Price : Too low to display
The 500gb silver goflex pro mac.
This review is from : Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Pro FireWire 800 USB 2.0 Ultra-Portable External Hard Drive for Mac STBB500100
Problem with Firewire adapter . I'm a little unsure how to rate this. Until actually trying out the hard drive, I was expecting it would be a 5 star rating. Seagate hard drives have been pretty reliable for me, and I have an older GoFlex hard drive which has held up well. The hard drive itself is quite svelte as far as these go. The major differentiating point of the GoFlex hard drives is that they can have multiple connection options (hence the "GoFlex" name). In addition to the rectangular hard drive itself, there is a small trapezoidal adapter that plugs into one end of the hard drive, which in turn allows different cords to plug into it. The box comes with two of these adapters and cords - a USB 2.0 adapter and a Firewire 800 adapter. The hard drive is pre-formatted to work with Macs, although it is a relatively simple matter to reformat this for Windows computers.
At first I tried out the Firewire connection with my Macbook Pro, as this has a much faster data transfer speed than USB 2.0. I hooked it up and ran Time Machine for a typical backup. After about 15 minutes I checked on how things were going. The backup had stopped after only 2GB but the computer was frozen and there was no way to get out of Time Machine without doing a hard reboot of the computer. When I unplugged the hard drive, the trapezoidal adapter was really hot (definitely not a good sign). Before giving up entirely on the hard drive, I swapped out the Firewire adapter for the USB 2.0 adapter and ran a hard drive utility test. The results showed the hard drive was fine, so I reformatted the hard drive and ran Time Machine again. This time the backup went fine, and the hard drive and adapter were no hotter than expected even after an hour of use.
My overall conclusion is that there must be a fault in the Firewire adapter/connection which is not seen with the USB 2.0 adapter. Still doesn't inspire a great deal of confidence, so I'll hold off on relying this as my primary backup for the time being. Since the USB backup went without problems, I'll give it 3/5 stars. If anything changes in the future I will update my review.
Problem with Firewire adapter . I'm a little unsure how to rate this. Until actually trying out the hard drive, I was expecting it would be a 5 star rating. Seagate hard drives have been pretty reliable for me, and I have an older GoFlex hard drive which has held up well. The hard drive itself is quite svelte as far as these go. The major differentiating point of the GoFlex hard drives is that they can have multiple connection options (hence the "GoFlex" name). In addition to the rectangular hard drive itself, there is a small trapezoidal adapter that plugs into one end of the hard drive, which in turn allows different cords to plug into it. The box comes with two of these adapters and cords - a USB 2.0 adapter and a Firewire 800 adapter. The hard drive is pre-formatted to work with Macs, although it is a relatively simple matter to reformat this for Windows computers.
At first I tried out the Firewire connection with my Macbook Pro, as this has a much faster data transfer speed than USB 2.0. I hooked it up and ran Time Machine for a typical backup. After about 15 minutes I checked on how things were going. The backup had stopped after only 2GB but the computer was frozen and there was no way to get out of Time Machine without doing a hard reboot of the computer. When I unplugged the hard drive, the trapezoidal adapter was really hot (definitely not a good sign). Before giving up entirely on the hard drive, I swapped out the Firewire adapter for the USB 2.0 adapter and ran a hard drive utility test. The results showed the hard drive was fine, so I reformatted the hard drive and ran Time Machine again. This time the backup went fine, and the hard drive and adapter were no hotter than expected even after an hour of use.
My overall conclusion is that there must be a fault in the Firewire adapter/connection which is not seen with the USB 2.0 adapter. Still doesn't inspire a great deal of confidence, so I'll hold off on relying this as my primary backup for the time being. Since the USB backup went without problems, I'll give it 3/5 stars. If anything changes in the future I will update my review.
Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Pro FireWire 800 USB 2.0 Ultra-Portable External Hard Drive for Mac STBB500100 Reviews
Runs pretty well on Windows But... . The GoFlex Pro for Mac is a great idea -- a compact (approx. 4x3x0.5") external hard drive from a trusted brand that uses both USB 2.0 and firewire (and is upgradable to USB 3.0), plug 'n play interfaces with Macs, and can be used with Windows. The size and cost are both very attractive, to boot. The only real question I had left was how well the interface with Windows would work.
The good news is that it generally works well. I found that videos played from the external across USB 2.0 on my clunky old computer running Windows XP with practically no noticeable delay. However, there are a few minor drawbacks that users planning to interface with Windows should know.
- The device does not plug 'n play with Windows. This is to be expected from a Mac formatted devise. You will need to go to [...]/crossplatform, download an installer program, run the installer program, and reboot the computer in order to interface. This will become tedious if you plan to use the GoFlex with numerous Windows machines.
- transferring over files is time intensive. As a test, I copied approximately 50 gigs of mixed media files from my computer to the GoFlex. It took approximately 50 minutes to complete the transfer. If you're only looking to move one or two files at a time, this won't be a problem, but the transfer rate on my particular old computer is appears to be about a gig a minute, and that's only if you aren't running any other programs at the time. The number can go a lot higher if you are, and my old clunker of a computer showed signs of being overtaxed when I attempted to start typing this review while it transferred. Generally speaking, this old clunker is maintained well and runs smoothly.
- the GoFlex comes preloaded with several files and folders that are not tucked away neatly in one sub folder. I am afraid to delete these for fear that it would interfere with the drive's OS, but I'm an organization freak and don't want to have to look at these folders every time I open the GoFlex. Someone with a little more knowledge of computers could probably decide for themselves if these files can be deleted or moved. I'm not willing to take the risk.
Still, I'm loving the extra 750 gigs of space I now have. Since nearly every computer I use at home and work is a PC, I probably won't be using this on the go, but I'll be making excellent use of it at home.
Runs pretty well on Windows But... . The GoFlex Pro for Mac is a great idea -- a compact (approx. 4x3x0.5") external hard drive from a trusted brand that uses both USB 2.0 and firewire (and is upgradable to USB 3.0), plug 'n play interfaces with Macs, and can be used with Windows. The size and cost are both very attractive, to boot. The only real question I had left was how well the interface with Windows would work.
The good news is that it generally works well. I found that videos played from the external across USB 2.0 on my clunky old computer running Windows XP with practically no noticeable delay. However, there are a few minor drawbacks that users planning to interface with Windows should know.
- The device does not plug 'n play with Windows. This is to be expected from a Mac formatted devise. You will need to go to [...]/crossplatform, download an installer program, run the installer program, and reboot the computer in order to interface. This will become tedious if you plan to use the GoFlex with numerous Windows machines.
- transferring over files is time intensive. As a test, I copied approximately 50 gigs of mixed media files from my computer to the GoFlex. It took approximately 50 minutes to complete the transfer. If you're only looking to move one or two files at a time, this won't be a problem, but the transfer rate on my particular old computer is appears to be about a gig a minute, and that's only if you aren't running any other programs at the time. The number can go a lot higher if you are, and my old clunker of a computer showed signs of being overtaxed when I attempted to start typing this review while it transferred. Generally speaking, this old clunker is maintained well and runs smoothly.
- the GoFlex comes preloaded with several files and folders that are not tucked away neatly in one sub folder. I am afraid to delete these for fear that it would interfere with the drive's OS, but I'm an organization freak and don't want to have to look at these folders every time I open the GoFlex. Someone with a little more knowledge of computers could probably decide for themselves if these files can be deleted or moved. I'm not willing to take the risk.
Still, I'm loving the extra 750 gigs of space I now have. Since nearly every computer I use at home and work is a PC, I probably won't be using this on the go, but I'll be making excellent use of it at home.
Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Pro FireWire 800 USB 2.0 Ultra-Portable External Hard Drive for Mac STBB500100 Opinions
Good value but don't touch it! . I was excited to get a FW 800 drive with a small form factor that had a 7200 rpm drive for my photos and videos. I was interested in this particular drive mostly over the G Drives because of it's smaller form factor but that turned out to be a little bit of a myth. The drive itself is a sleek, small size but when the FW800 adapter portion is added onto the drive it becomes quite a bit bigger. Not huge but bigger than my WD portables. The idea of simply switching and adapter to accommodate USB or FW is a novel one but in practice, makes the drive a little clunky. In addition, during a 500GB file transfer over FW 800, over the course of an hour the adapter portion got so hot that I could not touch that end of the drive with my bare hands. I've had dozens of portables over the years of many different brands and I've never had anything that got so hot. I might just relegate it to the desktop rather than carrying it around as a portable. Good product, so far, not great.
Good value but don't touch it! . I was excited to get a FW 800 drive with a small form factor that had a 7200 rpm drive for my photos and videos. I was interested in this particular drive mostly over the G Drives because of it's smaller form factor but that turned out to be a little bit of a myth. The drive itself is a sleek, small size but when the FW800 adapter portion is added onto the drive it becomes quite a bit bigger. Not huge but bigger than my WD portables. The idea of simply switching and adapter to accommodate USB or FW is a novel one but in practice, makes the drive a little clunky. In addition, during a 500GB file transfer over FW 800, over the course of an hour the adapter portion got so hot that I could not touch that end of the drive with my bare hands. I've had dozens of portables over the years of many different brands and I've never had anything that got so hot. I might just relegate it to the desktop rather than carrying it around as a portable. Good product, so far, not great.
Great for PC/Mac sharing - even after I dropped it!! . Holy cow I love this drive. I have a graveyard of PCs from the last few years and I was able to copy all their contents onto this drive and hook it up to my MacBook Pro. I additionally put all my wedding photos and video on this.
But the real reason I love this drive is that it fell off the desk onto the hardwood floor and shows no issues. It functions perfectly and all the content is fine. For a drive that's not solid-state, and given the crash when it hit the floor, I thought it was all lost.
Anyway, what else can I say - 750 gigs is years of my life. The Mac/PC sharing is great, and I love that it's alive after its fall!
Buy with confidence!
But the real reason I love this drive is that it fell off the desk onto the hardwood floor and shows no issues. It functions perfectly and all the content is fine. For a drive that's not solid-state, and given the crash when it hit the floor, I thought it was all lost.
Anyway, what else can I say - 750 gigs is years of my life. The Mac/PC sharing is great, and I love that it's alive after its fall!
Buy with confidence!
Not just for Macs a great Windows hard drive as well. . The Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Pro is a solid good looking mini external hard drive. The world is flooded with relatively inexpensive 2.5" SATA hard drives in generic USB mini slim external cases. The challenge for a disc maker/seller is how to differentiate and add value to this otherwise generic package.
The Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Pro does a number of things just right. The unit comes with BOTH USB 2.0 and FIREWIRE 800 interfaces and cables, and also supports eSATA and USB 3.0, when used with cable adapters sold by Seagate. A drive case might not seem like a big deal, but the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Pro arrives in a very nicely made and finished enclosure with a silver Mac like finish that will easily fit right in with recent model Macs that it is paired with. It is definitely a nicer enclosure than the generic models out there and creates a high quality impression. The unit is silent, as far as can be told in a normal work environment.
The Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Pro is formatted in the HFS+ file system used for Apple Macintosh computers. A HFS+ driver for Windows is included, allowing you to access and use the drive from a Windows system. However, it can also be reformatted for use with Windows systems only by using the DISKPART command from the DOS command prompt in Windows (Windows will not recognize the drive as a Windows formattable drive until it has been "cleaned" and partitioned using DISKPART). The unit supports use with the Mac Time Machine backup system. Seagate also sells add on cables that allow the drive to be used with eSATA and USB 3.0 interfaces. All in all a solid drive ad a great value. RECOMMENDED.
The Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Pro does a number of things just right. The unit comes with BOTH USB 2.0 and FIREWIRE 800 interfaces and cables, and also supports eSATA and USB 3.0, when used with cable adapters sold by Seagate. A drive case might not seem like a big deal, but the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Pro arrives in a very nicely made and finished enclosure with a silver Mac like finish that will easily fit right in with recent model Macs that it is paired with. It is definitely a nicer enclosure than the generic models out there and creates a high quality impression. The unit is silent, as far as can be told in a normal work environment.
The Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Pro is formatted in the HFS+ file system used for Apple Macintosh computers. A HFS+ driver for Windows is included, allowing you to access and use the drive from a Windows system. However, it can also be reformatted for use with Windows systems only by using the DISKPART command from the DOS command prompt in Windows (Windows will not recognize the drive as a Windows formattable drive until it has been "cleaned" and partitioned using DISKPART). The unit supports use with the Mac Time Machine backup system. Seagate also sells add on cables that allow the drive to be used with eSATA and USB 3.0 interfaces. All in all a solid drive ad a great value. RECOMMENDED.
Best ultra portable I've had! . Let's sum up the features of this drive:
Ultra portable
7200 RPM
Great drive capacity
..all the above with Firewire 800 (included) and the flexibility to go USB 3.0. What more can I say? This is an excellent choice considering there aren't that many external drives out there that have all these options bundled together (specially FW800 on such a small drive). The only other solutions I can think of that match these offerings come from OWC, but with a premium as well. I had a bigger drive that I was using for my backups and since it was a desktop solution, it was a chore plugging all the cables in. My MacBook Pro looked like it was on life support with so many cables everywhere. This nice powerful drive is so easy on the eyes, the swappable connections are awesome and keep the drive small. Last, I am very happy with this purchase. A very quiet drive and also does not heat up like some of the other drives I've used. Worth the price.
Ultra portable
7200 RPM
Great drive capacity
..all the above with Firewire 800 (included) and the flexibility to go USB 3.0. What more can I say? This is an excellent choice considering there aren't that many external drives out there that have all these options bundled together (specially FW800 on such a small drive). The only other solutions I can think of that match these offerings come from OWC, but with a premium as well. I had a bigger drive that I was using for my backups and since it was a desktop solution, it was a chore plugging all the cables in. My MacBook Pro looked like it was on life support with so many cables everywhere. This nice powerful drive is so easy on the eyes, the swappable connections are awesome and keep the drive small. Last, I am very happy with this purchase. A very quiet drive and also does not heat up like some of the other drives I've used. Worth the price.
Great tiny quiet drive! . This ultra-portable drive is small enough to fit into a back pocket, runs cool enough to never actually feel it warm up, is quiet enough to where you don't even hear it, and is fast enough to make the other features worthwhile! As I write this, I'm doing some speed tests, and I'm currently averaging just over 18MB/sec for writing (many small files) over the USB2 connection. It's currently hooked up to a Win7 machine.
While part of the draw to get this drive is to swap files between Mac and Windows, if you find yourself needing to use a drive (without using the SeaGate GoFlex software, free download), you can just reformat the drive to NTFS and it operates just like a standard drive.
The installation couldn't be much simpler: decide whether you want USB2 or FireWire800, plug that dongle into the back of the hard drive, and the other end of the cable into your machine. Done! (For those not technically savvy, the instructions on how to do anything was includes only pictures; not very impressive.) The drive, made and assembled in China, has a solid feel to it, and physically shaking it doesn't seem to cause it problems.
Overall, a well designed, great featured drive. However, this is the first SeaGate product I've had for quite some time after the "BSY" firmware debacle. (Basically, after a certain number of POST/reboots, the drive always reported it was busy even though it wasn't: many people lost all their data because of bad firmware from Seagate. More info, search "seagate bsy error.") While I plan on using this drive quite a bit, I'll personally hold off on making it a repository of important files without backups.
