Seagate’s GoFlex drive has an unusual two-part design that consists of the main drive unit and a separate ‘desk adaptor’ that houses its USB 3.0 interface and also acts as a stand for the drive. The idea is that you can buy a different adaptor if you need to – perhaps one with a FireWire adaptor for a Mac. You can also buy the drives on their own at a slightly lower price, then simply connect each drive to the adaptor as required.
- See Iomega Prestige review
- See LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt 2TB review
- See Western Digital My Passport for Mac 1TB review
It’s an interesting idea, although it doesn’t strike us as giving the GoFlex any great advantage over its more conventional rivals. However, the drive works well and emerged as one of the top performers in our tests. Its overall sequential speed of 150.50MBps put it neck and neck with the Hitachi Touro Pro for read performance, and it nudged ahead of the Touro Pro with a speed of 119.30MBps for writing performance. That pattern was repeated when copying smaller files: the GoFlex and Touro Pro read files at 54MBps, while the GoFlex pulled even further ahead when writing small files to achieve a speed of 85.56MBps.
Review from 20/10/2010
Danny Chamoun
Seagate's FreeAgent GoFlex Desk External Drive is a good-value USB 2.0 external hard drive. Its 192bit encryption and 3TB capacity make it ideal for those seeking serious storage, data security and peace of mind.
Seagate's FreeAgent GoFlex Desk External Drive is a 3TB USB 2.0 external hard drive. Optional adaptors can be used to add USB 3.0 and FireWire connectivity.
The Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk External Drive is relatively slim considering its huge storage capacity. It’s somewhat skinnier than the Western Digital MyBook World Edition (1TB) (44mm), although slightly taller (158mm).
The Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk External Drive has a detachable bottom tray that allows users to switch between USB 2.0, USB 3.0 and FireWire 800 connections (the USB 3.0 and FireWire adaptors are sold separately). While this is convenient, the tray doesn't feel as sturdy as we'd like. During our tests, the unit toppled over after a minor knock (luckily, it wasn't near the desk's edge).
The external hard drive has four LEDs that act as a capacity drive. There's a SATA port hidden underneath the detachable tray; if you use it you'll need to sit the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk External Drive flat on its side and the capacity gauge won't work, however.
The 3TB Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk External Drive comes with a ‘Seagate Dashboard’ interface, which handles backup management, synchronisation and data encryption. When prompted to install the hard drive’s Memeo backup software, you can either install the free (but limited) version, or trial the premium version for 30 days. The premium version allows you to backup data online or to specific locations on the drive.
Overall, the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk External Drive impressed us during our USB 2.0 storage benchmarking tests. During our 19.4GB large file benchmark reading test, the hard drive produced an average speed of 29.2MB per second (MBps) and completed the task in 12 minutes and 57 seconds. During our 19.4GB large file writing test, the unit generated an average speed of 29.5MBps and finished the job in 13 minutes and three seconds.
In our 3GB small file benchmark reading test, the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk External Drive demonstrated an average speed of 16.6MBps, tidying up at three minutes and nine seconds. During our 3GB small file writing benchmark, the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk External Drive delivered an average speed of 12.7MBps, checking out at four minutes.
Verdict:
The Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk External Drive offers reasonably good value. It's a great option for anyone who is after serious storage capacity, security and peace of mind.
Comments
Gondemare said: Good - Great capacity for price USBBad - pointless docking system unless you buy another dock at 40 user interface not great to many presumptious pre sets like folders that you cannot rename etc difficult amp geeky to set up remote access mine disappeared from myPS3 and ipad then went wrong I took it back for a refundVerdict - Brought a WD GoLive 2tb - Much better UI faster transfer speeds all folders and settings user configurable remote access ridiculously easy to set up via phone app just add a code and your done Much faster streaming speeds Much much better product allround
Samrat Sarkar said: I purchased a 500GB Seagate agent free external hard disc 3 to 4 years back from Kolkata The Hard disc functioned well inspite to inserting the same in many virus affected PCs One year back I tried to scan the HD using Norton 360Total protection AntVirus The HD stopped all of a sudden an the indicator light started blinkingI tried to connect the same with other Lap top and PC but could not beidentified by the OSI even took the same to an authorised service centre for servicing I was told that the Hard Disc is damaged and could not be repaired They also informed me that Hard disc is out of warrranty period and that Seagate has stopped there dealership Servicing centre in India and would be right to go for other brand in futureI contacted Sea gate Global Customer care for further assistance They informed me that my HD is within the warranty period and can be easily replaced I did accordingly and received a brand new sealed packed Hard DiscHD Thanks to Global Customer Care service for their assistanceSamratTalcherOdishaIndia
Ashlb said: I have purchased one and it the connection has just been broken and loose So although as software it seems fine its mechanical hardware is NOT reliable
pc repairs blyth said: got 2 of these drives never let me down seagate all the way for me