbolt connector option yet. Within the box, you'll find your adapter, external hard drive, vertical stand, Software DVD's, and literature containing directions. The software doesn't need to be installed to use the external hard drive.

For $99.99, the 500GB model that I bought has been more than useful. I've used it for keeping backups of my Mac and also for holding onto video editing content. Since I use a solid state drive in my MacBook Pro, having this external storage is useful. I recently installed the OWC Data Doubler so that I can have a second disk drive in my MacBook Pro, but with that plus this external hard drive, I have more than enough storage. I recommend this to anyone wanting to get more storage that can be brought on the go - it is compatible with both Mac and PC.

NOTE: The 750GB model is currently on sale through Amazon for the same price as the 500GB model. Get them while they're hot!

Sources: Amazon, Myself

[Doran]

I bought mine at Best Buy on sale for $79 1T. I load media on it to play on my MacBook Air. It's pretty useful

[Rob_1980]

I've had one for ages for my ps3, got it on offer (250gb), never had an issue, looks good as its gloss black finish and it's pretty small rather than desktop external hdd's

[aimetti]

i will never trust anything seagate ever again.
I have had enough of their drives crap out in little to no time to learn my lesson.

[DaLsim]

I got the 500GB, But only used 100gb for all my media. Still way more room then that 8gb of stick?

[thetoothfairy]

I use a iomega myself.

[Mlitz69]

The seagate I have only works on my pc anything else I plug it into it just spins up over and over

[BenderRodriguez]

I've had one for ages for my ps3, got it on offer (250gb), never had an issue, looks good as its gloss black finish and it's pretty small rather than desktop external hdd's

For ages.... So this article is old news?... slow news day I guess...

[Anthony Bouchard]

For ages.... So this article is old news?... slow news day I guess...

It's a review. Not news. So I'm just telling you that it's a good product.

I could technically go buy an Apple II and review it if I wanted to.

[Daerid]

I found the 1.5TB at Costco, about 3 months ago, for $99. Bought 3 of them.

[okitsugu]

i will never trust anything seagate ever again.
I have had enough of their drives crap out in little to no time to learn my lesson.

Same here. I have I believe 6 to 7 dead seagate drives. Ranging from 120gb to 2tbs drives. I got them because they were affordable but they all crapped out. I stay away from seagate completely now.

[sbrownuk1]

i wouldn't use seagate for any material that you cant afford to loose!, google seagate ticking hard drive, they are the most un reliable drive i have used , the new wd 1tb passport with usb 3 is far superior and much faster, and yes i have lost lots of data due this seagate fault in their hdds'

[Anthony Bouchard]

i wouldn't use seagate for any material that you cant afford to loose!, google seagate ticking hard drive, they are the most un reliable drive i have used , the new wd 1tb passport with usb 3 is far superior and much faster, and yes i have lost lots of data due this seagate fault in their hdds'

USB 3.0 is only good if you have a USB 3.0 port. But as I shared - this hard drive also has a USB 3.0 option

No problems here with mine.

[Joshuawilde]

I actually ran into an issue with my Seagate GoFlex drive a few days ago. I finally solved the problem by uninstalling everything that had to do with Seagate. Now it works perfectly.

[Anthony Bouchard]

I actually ran into an issue with my Seagate GoFlex drive a few days ago. I finally solved the problem by uninstalling everything that had to do with Seagate. Now it works perfectly.

I use mine without any software. Works great that way.

[feidhlim1986]

It's kinda expensive. I've gotten 1TB External Portable HDDs for the price of this 320GB.

[Anthony Bouchard]

It's kinda expensive. I've gotten 1TB External Portable HDDs for the price of this 320GB.

Those are generally large Desktop hard drive versions - no?

[ohthatguyagain]

I prefer the identical toshiba priced at $100 for 1 TB... Since seagate raised prices, I've found toshiba to be a great alternative.

Fun factoid: toshiba makes more products than most of us have ever heard of. They even produce nuclear reactors!!

[chstriker11]

i wouldn't use seagate for any material that you cant afford to loose!, google seagate ticking hard drive, they are the most un reliable drive i have used , the new wd 1tb passport with usb 3 is far superior and much faster, and yes i have lost lots of data due this seagate fault in their hdds'

Let's not mislead people, here. You clearly are mistreating your hard drives. I have been using seagate exclusively for 12 years, and I have never had one fail on me. Also, this GoFlex is no exception. USB3 may be superior to USB 2.0, but let's not forget this sports a SATA connector on the end attached to the drive itself. I have a firewire 800 adapter for this, which is FAR faster than USB 3. Not to mention, reported fail rates of WD surpass Seagate, but all of these tests are inconclusive. Get facts somewhat straight before ranting. This is a fantastic hard drive, and I believe Anthony is just giving the "MSRP" of the drive. Best buy sells the 1 TB drive now for close to $80. It is a great pickup, and the SATA adapter to different peripheral connections do come in handy in other situations as well. Amazing external drive, and I will not be switching until a thunderbolt external arrives.

[BenderRodriguez]

Let's not mislead people, here. You clearly are mistreating your hard drives. I have been using seagate exclusively for 12 years, and I have never had one fail on me. Also, this GoFlex is no exception. USB3 may be superior to USB 2.0, but let's not forget this sports a SATA connector on the end attached to the drive itself. I have a firewire 800 adapter for this, which is FAR faster than USB 3. Not to mention, reported fail rates of WD surpass Seagate, but all of these tests are inconclusive. Get facts somewhat straight before ranting. This is a fantastic hard drive, and I believe Anthony is just giving the "MSRP" of the drive. Best buy sells the 1 TB drive now for close to $80. It is a great pickup, and the SATA adapter to different peripheral connections do come in handy in other situations as well. Amazing external drive, and I will not be switching until a thunderbolt external arrives.

For $80 even after the flooding? I highly doubt that, and nice rant do you work for them or something?