Seagate launches new FreeAgent drives

Darius Chang | Sep 26, 2008

The main selling point of Seagate's FreeAgent drives lies in the bundled software for Windows, which provides an easy interface to backup and encrypt your data. Moreover, recognizing that most people have digital content stored on multiple machines, the Seagate Drive Manager automatically synchronizes the latest updates and, at the same time, stores up to 10 archived copies of the changed file, much like Apple's Time Capsule. New upgrades include an optional S$49 (US$35.23) docking station with case for the FreeAgent Go drives as well as the latest desktop drives that can hold up to 1.5TB of data.

Model	Capacity (GB)	Connector	Color options	Price
FreeAgent Go Drive (2.5-inch)	250	USB 2.0	Silver, black	S$159 (US$114.33)
	320		Silver, black, blue, red	S$189 (US$135.90)
	500		Silver, red	S$299 (US$214.00)
FreeAgent Desk Drive	500	USB 2.0	Silver	S$169 (US$121.52)
	1,000			S$279 (US$200.62)
	1,500			S$349 (US$250.95)
FreeAgent XTreme	1,000	USB 2.0, FireWire 400, eSATA	Black	S$319 (US$229.38)
FreeAgent XTreme	1,500	USB 2.0, FireWire 400, eSATA	Black	S$399 (US$286.91)

How about Mac users? Well, we have good news and bad news. The good news is there's a line of FreeAgent drives which were designed specifically for Apple machines and with FireWire connectors. The bad news is you have to pay a premium for the drives, which can amount to almost S$150 (US$107.86) more for the portable version and S$250 (US$179.77) extra for the desktop edition. This is very high considering that the only extra feature is FireWire connectivity. Moreover, the Mac editions do not come with the Seagate Drive Manger software which is onnly for Windows. Let's not forget that Mac machines have no issues using USB storage devices.

When we spoke with the Seagate representative, his explanation was that market research on Apple users showed that they were willing to pay a premium for products designed specifically for Mac. Mac also has its own backup manager as well. Moreover, Seagate had to create a new production line for this new range which incurred additional costs as well.

Model	Capacity (GB)	Connector	Price
FreeAgent Go Drive for Mac	250	USB 2.0, FireWire 800/400	S$299 (US$214.00)
FreeAgent Go Drive for Mac	320	USB 2.0, FireWire 800/400	S$349 (US$250.95)
FreeAgent Desk Drive for Mac	500	USB 2.0, dual FireWire 800/400	S$299 (US$214.00)
	1000		S$499 (US$358.81)
	1500		S$599 (US$430.72)

The dual FireWire ports on the FreeAgent Desk Drive for Mac can be daisy-chained such that additional FireWire drives can be linked for bigger storage capacity. The FreeAgent Go Drive for Mac also comes with a FireWire docking station and case. With the exception of the 1.5TB desktop drive for Windows and Mac, which will be available in October, all the other storage devices are already available in stores.

Filed under: Notebooks, PC & Peripherals
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