FreeAgent Desk 1TB Review

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Today it dawned on me that I needed to buy an external hard drive. 

Purchase

So I compared prices on futureshop.ca and newegg.ca (usually newegg should be cheaper) after I researched a bit I decided to buy the Seagate FreeAgent Desk 1TB. At futureshop it was 146.73 after tax while on newegg it was 151 (also at futureshop I didn’t have to wait for delivery because of the local store.) So I bought it in the Downtown Montreal store.

Design

After getting home I noticed a few Pros just about the packaging! The box comes with plastic compartments for organization. This means that you can reuse the box for moving etc, instead of just throwing it away (Green points). So now the box is sitting in my closet for when I need it. The Design of the Hard drive is really smooth and flowing. It has a very macesc look to it (even the cables). Another pro that I found was the Ac Adaptor, not only is it 110/220 Automatic voltage (sometimes I travel to countries with different voltage systems), but it also has a removable plug so you can change the face to match another country’s wall plug (Eg. UK, US, ETC).img_2192

img_2195Performance

I found that the performance was good for copying files from my laptop’s hard drive. It averaged about 17-18mb per second on Windows 7 Build 7000. However I did a hdtune benchmark and here are the results:

hdtuneSoftware

I found that the Seagate Manager software is good, however it has a minor flaw that would keep me from using it. It can’t backup a whole partition, only folders. Yet the software allows you to run automatic backups at times you desire so that is a plus. However I do have to dock it down for the partition issue, maybe in the future it will be able to. Finally the great part about the software is that it lets you control the drive. It lets you decide when to power off the drive if it is not being used, so it can save electricity (green points). You can even control if you want the led on or not (I find this really cool).

seagatemanagerOverall the Seagate FreeAgent Desk 1TB Drive gets a [rating:4.5]

7 thoughts on “FreeAgent Desk 1TB Review”

  1. IT sounds good, but I just wanted to be 100% that it is compatible with 220 voltage. This I ask because at the Future Shop the salesman was certain that it was only 110 compatible, which did not make sense.

    Unfortunately, one could not see the actual item as they refused to open one for inspection.

    BTW I am from Sri Lanka and hope to use it here in my country which is 220 voltage. My daughter will be travelling to Quebec for a conference in October if it is not compatible will I be able to get a refund?

    The purchase will be made in Richmond, Canada. and the retrun for refund IF NECESSARY would have to be in Quebec.

    would appreciate an early reply as Thursday am is all i have to purchase it before I leave for Sri Lanka in the afternoon.

    thank you
    Regards
    F.de Vos

  3. Hi Kush,

    I live in Vancouver and just bought this external hard drive at the recommendation of a guy who works at Generic Computers on W. Broadway by Denny’s. When I came home, I wanted to read reviews and while yours is positive, I am concerned about comments posted on other websites by other purchasers of this product.

    I bought it primarily to store my movies but I would be heart broken if I lost them all.

    I am curious, are you still using this hard drive and do you still give it a high rating? I have read a number of comments where the product failed after 90 days. I realize that the hard drive comes with a 5 yr warranty but I prefer to not have to use it!

    Thanks

  4. I do not recommend this drive

    I have it for 4 months, generally for backup (doesn’t work hard) and the worse thing happened – it stopped working
    In the store they are happy to replace it but I need my data!

    Never Seagate again!

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