As far as the product goes: so far, would recommend. At three-quarter terabyte, the price point seems fair. It also seems like Seagate is putting a lot of marketing to hitch a ride on the Mac bandwagon. Yeah, Apple makes a great product... but this is a hard drive, and can work with pretty much any OS that happens to support USB/FW that can format to its native system.
While part of the draw to get this drive is to swap files between Mac and Windows, if you find yourself needing to use a drive (without using the SeaGate GoFlex software, free download), you can just reformat the drive to NTFS and it operates just like a standard drive.
The installation couldn't be much simpler: decide whether you want USB2 or FireWire800, plug that dongle into the back of the hard drive, and the other end of the cable into your machine. Done! (For those not technically savvy, the instructions on how to do anything was includes only pictures; not very impressive.) The drive, made and assembled in China, has a solid feel to it, and physically shaking it doesn't seem to cause it problems.
Overall, a well designed, great featured drive. However, this is the first SeaGate product I've had for quite some time after the "BSY" firmware debacle. (Basically, after a certain number of POST/reboots, the drive always reported it was busy even though it wasn't: many people lost all their data because of bad firmware from Seagate. More info, search "seagate bsy error.") While I plan on using this drive quite a bit, I'll personally hold off on making it a repository of important files without backups.
As far as the product goes: so far, would recommend. At three-quarter terabyte, the price point seems fair. It also seems like Seagate is putting a lot of marketing to hitch a ride on the Mac bandwagon. Yeah, Apple makes a great product... but this is a hard drive, and can work with pretty much any OS that happens to support USB/FW that can format to its native system.
Good external hard drive from Seagate . I really like the finish of this product. It is definitely more stylish that most external HD out there and is a great addition to your mac. I used a regular USB hard drive before and this is significantly faster that that especially for backing up large video files. If you have mac, this is a great backup drive at this price point.
A fast high-capacity hard drive for PCs and Macs. . The Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Pro external hard drive is a very good portable hard drive for PC and Mac users. Since it's a portable hard drive it's intended for laptop or MacBook users rather than desktops, but you can use this hard drive with any computer that has either a FireWire 800 port or a USB 2.0 port. Seagate chose to cover this hard drive in silver like most modern Mac accessories but the color of the finish isn't quite the same as a MacBook (I'd actually say the finish on the Seagate drive more closely resembles the finish on my old HP.
The FreeAngent GoFlex Pro is a plug-and-play drive like virtually every modern USB or FireWire hard drive. You can choose to reformat the drive if you want, but it isn't necessary. I noticed faster data transfer speeds (both faster write speed and faster read speed) via FireWire 800 compared to USB 2.0, but that is standard for any FireWire 800 device compared to USB 2.0. Since my PCs support the new USB 3.0 standard I was a little sad that this drive doesn't support "Super speed" USB 3.0 data transfers.
The Seagate drive feels pretty durable and I'm not concerned about the long-term survivability of this external hard drive right now. The 750GB storage capacity is more than enough for my entire iTunes library of music, videos and apps as well as all my business and personal files. In short, this is a great portable hard drive.
The FreeAngent GoFlex Pro is a plug-and-play drive like virtually every modern USB or FireWire hard drive. You can choose to reformat the drive if you want, but it isn't necessary. I noticed faster data transfer speeds (both faster write speed and faster read speed) via FireWire 800 compared to USB 2.0, but that is standard for any FireWire 800 device compared to USB 2.0. Since my PCs support the new USB 3.0 standard I was a little sad that this drive doesn't support "Super speed" USB 3.0 data transfers.
The Seagate drive feels pretty durable and I'm not concerned about the long-term survivability of this external hard drive right now. The 750GB storage capacity is more than enough for my entire iTunes library of music, videos and apps as well as all my business and personal files. In short, this is a great portable hard drive.
