Seagate FreeAgent Pro 500 GB 3.5 USB 2.0-eSATA-FireWire 400 External Hard Drive
Monday, September 1, 2008 13:50
Binding : Electronics
ProductGroup : CE
Manufacturer : Seagate
Brand : Seagate
Label : Seagate
Publisher : Seagate
Model : ST305004FPA1E3-RK
Studio : Seagate
Lowest Used Price: USD $95.00
Lowest New Price: USD $124.99
- 500 GB external hard drive connects to your computer via USB cable, eSATA, or FireWire 400
- 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
Ideal for accessing your content from anywhere, sharing it with anyone, and syncing it to almost anything, FreeAgent Pro allows you to automatically move your content to multiple locations, share your pictures online and automatically update without even thinking about it, and many more.
Amazon.com Product Description
For the person who needs access to their digital content away from home, at work, or online, while also allowing that same content to be shared in a secure setting, look no further than the Seagate Free Agent Pro Portable Hard Drive. This powerful portable hard drive delivers high-speed transfers, while also giving you the ability to share content with others safely and securely from a remote location or even online.
 Powerful storage device with a sleek new design. |
 This hip-looking hard drive takes up less room on your desk than an ordinary stapler. |
 Share your content with others safely and securely. |
The Free Agent Pro is also ideal for those who want quick and painless transfers of their data from their computer to their drive, and from their drive to online accounts (such as Shutterfly or email). Simply plug it in to any power source and connect the USB cable to any computer, and you're ready to go. This hip-looking hard drive takes up less room on your desk than an ordinary stapler--1 x 3 x 5.2 inches (H x D x W)-- giving you more space for your other desktop items. Meanwhile, the hard drive only measures 7.5 x 1.4 x 6.3-inches (H x D x W) and it matches its small base.
High Speed Synchronization and Sharing
The Free Agent Pro data mover automatically duplicates and moves selected content from your hard drive to multiple locations, such as copying your contact lists and emails to your iPod, or photos to a Shutterfly account. This feature also allows you to move your entire 'My Documents' folder to the Free Agent, or move it to your own online space where you (or others you choose) can access it from any browser 24/7. The Free Agent software also offers the feature of rolling back your system to better time if something should happen to your PC while automatic revisions of your content help keep you safe from goof-ups.
Move files or other content with either USB 2.0, eSATA, or FireWire 400 allowing a maximum transfer rate of 480Mb/sec for USB, and 3Gb/sec for eSATA, while delivering a high performance spindle speed of 7,200 RPM. The unit also comes with a sophisticated touch point power on/off switch.
The Free Agent Pro software and drive formatting works only with Windows, but the drive can easily be reformatted for a Mac with OS X's Disk Utility. This portable hard drive is also compatible with Windows Vista (as well as Windows XP and Windows 2000), allowing you to backup your content regardless of operating system upgrades. A five-year warranty is also included, giving you complete peace of mind. Now with the ability to take your data with you anywhere you go, your digital content finally has room to breathe.
What's in the Box
FreeAgent Pro data mover drive, Free Agent software (preloaded) and electronic documentation, USB2.0/eSATA/FireWire 400 interfaces, USB 2.0 cable, FireWire cable, AC power adapter, and a quick start guide.
Works great as just a external hard drive. (2008-12-24)
Did not like the FreeAgent software. It tried to take over my computer. It changed how I have to log in on start up. Before I could restart, and walk away, Now I have to click on "log on" name. It's a littel thing, but to me its a pain.
Quick and Easy Solution (2008-12-24)
Got this drive and had it installed and set up for auto-backup within 30 minutes. Great solution for backing up documents/photos/etc on home computers.
Only complaint I have is that the glowing yellow light keeps resetting and turning itself back on even though I have it set to off. However, this is nothing that would stop me from recommending this product
POG - Good as long as it lasted (2008-12-24)
And it lasted a little less than 5 months. It was working fine yesterday, today my computer(s) don't recognize the drive. A lot of researching and solutions on the net hasn't worked so far. While it has a 5 year warranty, it might be replaced with a refurbished one with a 90 day warranty, beware! Yes, it looks cool, has lot of storage at a reasonable price - that's what I thought when I bought it. I read these drives have had a lot of problems, might be the reason why I got them at a hundred bucks months ago! When you loose hundreds of gigabytes of data, there is no point in listing it's pros. For me it is a POG - piece of garbage, right now.
Seagate is Great (2008-11-24)
I needed a second external hard drive to protect my original MIDI music files. As a music composer I wanted a drive large enough to handle my arrangements and mp3 files along with my audio wav. files. The Seagate hard drive was my answer. It was easy to set up with no confusing driver configuration to worry about, just plug it in your computer usb port and an external ac outlet and off you go! It automatically knows when a new or changed file needs saving. It also easily saved all my files from my first external hard drive. If you have important data on your computer drive it's worth the money to get an external drive just in case you accidentally lose your precious files to a hard drive failure. Plan ahead!
One star not three (Amazon won't allow me to change my original rating) (2008-11-19)
This is an updated review, in which I go from 3 stars to 1 star.
First review: I gave this 3 stars with some reluctance. I bought it because it's a Seagate with a 5-yr warranty, and I've had good experience with Seagates. I use it as a photo backup drive; it is not powered up most of the time.
The drive works, in general, but with enough problems that I would not recommend it to a person without plenty of computer experience -- that is, my 80-something mother who simply needs a simple backup drive.
I manage to keep mine going because I can use DiskWarrior every few weeks to rebuild the directory when the drive becomes suddenly unreadable... which it does, inexplicably, and gives me the "Unreadable Drive" error message.
The on/off switch is a pain. Not really a switch, it's an embossed symbol on the base of the drive (I spent considerable time searching for it) that requires a hard press of the finger for up to 30 seconds before you get a response. Seagate! Why not a switch? Stupid.
It won't turn on at all if not plugged into a live firewire connection. That confused me for a while, as all my other drives will light up whether connected or not.
Occasionally this Seagate will not start at all. I've walked away in frustration, made a cup of tea, and come back to try again... and then it starts. Weird.
The original setup (I'm using a Mac) was a mess. I had read that the Free Agent software should be dumped and the drive erased so you can start out with a straightforward empty drive. But I decided for the fun of it to see what Free Agent was all about. The answer... it's all about hassle. Installation does not go according to Seagate's instructions. I have no idea why I would ever use it. But true, once you erase the drive, it becomes a nice big empty space to put stuff on.
Just be sure you have DiskWarrior, enough patience to deal with the weird power switch, and a second backup drive for the data on this one (I don't assume that I'll always be able to rebuild the directory; some day it could be fatal). But you should always have two backups anyway.
Updated review:
My tolerance for this product is gone. My previous review gave it three stars but now a faulty pattern has emerged that I find totally unacceptable.
This is the pattern: I've been using the drive. I want to disconnect the firewire cable. I dismount the drive properly in the finder (I use Mac Powerbook and MacBook). Then I wait 30 seconds, and press the power non-switch (that weird embossed symbol on the base that serves erratically as a power switch). Sometimes it takes a while, but I wait until the light goes off and I'm sure the drive has stopped spinning. Then I unplug the cable... and suddenly my computer starts yelling at me YOU DISCONNECTED THE DEVICE IMPROPERLY!!! MIGHT HAVE DAMAGED THE DEVICE!!!
Plug it back in, and sure enough, the drive is unreadable, and out comes DiskWarrior again, and I have to rebuild the directory...
This can't go on, can it?
