Seagate FreeAgent Pro 500 GB USB 2.0/FireWire 400/eSATA Desktop External Hard Drive ST305004FPA1E3-RK by Seagate
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Digital camera reviews of Seagate FreeAgent Pro 500 GB USB 2.0/FireWire 400/eSATA Desktop External Hard Drive ST305004FPA1E3-RK
Digital camera Review: Great for use as PC backup. No problems. Would purchase again.
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been using this as a backup for both my desktop and laptop for over two years, and have had absolutely no issues with it. Am about to purchase a unit with larger capacity, and will likely purchase another Seagate. Fast, reliable, data easily retrieved. Can't comment on the quality of customer support, b/c haven't needed any to date. Waited this long to post a review to gauge how it performed over time. My previous unit, of a different brand, crapped out after just a year. I don't use this as a portable unit, as I prefer flash drives for that purpose, so can't comment along those lines either. For a stationary backup on a home network, I highly recommend it.Digital camera Review: Great product, works just fine, only one small complaint
Summary: 5 Stars
I've wanted an external hard drive for months now, and I thought for sure I'd get one of the Western Digital My Book drives -- very cool book-like design. But after reading all the middling reviews on the My Book drive, I finally elected to look elsewhere. The Seagate drives had good reviews (esp. the 360Gb drive, not so much the 500Gb drive, tho I don't understand why the disparity exists because they're essentially the same thing, only one is bigger).
The Seagate drive arrived last week so I fitted the FireWire adapter to the drive and set to work backing up each of my 4 computers. Worked just fine in every case using Norton Ghost (I didn't use the software that came with the Seagate drive). I was getting about 35Gb of data movement per hour using Norton Ghost to create the backup files and FireWire to transport them from my wife's laptop to the Seagate drive, but be aware that includes using disk verification after the backup is finished. I had similar results backing up three other computers in my home.
The drive is quiet! I can't really hear it, especially over the fan noise coming from my computer.
The drive is cool-looking! The amber glow -- which so distressed another reviewer that he had to put duct tape over it -- is hardly that bright at all, certainly nothing that ought to trouble anybody. Far better than those bright blue LED lights in use on so many computers and peripherals.
The drive has a great warranty! It has a five-year warranty. Note that he Western Digital My Book has only a ONE YEAR warranty. If you have confidence in the quality of your product, you'll have a longer warranty.
The only complaint I have, and if I could have, I'd have given this product only 4.5 stars instead of 5, is that you have the awkward design that requires the user to fit into the base of the drive an adapter that will either make the drive work with USB 2.0 or with FireWire 400. It's not a big deal, but I could see that somewhere down the line, I'll want to back-up using USB, but I won't remember where I put that dumb USB adapter. It would have been much nicer to have both USB and FireWire plugs in the base together.
Seagate did a nice job with packaging: The instruction manual essentially just said, "Plug it in, and it'll start working" (which was correct). It comes with both FireWire and USB cables, but be aware that the FireWire cable has big plugs at both ends, so it'll connect fine to most desktops, but for connecting with laptops, you'll most likely need a separate FireWire cable with the small plug to fit into the laptop FireWire port.
In all, it's worth 4.5 stars, but I can't do that with Amazon's rating system, but I like the drive a lot so I'm giving it the full 5 stars just so you'll consider this Seagate drive when you're in the market for an external drive. It's worth your notice!
Digital camera Review: Heavy stuff
Summary: 3 Stars
Overall good. But heavier than expected. I feel I should have gone for the HP 300GB stuff as the extra 200GB is not going to make big difference for a user like me.Digital camera Review: Horrible
Summary: 1 Stars
The firewire port stopped working after one day. Won't even turn on, just terrible. The power switch is cool if it would work. Just say no to the free agent proDigital camera Review: Impossible to turn on
Summary: 1 Stars
Horrendous customer service: after one hour on the phone waiting, the CS agent tells me that if I want to turn off/on the driver, I need to disconnect the power
Al Hoffeld's review is right: the drivers gets extremely hot after being connected for while, so it is also dangerous.
Regretfully, due to work trips, it is just in these weeks that I have been able to test fully the product so it is too late to return the product back to Amazon. Total waste of money, PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM THIS PRODUCT, shame on Seagate to put this "lemon" on the market.