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Seagate FreeAgent Go 250 GB 2008
| Caractéristiques | |||
| Capacity | 250 GB | ||
| Format | 2.5 inches | ||
| Interface | USB 2.0 | ||
| Rotation Speed | 5400 rpm | ||
| Cache | N.C. | ||
 Show all specifications
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| Write Speed | NC |
| Read Speed | NC |
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Pierre-Jean Alzieu
Test date: February 19, 2009
Test date: February 19, 2009
Software supplied
The manufacturer supplies a piece of software called Seagate Manager with the FreeAgent Pro. A small piece of software that can be very useful. It is possible to use it to program synchronisation of files, data encryption and even set power supply parameters, such as for example turning itself off after 5 minutes of inactivity. No need for an installation CD. When you link up the external disk drive, it asks you to install the software on directly on your computer. However, you'll have to reinstall it if you want to use the drive on another computer.
Seagate is renewing its range of 2.5 inch drives. We think the FreeAgent GB is now much nicer to look at. The casing is thinner, but is also more robust, thanks to the aluminium alloy underlined with a white slab of plastic. What's more, you can choose between four colours: grey, blue, red and black. Seagate says that this is the ultimate in current portable storage solutions but it only has USB 2.0 for the PC version. We would have expected at least FireWire400 or even eSata.
A socket option
The constructor gives us the option of a socket with this external disk drive. Although this may not increase speeds it should make your link up with the computer easier. However it isn't indispensable. And it does cost something.
Performances are down
As we have said, the design has changed, however read and write speeds show no improvement on the previous version. They even seem to be down. We managed to get an average of 23 MB/s for write speeds while the Maxtor One Touch 4 Mini is far ahead with 28 MB/s. It's the same for read speeds. Maxtor has an advantage with an average of 33.4 MB/s against 27.6 MB/s for the Seagate.
USB 2.0 (MB/s)
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Be sure to back up the software before formatting
Seagate includes software with its external disk drive. Note that it is supplied directly on the drive and not on CD. Make sure you back up the software somewhere before you do anything else if you think you're going to need to use it. Users often want to format their drives and if you haven't backed up the programme installation file, you'll spend a lot of time getting it off the manufacturer website later.
Be sure to back up the software before formatting
Seagate includes software with its external disk drive. Note that it is supplied directly on the drive and not on CD. Make sure you back up the software somewhere before you do anything else if you think you're going to need to use it. Users often want to format their drives and if you haven't backed up the programme installation file, you'll spend a lot of time getting it off the manufacturer website later.
Pluses
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Elegant, understated design
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Strong thin casing
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Comes with software
Minuses
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Access time: 22 ms
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Poor read and write speeds
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No FireWire200 or eSata
The new FreeAgent GB has a nice design. But nothing has changed in terms of read and write speeds. It has the lowest score in our survey. When will they give us a third version with a nice design and suitable transfer speeds?
