Reviews for Seagate FreeAgent Pro Desktop 750 GB External Hard Drive - Retail

FreeAgent Pro External 750GB Hard Drive

Strengths: Large capacity drive with Firewire to access in older Macs. The industrial design is very well done and the lighted rim is a great indicator that the drive is on. The modular connector port is simple.

Weakness: For Mac users the installed applications will not work. Ironically the software has Macintosh versions so it would be nice if it were included.

The FreeAgent External Drive is well packaged and the quick-start guide is easy to follow for connection to the drive and computer. The default connection module is USB but it was very easy to swap out to the FireWire connections for installation with my iMac. Although the drive is usable with both Macs and PCs, the software that is installed with the drive is not compatible with Macs. However, it is simple to format the drive for use with Macs (instructions available on Seagate's website). I was able to find a free version of backup software compatible with Macs that I was able to download on my computer and perform most of the backup functions available to PC users. The drive has been operating very well for me with quick backup and retrieval of data.

100% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Free Agent HD=Problems for Mac Owners+ Poor Design...

Strengths: None to speak of other than the 5 year warranty, it's just a LOT of problems for Mac Owners!

Weakness: Power On/Off Button doesn't work every time; Formatted Fat-32 for Windows as new, Mac OS X Leopard Disk Utility will NOT format it!--had to use 10.4.x Disk Utility; Bridge Chip unknown+ others

I had great hopes for this 750GB Seagate HD after reading the PriceGrabber reviews, but alas, this Mac owner had nothing but problems with Free Agent. 1st, Leopard 10.5.1's Disk Utility (v.11.0 (252))could NOT format the drive from Fat32 to OS X HFS+ Journaled, or any other variety for the Mac. I had to resort to my archived Disk Utility from Tiger, 10.4.x, which finally worked. 2nd, the "On/Off" soft-touch switch doesn't work every time, when powering it on, or off, so you have to resort to unplugging and plugging the power supply at the AC outlet, which effectively trips the PS and turns it on/off. 3rd, the bridge chip (whatever it is) is unidentifiable by Apple System Profiler, or any other Mac Utility. 4th, every time I tried to use it for an external iTunes Library, it wouldn't work correctly, why, I know not. However, what occurred was each time I added new movies it went into a different "directory" level, confusing iTunes, which then could not find older entries. Finally, I gave up and returned it for a refund, having purchased it at Wal-Mart.com, at my local Wal-Mart Store. Maybe it would work nominally as a backup drive, or simple storage for the Mac OS, but with all the above issues I do NOT recommend it for Mac owners, especially those running 10.5.x Leopard! By the way, I was using the FireWire interface, which is much preferable for OS X, or any version of the Mac OS, as it allows for booting and it's much faster in real-world testing vs USB 2.0. Just for grins, I tried using USB 2.0 with my G5 Dual Core 2.3Ghz PowerMac, and the drive was slower than molasses in January, as I suspected it would be.

100% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

SeaGate 750GB FreeAgent Pro

Strengths: Pretty fast for a hard drive; Easy to hook up; Lots of hard drive space; Price is reasonable

Weakness: Gets very hot; Confusing ON/OFF switch; Sometimes it doesn't completely turn off; Needs a lot of desktop space

I bought two of these hard drives hoping that they would perform reliably like my other SeaGate drives. In general, it works fine and is reasonably fast for large file transfers. However, the drive gets really hot (to the point where I had to call SeaGate to find out if the temperature was normal). Also, the ON/OFF switch is tricky. It took me a few tries to figure out that you have to stroke the button gently to get it to turn on. But to turn it off, you have to press down for a second. My last complaint is that I bought two and since they run so hot, they need a lot of air circulation space (at least 4 inches all around). So much for saving space. I will be switching these for one Maxtor 1.5TB drive in the near future, which has it's own internal cooling system.

100% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Good general use hard drive for Mac and PC

Strengths: Triple interface means its relatively future proof, 5 year warranty (most external drive warranties are only 1 year)

Weakness: None.

If you are looking for a mass storage drive at a reasonable price check out this Seagate. I've been using Seagates exclusively for the past few years and (knock on wood) they have been extremely reliable, even if they are not the fastest kid on the block. Seagate backs this up with a 5 year warranty, something that no other HD manufacturer I'm aware of does. Most external drives have a 1 year warranty.

This model allows you to connect it to your computer either via eSATA, USB2, or FW400. A bare case with these connections would cost $60 alone so this is a great value. It also means you'll never been stimied by having the wrong connector since this one has the three major one.

This drive is very quiet (no fan) and doesn't get all that hot either. It comes with backup software if you need that as well. Overall its a great value and one to strongly consider when deciding which external drive to buy.

100% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

FireWire & USB - but not at the same time ...

Strengths: Good value, fast drive, on/off switch

Weakness: Have to reconfigure to switch from USB to FireWire, gets really hot

Bought this at CostCo for $200 - good deal. I like the on/off switch - added convenience over the regular FreeAgent drives.

