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Seagate FreeAgent Pro 750 GB 3.5" USB 2.0/eSATA External Hard Drive | List Price: $399.99
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Brand: Seagate
Binding: Electronics
Warranty: 5 years warranty
Features: - 750 GB external hard drive connects to your computer via USB cable or eSATA
- 7200 RPM spindle speed for high-speed performance and fast read times
- Footprint is no bigger than a stapler; Just plug it in and you're ready to go
- Backup CDs, DVDs or store files and programs for on-the-go
- Includes external drive, USB 2.0 cable, AC power adapter, and quick start guide; 5-year limited warranty
Excellent Drive, Lackluster Software [Posted on 2008-05-23]
I like this drive, but it has some "issues" that you will have to work around or live with.
NO CABLE. This external FreeAgent drive does not come with an eSATA cable. You will want to get one. The problem is that there are a LOT of companies on the internet that are selling SATA products as eSATA products. There's a BIG difference. If you don't know what to look for, you can be fooled easily into buying something you'll regret later. You want to be informed before you buy any accessories. Use your favorite search engine to read up on "SATA vs. eSATA" or "SATA I vs. SATA II".
ADAPTER CARD. I have an older computer which has the slow-interfacing PCI card slots, and does not have USB 2.0 or eSATA ports. I could not find a PCI adapter card in this country with USB 2.0 and eSATA ports together on the same card. I bought one off of eBay, which was shipped from another country. Though the included drivers did not work, I subscribe to DriverAgent, Touchstone's driver update service. Their website was able to provide compatible drivers that do a fantastic job with the adapter card and this FreeAgent external drive.
You might wonder why anyone would consider feeding this high-speed drive with its high-speed eSATA connection, through a slow PCI card slot. Surprisingly, it performs VERY well! Transferring 45GB of my backup files from one drive to another normally takes about 8 hours. With this FreeAgent external drive, it only took 1-1/2 hours! It can take in data as fast as my computer can feed it. If fed through AGP or PCIe card slots, your data transfer rate will be even better than the results I got.
BACKUP & UTILITIES SOFTWARE. Backup software is included on this drive, and is set up to install as soon as the drive is plugged in. Of course, you are given the option to say "no". For me, the problem with this backup software is that it's lackluster. There are no "wow" features that would make me recommend this software over anyone else's. Furthermore, it's not disc-imaging software, my preference.
If you decide to store backups on this FreeAgent external drive using the included software, you cannot use this drive as additional storage space for your music files, photos, etc. In the process of creating a backup, the software will destroy anything already on it. You could partition this drive and use half for storage, and half for backups, but I did NOT experiment to see if the backup software destroys partitions. Sorry, I cannot answer that for you.
In Windows 2000, if you decide to NOT install the included software, you cannot remove the software files from the drive. Otherwise, if you do, the drive icon will turn to a white blank page. (This problem does not exist in Windows XP.) Using your computer's registry, there's a way to fix this problem AND remove the software files from the drive. It's too involved to discuss here. Search the internet for "customize drive icon", using your favorite search engine.
Another failure of the included software is that the Utilities do not work if this FreeAgent external drive is connected to your computer with an eSATA cable. The only function you get is "Run Drive Diagnostics". Then when you run it, you get a red diagnostic code telling you that your drive has a serious problem and needs servicing (it doesn't). Seagate is aware of this problem, and so states it on their website's Knowledge Base. If you wish to adjust the case lights and sleep interval of the drive (default is 15 minutes), you must install the included software, connecting this FreeAgent external drive to your computer via a USB 2.0 cable. Only then can you run the Utilities and make adjustments to the default settings.
One final caution: since this is still somewhat new technology, your favorite backup or disc-imaging software may not work if you have this FreeAgent external drive connected to your computer with an eSATA cable.
Multitude of problems [Posted on 2008-05-25]
An admission of partial guilt for the problems I had with my FreeAgent drive before I get into the details of other problems I discovered with this product. The design of the thing is going to cause headaches for numerous owners. The upright stance is top-heavy and on a number of instances the thing fell over before finally having fallen over one too many times, which brought about its demise. So, problem one: unstable design. As you know, bumping a hard drive is an invitation to disaster and that's exactly what happened to me.
