The second drive that we got our grubby mits on for this shootout is the new Seagate FreeAgent Go that was launched here a few months ago.
This model is available in three capacities – 80GB, 120GB and 160GB. We had the latter as our review unit.
What really caught our eye is its simplicity both in design as well as the contents in the box – all you get with the FreeAgent Go is the drive and a Y-shape USB cable.
The drivers and bundled software are stored inside the disk itself.
The drive is grey and if you look at it from the side, it looks almost like a rubber doorstop. At least, it tries to move away from the typical flat brick design of other brands.
Just like the Buffalo Ministation offering, there is no button to be found on the device. Initially, we thought it does not come with any status LED indicator since none was visible.
However, once it is connected to a USB port you will be in for a surprise; a warm glowing yellow-orange LED illuminates the whole transparent plexiglass cover along the edge of the drive.
It glows steadily while the drive is idle, but pulses on and off while data is being transferred. Nice.
That’s not all, its USB cable is also longer than a standard version – even the Y-connector chord is longer, which is a nice touch as it allows user to easily hook it both to USB ports that are not located near each other.
Installing the drive and the included software is a snap.
Once connected the PC will prompt users to either install the included Ceedo software or just browse through its contents.
Ceedo is similar to the U3 and PortableApps software, which enables users to bring their PC’s settings such as bookmarks, passwords, and preferences as well as data and applications along with them.
It comes preinstalled with Internet Explorer, Outlook Express, Word, Excel and PowerPoint. You can also add other applications but this may require you to pay extra for the licences.
Once you connect the drive to a host PC, you can run these “personalised” applications directly from the FreeAgent Go.
Since the apps operate in an independent environment – using only the host PC’s resources such as processing power and Internet connection – they will leave no trace of activities on the host computer after you unplug the drive, ensuring anonymity and giving you a piece of mind.
As a side note, Ceedo is not exclusive to the FreeAgent Go as you can also purchase the application for US$30 if you want to install on other USB drives.
Additionally the drive comes equipped with the FreeAgent Tools utility that lets you manage your drive such as running diagnostics and adjusting the sleep interval.
It also keeps track of new files on your PC and updates the backup folder on the drive accordingly.
When it comes to data write speed, FreeAgent Go managed to shift 4GB of files in three minutes 50seconds at up to 18Mbps.
It read the files at two minutes 34 seconds at an average transfer rate of 28Mbps.
However, according to the result we got from both our benchmark programs, the drive data transfer speed can go up higher with CrystalDiskMark recording 23.93Mbps for write and 38.54Mbps for read.
Meanwhile HDTune returned a score of 33.8Mbps as the average transfer speed.
Unfortunately, when we conducted the manual test several times again, we still couldn’t get the higher transfer rates as recorded by both programs.
In terms of design, the FreeAgent Go is pleasing to the eyes and it does more than transport data or act as a backup storage.
Thanks to the included Ceedo software, you can turn any host PC that you hook the device to into your personal desktop PC while on the go.
Pros: Nice design, longer Y-cable, Ceedo software; auto sync application.
Cons: Nothing major.
FREEAGENT GO
(Seagate)
2.5in external portable hard disk
Speed: 5,400rpm
Software bundle: Ceedo, FreeAgent Tools
Dimensions (w x h x d): 122 x 99 x 18.5mm
Weight: 182g
Seagate FreeAgent Go on Youtube :
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