A reliable and sturdy product

In the world of portable media, it's important to have the storage for whatever files you have. In this particular case, I upgraded from an old Seagate 40GB drive to this newer FreeAgent 500GB. So far, I haven't been disappointed.

First, I've shot over 16 GB of videos and photographs since the beginning of the year. When I'm not with family (and sometimes when I am), I'm shooting photography. It's somewhat of a hobby. Despite this, I've always heard good things about Seagate. Between Seagate and Western Digital, the reviews and advice I've received from co-workers have always said that their drives “last forever”. As such, I've come to trust Seagate as a brand. So far, I have yet to see a device of theirs fail. With that said, moving on to the Seagate Free Agent 500 GB USB2.0 Drive.

First off, you must understand the limitations of USB. USB is burst transmission. As such this drive will not provide a steady transfer rate, but instead sends information in bursts. This is OK with me, since USB is also the most compatible connection (as Mac, Linux, and Windows support USB). In addition to this, USB is the most wide spread connection type, so the FreeAgent is a natural choice. With USB2.0 file transfers move fairly quickly. Because of the burst transmission, smaller files seem to transfer quicker than one large file.

I've heard people say that these drives are unreliable. Since I purchased this drive back in November 2007, I wanted to be sure it was reliable before I wrote a review. So far, so good. The FreeAgent 500GB has held all my data without any degradation. File transfers remain constant in speed. I'm not seeing any performance problems at all. They do include software to enhance the experience and ensure compatibility, but I haven't used it once nor needed to. This product has remained top shape.

I carry this product around in my backpack, and sometimes without thinking tend to throw it around. Surprisingly, this product seems fairly shock resistant. Despite having been kicked a few times and dropped, I haven't seen any problems or decreased performance.

The only thing I can complain about is the power supply. The transformer is a bit larger than a single slot in a power strip. Because of this, it takes little more than 1 slot. I would've liked to see something more like my Everio Camera, which has a transformer that's vertically placed and fits nicely in 1 outlet slot on a power strip.

Overall, I'm pleased with this product. On a Black Friday special, I only paid $80 for this device and haven't looked back. To date, I've only filled 100 GB, but there's still plenty of room for growth. I strongly recommend this product. I've never seen a dead Seagate Drive, and I believe this product is a lasting product, based on what I've witnessed and put my FreeAgent 500GB through.