After the final bump, an intermittent beep could be heard from somewhere within the casing. My computer could no longer find the drive. It makes sense to be able to get into a casing to get to the HD and attach it directly to your motherboard to see if the problem you now face is HD or FreeAgent system board related. Not gonna happen.
After looking into it on a number of sites related to numerous people having problems with this drive I discovered that the unit is physically impossible to get into without breaking it, thus voiding your warranty. If you have sensitive data on the drive and you cannot access it to erase the data you are now faced with a conundrum. You can't access the guts to destroy data, and if you open it to destroy it, the casing is ruined and non-returnable. Brilliant.
What I came across from other users with problems with FreeAgent machines is a wide array of difficulties ranging from the afore-mentioned wobbliness of the unit, power adapter problems, and general drive failure.
The main power adapter problem seems related to the two plugs in the base of the unit (which is pretty easy to get into). It seems not enough power is going into the system to run both the HD and the pretty lighting. People were losing their connectivity to the FreeAgent, but when the lighting plugs were disconnected, it miraculously worked again. Not very upstanding design with the power board there.
Quite a number of users also mentioned the system just not working any longer. Quite a few discovered via contact with Seagate that either the FreeAgent controller board had failed (which is very susceptible to the wobbliness bumps apparently) and others just had the HD go after only a few weeks or months of use.
Given the days of rework and lost data and rebuilding a new backup drive, etc. that this machine has cost me, and with what I've discovered from other users, there is no way that I can recommend it. Not without a serious re-design where the unit would LIE FLAT and therefore be much safer. That and a re-design of the controller board to be more rugged and better internal powering to run both the cute lighting and the HD. Given the number of users that used the words 'class action suit' in their summaries of disasters, I can't imagine Seagate won't get out of this design without some loss as well. Makes up for the loss of all our data I guess.
DO NOT BUY [Posted on 2008-06-01]
I bought this Hard Drive to back up a older Hard Drive. All I have to say is that this is the biggest waist of money that I have ever spent money on. Fist off the accrual piece of equipment is not bad. It worked for about 30 days then the USB port broke!! I cant use it I even bought eSATA cords and adapter for my computer! second the customer service at Seagate is by far the worst that I have ever dealt with. they have no way of fixing this it is not covered in the warranty and if they were smart obviously they are not they would sell the little adapter that comes of separately so people can buy them. I have read other reviews about the same problem. it seems that this happens more then just once so be warned. Go with a WD or something else.
Very Poor Design [Posted on 2008-06-21]
The first problem was turning this thing on, the second is turning it off- both require a lot of patience. The power button is awful, terrible, horrible. The unit seems to decide when and if it wants to function. We threw it in the garbage after less than two months.
You might be ok if you only use USB...but Esata? Run for the hills [Posted on 2008-07-16]
If you do a google search for "freeagent esata problems" you'll see the masses of problems people are having, over and over again. The esata function of this drive (and the rest of the freeagent PRO line up) is flawed and people are complaining/blogging/forum-ing about it in pretty high numbers.
One example...
http://blog.noegruts.com/2007/12/seagate-freeagent-pro-esata-problems.html
Now this is the 2nd, freeagent pro that has died on me. The first one lasted a month. The 2nd lasted a week. The same exact thing happened both times. I've used it on 2 different computers and it's the same problem. My data would get corrupted and the hard drive would become unreadable. Then the disk errors start coming. Checkdisk would salvage most of my data and temporarily fix it, but then the problems start all over again. Then it starts it's final stage of life. It shuts down, turns on, shuts down, turns on and hangs the computer. Keep in mind this happened on 2 different hard drives and two different computers.
It's wasted so much of my time, which is why i'm even writing this. Hopefully some can benefit from my bad experience with the freeagent pro line. Thank goodness I had my data backed up. It's just NOT a reliable product and I only wish I had known about these problems before I bought it.
Regarding USB MODE -
I have not had problems while using it in USB, other than how slow it is. See the specs on the website above. But if you're only using USB why not save the money and get the FreeAgent Desktop which doesn't have esata? I haven't had any problems with that one........yet. Time for me to look for a better storage solution.
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