We need storage and we need lots of it. Between all those songs, pictures, videos, and other multimedia content, there’s a good chance that your internal hard drive is starting to get pretty packed with files. Even if you’re not getting close to full capacity, you should probably invest in a reliable backup solution in case something were to happen to your computer. The last thing that you’d want is to lose all of those priceless family photos!
Seagate has long since established itself as a leader in the hard drive industry and one of their latest external offerings is not only attractive, but it’s also versatile and it comes with loads of storage capacity. The Seagate FreeAgent Pro external hard drive is now available with a whopping one terabyte of space; that’s 1000GB, folks!
Packaging Makes For a Great First Impression
I normally don’t spend too much time talking about the packaging for any given product, but Seagate Technology has really outdone themselves with the FreeAgent Pro 1TB external hard drive. Each individual component comes in its own anti-static bag and then the main product itself is protected by a nice egg carton-like cardboard enclosure.
There is no installation CD because all of the software has been pre-installed on the hard drive itself. Windows will automatically install all the necessary software to get you going, so the FreeAgent Pro is essentially plug-and-play. It’s only if you want to make use of the included “FreeAgent Tools” that you need to deal with any sort of real installation and configuration. The AutoBackup software is pretty handy, because it makes backing up your files a completely automated process, using a mix of incremental and full backup capabilities that you pretty much set and forget. Since most people tend to forget, that’s a good thing that there is someone remembering to do it.
In terms of the device itself, I’m very pleased with both the design and build quality of the FreeAgent Pro 1TB. The body is made up of what appears to be a brushed aluminum shell, but instead of the usual silver or black, Seagate has gone with a brown-bronze shade and it works very well. There is also a glossy portion that wraps all the way around and the Seagate logo on one side. These appear to be pretty unassuming until you power ‘er up and turn ‘er on.
What results is an orange-yellow glow that is actually quite attractive. I wouldn’t think that I’d like the look of an external hard drive that has been wrapped in brown and yellow, but the scheme works very well and makes for a rather professional — yet chic — appearance. The aesthetics on this are great. I guess since this thing is fully MAC compatible, it also needs to stylish.
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Where’s the On Switch?
You might also notice that the Seagate FreeAgent Pro lacks any sort of physical buttons whatsoever. This isn’t to say that you can’t turn it on and off! Instead, you’ll notice that there is a touch-sensitive power “button” in the base. There is one other thing that I should note: based on the appearance of the drive, you would think that it would detach from the base, but they are permanently attached. Don’t try to rip them apart! The button isn’t illuminated like the rest of the case, so it is somewhat hard to see. It’s almost like someone forgot to make it light up as it would go perfectly with the rest of the motif and allow you to find it in the dark.
Pick Your Connectivity Option
If you like versatility, you’ve got it. Many other external hard drives will only offer you one option for connecting to your computer — typically USB 2.0 — but the FreeAgent Pro comes with three connectivity options: USB 2.0, FireWire 400, and eSATA. The only caveat is that you have to swap out a little plastic piece in order to access alternative connection options.
The one that comes pre-installed on the drive gives you power, USB 2.0, and eSATA. This small unit can be removed using a flathead screwdriver or a quarter. Even when the screw is completely out, it still feels attached. All you need is a little yank and it’ll come out, letting you swap in the extra piece that provides a couple of FireWire ports. This is clearly aimed at the Mac folks as daisy chaining Firewire peripherals togther is fun. It’s too bad USB doesn’t do that.
These pieces can be found in the base. It’s a bit of a hassle not having all three options available to you at all times. I guess the rationale is that the base isn’t quite wide enough to accommodate three ports in addition to the port for the DC power adapter. Back to the Mac thing, they use Firewire, PC users like you and me use USB 2.0 or eSata.
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Performance
If you are attaching the Seagate FreeAgent Pro 1TB external hard drive to your desktop computer, you can probably expect that you won’t get the same level of performance as an equivalent 7200 RPM 3.5-inch internal drive. That’s a given for Firewire and USB. The speeds here are perfectly adequate for most of your needs and are right on par with similar offerings both from Seagate and their competitors. The eSata option is supposed to give you the best performance, similar to that of an internal drive so let’s see if that plays out here in our benchmarks under HD Tune.
USB 2.0
There’s nothing to call home about in terms of USB 2.0 performance. With the relatively straight line, performance is clearly bottleknecked by the interface.
FireWire 400
It’s no wonder why those Mac people are all over Firewire. The Firewire interface revealed not only greater performance, but it also does so at a remarkably low 4.3% CPU utilization. If you’ve got Firewire on your system, definitely use it.
eSATA
Finally, we have eSATA and we weren’t really surprised by the even further increase in performance as the performance of eSATA is very similar to most generation one internal SATA drives. CPU utilization was lower than USB and higher than Firewire 400 in our tests. The only problem with this interface is that it isn’t as pervasive as USB 2.0 or even Firewire. However, if you do have an eSATA port, definitely use it if you want the best possible performance. The only downside is that it isn’t as “Plug and Play” as the other two interfaces. We had to monkey around with it to get it to work and found that having to boot the system with the drive attached instead of having the option to attach it when we needed it was a bit clumsy.
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Conclusion
The Seagate FreeAgent Pro 1TB is a handsome piece of hardware. Encased in an aluminum and plastic monolithic enclosure, it certainly won’t be an eyesore on your computer desk. However, the FreeAgent Pro is certainly more than just a pretty face.
All of the HD Tune performance benchmarks show great performance numbers under USB 2.0, Firewire 400, and eSata, outclassing even that of the fastest flash drives and 2.5 inch portable drives. However, it’s clearly a winner when it comes to storage capacity. A terabyte is a lot of space these days. With the performance, there is a price paid in terms of portability. Because it has a 3.5-inch 7200rpm hard drive on the inside, you’ll need an external power source (read: power outlet), and this makes it less portable than many 2.5-inch external drives. It’s no midget either so sticking it down your pants might not be such a hot idea. The FreeAgent Pro is best left tethered to the desk as a watchful guardian of your backups, and it helps that the software does most of that for you.
I’m very pleased with how this drive looks and performs, and the AutoBackup software is a nice bonus. If you’re looking for an easy-to-use backup solution for all your multimedia, this terabyte external drive is a great option. The FreeAgent Pro — with the trio of interfaces — is also available in 320GB, 500GB, and 750GB versions. Editors’ Choice folks.
Pros
- Brown-bronze aluminum with yellow lighting looks great
- One terabyte is a lot of space
- Versatile connectivity options
- Excellent build quality
- Incredibly easy to setup and use
Cons
- Could be overkill for some customers
- Yellow lighting can get annoying after a while
- Requires external power source
- No eSATA cable included in the box
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