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: My favorite Firewire Drive
Summary: 5 Stars
I really love this drive and I have had no issues with it whatsoever. It is my favorite out of my 6 different Firewire drives. I am using it on a G4 Powerbook running 10.4.9, so I can say that there are no problems HERE with Mac compatibility. I have also used it with my G5 iMac.
What I like best about it is that it turns itself on and off when I wake and sleep my Powerbook, so that is one less thing to think about. I have been using it alot to record TV with an EyeTV device (no monthly fees to pay), so I often set up my Powerbook to wake and sleep itself when I am not home, and the drive wakes and sleeps right along with the Mac. The 7200-rpm drive records my audio/video with almost no glitches, unlike my (other) portable Firewire-bus powered drives which have frequent glitches (skipping etc), or my internal drive which isn't very usable for recording TV due to far too many glitches.
I also find that the drive is as cool as a cucumber. Those who had overheating apparently had defective fan control as well as their other problems. There are unfortunately lemons amongst all products.
The one thing I don't like about the drive is that the Firewire interface module is separate from the USB2/eSATA interface module (and takes the place of it in the base), so that I can't arbitrarily decide to use the drive with USB2 instead of Firewire (without spending a few minutes shuffling the parts around), but Firewire has better performance for sustained transfers anyway so I don't have much need to use USB2.
Digital camera Review: NOT what I expected from Seagate
Summary: 1 Stars
This device was trouble from the moment I took it out of the box. I am running Windows XP "home" version, which should be up to specs for the drive. I attached the firewire base, plugged it into the computer and the A/C and...nothing. Tried unplugging/plugging a few times, then gave up on firewire. Unscrewed the firewire base, screwed on the USB 2.0 base, ran through the same exercise as before...nothing. After several attempts (maybe 5 or 6), it finally connected with the Windows OS. But then...I tried using the "power switch" (more like a power "spot", not a real switch), and couldn't shut it off, till the 5th or so try. Then I couldn't turn it on again, till the 5th or so try. I really wanted to keep this unit and chuck all of that to a bad start, hoping it would go away, so when I finally had it recognized by Windows I began to back up a large directory. About 1/2 hour into it, I got a Windows error message that the data was lost, possibly due to the device. When I did a directory listing on it, there were NO files at all, nothing. Later that night, I turned it back on and replugged it...and everything was there again. That was enough for me. It's in a box waiting to go back to Amazon right now. So my major complaints:
1) Power switch only intermittently turned the unit on/off
2) Unit only made connection with Windows OS intermittently
3) Lost all data in the middle of a backup, for no apparent reason
4) Firewire never worked at all
5) Unit ran quite hot to the touch...I'd have been afraid to leave this thing on overnight for fear of starting a fire.
I would recommend another unit. I was really surprised that Seagate would market such a seemingly bad piece of merchandise. Buyer beware.
Digital camera Review: No module design has many issues
Summary: 2 Stars
The first FreeAgent drive that I received from Amazon did not have the separate modules for USB and firewire. Instead, this was a new version from Seagate that had a mini USB, mini firewire, full size firewire, and a esata connector all on the back of the base. The drive also contained a software manual for both PC and Mac. On the older version there was no software for the Mac. Some people before complained that the power switch does not work. With no instructions from Seagate I found that only a light, quick touch was required to turn it on. To turn off, just hold your finger on the switch for about 3 seconds. Now for the bad news.
From the beginning this drive never worked right. On the PC side running XP and using the firewire connection, it wouldn't consistently wake up or go to sleep when the computer was turned on or off. Also, sometimes the drive would keep spinning even though the light turned off. The only way to stop the drive was to use the power switch to turn it on and then off again. My PC did not have a USB 2.0 so I was unable to test that connection.
On the Mac side, my aluminum iMac did not consistently see the drive using the USB connection. When using the firewire, the drive would wake and sleep with the computer but the light would never turn off. The only way to turn the light off was to install their software and have the light always stay off. The drawback of installing the software is that the drive will start to go to sleep after only 1 min. and you will need to use a PC to make it stay awake longer. There is a very long thread on the Seagate forum discussing this issue.
After about 3 weeks of putting up with the quirks of this drive, it started making loud noises. I sent this back to Amazon and the replacement I received was the older version that still used the screw in modules. After about 2 months this drive is still working fine on my iMac using firewire. It sleeps and wakes when it's supposed to and the light turns off when it goes to sleep. Finally, since I'm now using a iMac with time machine, the lack of backup software is no big deal.
Digital camera Review: No problems from a Mac user.
Summary: 5 Stars
I run an iMac G5, OS 10.3.9. I'm using the fire wire adapter. I did not reformat the drive with Disk Utility because I want to be able to add data from pc's. After a month I haven't had any problems. Users don't get the full 500GB and partitions eat up space quickly. The size to price is a great value. The independent power supply and power buttons are nice features. The drive is quiet, quick, and has a nice glow. Wish list: 1. Mac software that does the same as the pc software. 2. more Mac support from Seagate. 3. all ports available because the adapter is easy to lose. 4. eSata adapter for the iMac. From my research there are no Macs that offer eSata interface. Let me know if you find something on this. Cheers.Digital camera Review: Not as happy as I should be
Summary: 2 Stars
Good product, well reviewed, good price, runs
my drive would power up and shut down repeatedly. Never got my computer to recognize the device because it wouldn't stay powered up. After an hour on the phone with tech support they told me to mail it back with a website to give me a pre- printed return address label. That's all cool, but in the fine print, your mailing cost to send it back is on the buyer and the returned unit will still have the 5 yr warranty but may be factory reconditioned. Hard to feel good about paying an extra $10 to ship and getting a less than new device!