The drive comes with two interface modules, one for USB/SATA, the other with two FireWire ports. To use the drive in both modes you'll have to change the interface module. Very annoying. Why would I buy it if I didn't want to use both interfaces?
The USB/SATA module gets very hot, to hot to touch. Well, it comes with a 5 year warranty.

100% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

A very good 750GB firewire drive for the home..

Strengths: 5 year warranty, 750GB, FireWire 400, USB 2.0, SATA, 7200 rpm, 16MB cache, and nice design.

Weakness: You can not have FireWire and USB 2.0 at the same time. The software takes up lots of space.

Got this from Costco for $199. It took 10 minutes to setup on Windows XP Pro and Vista. The FreeAgent software works on Vista too.
Great deal! The bare Seagate drive at 750GB runs around the same price.
I will use this mainly for photos and data backup.

100% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Worst ext hdd eva...

Strengths: - worked well till it didnt

Weakness: - drive turns itself back on 15min after computer shutsdown - provided freeagent pro software crashes drive - requiring hard reset (i.e. power cord) - drive receives Windows write error - usb error

I purchased the 320GB model less than a week ago and it all seemed great for the first couple of hours, then after completing my backup of 27GB I shutdown my computer, therefore causing the drive to shutdown. The drive was clearly shutdown, no lights, no noise, nothing.

Then I returned to the room 30min later to find the drive back up and running without any user or pc input. I had to turn it off manually again via its power button. My computer was still off, i was the only one home, and there is nowhere in the manual (which is about 2.3 pages long) or on the seagate support site that states it should have such bahaviour.

I gave it the benefit of the doubt and returned the next night after work to test my luck once again. Not only was the above issue still present, but I was using the utilities that came with the drive (freeagent pro software) and selected to update the power saving modes and this crashed the drive! The software reported the operation had returned an error and had subsequently lost contact with the drive. Nothing fixed this except hard resetting the drive via a power plug 'adjustment'. My Windows XP SP2 3.4GHz, 1GB Ram, 2 year old PC then started detecting Windows delayed write errors (which could not be fixed by the Windows Firewall 'Advanced' settings - thanx seagate online support) and finally USB faults started occuring with windows no longer being able to connect to the drive.

Ive also seen similar reports on other sites about this device and the above problems since buying the product.

Looks great - sux hard

Im afraid elsewhere you should go...

71% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

A fine HD

Strengths: lots of space...cool light lets you know when it's on...great auto backup s/w runs real time

Weakness: odd on/off button

just hold your finger over the button for a second and it will click and turn off and the light goes off....to turn on just touch the button....
it's weird but once you get used to it then 750gb for $125 is nice

Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

I can figure out why it's on clearance

Strengths: Large amount of storage space for price paid

Weakness: Awkward software interface. Light always on when plugged in. Can't tell if it's turned on or off when not plugged into computer. Odd power button.

I bought this on clearance for $112, dramatically less than any 750GB external hard drive. I can't say it isn't a good 'bang-for-your-buck' deal, but I would never pay full price for this model and frankly, I'd probably stay clear from seagate products in the future without reading great reviews.

Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Nice looking, multi-interface high capacity external...

Strengths: Large capacity, nice lights, very quiet, USB E-SATA and Firewire, fast, industry leading 5 year warranty

Weakness: Power button sometimes works and sometimes doesn't, can't have firewire, usb and esata at the same time

This is a very nice looking hard drive. The drive glows when it is on and when it is in standby mode it dims. I like the lights but they can be easily turned off via the seagate software. The enclosure has no fan so it is very quiet, much quieter than other fanless enclosures I have used before. The speeds over firewire are very good too, more than 30MB/s.
The power button is a touch sensitive button but it doesn't always seem to work, sometimes it will turn off, sometimes it won't. Also, to get firewire, you have to swap out the interface card, so it is either firewire only, or USB and E-SATA.
Overall, this is a great external hard drive, I picked it up for a very good price at a wholesale club store. It comes with a phenomenal 5 year warranty so you don't have to worry about anything going wrong. Recommended!

Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

free agent 750

Strengths: 5 year warranty. Costs were better than WD. Backup software included in drive.

Weakness: Need to have product serial number for software.

I bought this to replace a WD My book that lasted just 8 months. Easy to install and windows picked up device with no problems. Had to search around for the product registration number. 5 year warranty vs My books 1 to 3 years. Backup program was easy to understand.

Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Seagate FreeAgent Pro USB/eSATA/FireWire external hard drive (750GB)

THE GOOD: AutoBackup and FreeAgent Tools software are easy to use and highly configurable; drive offers good gigabyte-per-dollar value; smooth interface with Internet Drive and Shutterfly; eSATA connectivity offers fast transfer speeds; elegant design; generous warranty. THE BAD: Mac users cant take advantage of the bundled software; software installation is a bit slow; accessing your data...

Read Full Review

Seagate FreeAgent Pro eSATA/USB2/FireWire

TestSeek.com has collected 19 expert reviews for Seagate FreeAgent Pro eSATA/USB2/FireWire and the average expert rating is 81 of 100. The average score reflects the expert community’s view on this product. Click below and use TestSeek.com to find all ratings, product awards and conclusions.

Read Full Review