[Review] Looking for A Reliable External Hard Drive for Your Mac?

 The Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex External Hard Drive is a good option for anyone looking for an affordable external hard drive.

Something that many computer users can all agree on is that you can never have enough storage. Sometimes you need storage that can move on the go - sometimes an eight gigabyte flash drive isn't enough. For those difficult times, we've found an external hard drive that will meet all of your needs. It's called the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex external hard drive. It comes in four tastes; 320GB ($69.99), 500GB ($99.99), 750GB ($99.99), 1TB ($138.87) so that you'll always have enough storage for your needs. The 750GB model is currently on sale. It's an ultra-portable case that's not too much larger than the hard disk drive itself at 4.4 x 3.2 x 0.6 inches and weighing in at only 5.3 ounces.


This Seagate external hard drive comes with more than just an external hard drive. It has two different kinds of docking solutions - one that stands upright and one that you can lay horizontally. By preference, I use the horizontal layout because it's more versatile and portable that way. The vertical layout is intended as more of a permanent solution for desktops, while the horizontal layout seems to be intended as more of a portable solution for laptops. The way this external hard drive works is pretty cool and you can use the part for more than this external hard drive.

It's basically a SATA to USB adapter. The SATA piece is connected to the wire via a micro USB cable. You can use this piece to connect any laptop storage drive to your laptop because only laptop drives are capable of running with the low power USB voltage. Because the connector is SATA, you can connect CD/DVD drives, solid state drives, or hard disk drives to your laptop through USB. So in addition to getting the external hard drive, you're getting a really useful tool that I've found to be quite handy at times. As far as the hard drive itself goes - it's just a 2.5 inch laptop hard drive in a plastic case that spins at 5400RPM.

Seagate doesn't leave you bone-dry at USB 2.0 speeds. The external hard drive adapter is configurable. You can choose between USB 2.0, USB 3.0, Firewire 800, or eSATA. This means you can get varying speeds depending on how much money you're willing to shell out. Unfortunately for newer Mac users, there is no thunderbolt connector option yet. Within the box, you'll find your adapter, external hard drive, vertical stand, Software DVD's, and literature containing directions. The software doesn't need to be installed to use the external hard drive.

For $99.99, the 500GB model that I bought has been more than useful. I've used it for keeping backups of my Mac and also for holding onto video editing content. Since I use a solid state drive in my MacBook Pro, having this external storage is useful. I recently installed the OWC Data Doubler so that I can have a second disk drive in my MacBook Pro, but with that plus this external hard drive, I have more than enough storage. I recommend this to anyone wanting to get more storage that can be brought on the go - it is compatible with both Mac and PC.

NOTE: The 750GB model is currently on sale through Amazon for the same price as the 500GB model. Get them while they're hot!

Sources: Amazon, Myself