Clever design let's hope the innovation continues.... . The Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Pro FireWire 800 USB 2.0 Ultra-Portable External Hard Drive for Mac is a funny little hard drive, consisting of two units - the drive itself, which is contained in a small, rectangular sliver, and a separate rear end, which allows the drive to connect to your computer.
Unlike your body's however, the GoFlex's rear ends are swappable (oh, the hours I'd save on the treadmill if I could say the same!). The advantage to this is that keeps the main unit smaller and lighter than most comparable portable hard drives, and, in theory, is infinitely upgradable. At the time of this writing, the product comes with USB 2, and Firewire 800 connections. You can buy ESATA, USB 3.0 and desktop hub attachments separately. Their prices seem reasonable should you want to upgrade, although, if you have a computer with a USB 3.0 connection at the moment, I don't know why you wouldn't just buy a portable with that capacity rather than the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Pro and the 3.0 dongle.
In theory, the best thing about the GoFlex is it's potential to be future-proof. As the owner of a new MacBook, I'll be excited if they come out with a Thunderbolt add on. That would convince me the GoFlex platform is a worthwhile investment.
In the meantime, it's a nicely built, cost-competitive drive. It feels as fast over FW800 as other drives I've used, such as the LaCie Rugged All-Terrain 1 TB FireWire 800/FireWire 400/USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive 301924. If Seagate continues to update the line as new standards emerge, this could prove to be a savvy purchase.
Pros:
Should Seagate continue to support the design, potentially future-proof technology.
Fast 7,200 drive
Small and light
Competitive price
Comes with USB 2.0 and Firewire 800 connectors, eSATA, USB 3.0 and a desktop dock available separately
Cons:
Proprietary rear-ends may be easy to lose and inconvenient to replace.
The physical connection between the main unit and the connectors feels a little fragile - I try to disconnect it before I put it in my bag, as I don't want to subject it to any unnecessary jostling. I could see it becoming loose or wearing down over time.
Remains to be seen if Seagate will manufacture connectors for new technology, such as Thunderbolt.
Unlike your body's however, the GoFlex's rear ends are swappable (oh, the hours I'd save on the treadmill if I could say the same!). The advantage to this is that keeps the main unit smaller and lighter than most comparable portable hard drives, and, in theory, is infinitely upgradable. At the time of this writing, the product comes with USB 2, and Firewire 800 connections. You can buy ESATA, USB 3.0 and desktop hub attachments separately. Their prices seem reasonable should you want to upgrade, although, if you have a computer with a USB 3.0 connection at the moment, I don't know why you wouldn't just buy a portable with that capacity rather than the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Pro and the 3.0 dongle.
In theory, the best thing about the GoFlex is it's potential to be future-proof. As the owner of a new MacBook, I'll be excited if they come out with a Thunderbolt add on. That would convince me the GoFlex platform is a worthwhile investment.
In the meantime, it's a nicely built, cost-competitive drive. It feels as fast over FW800 as other drives I've used, such as the LaCie Rugged All-Terrain 1 TB FireWire 800/FireWire 400/USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive 301924. If Seagate continues to update the line as new standards emerge, this could prove to be a savvy purchase.
Pros:
Should Seagate continue to support the design, potentially future-proof technology.
Fast 7,200 drive
Small and light
Competitive price
Comes with USB 2.0 and Firewire 800 connectors, eSATA, USB 3.0 and a desktop dock available separately
Cons:
Proprietary rear-ends may be easy to lose and inconvenient to replace.
The physical connection between the main unit and the connectors feels a little fragile - I try to disconnect it before I put it in my bag, as I don't want to subject it to any unnecessary jostling. I could see it becoming loose or wearing down over time.
Remains to be seen if Seagate will manufacture connectors for new technology, such as Thunderbolt.
Product Image
Feature Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Pro FireWire 800 USB 2.0 Ultra-Portable External Hard Drive for Mac STBB500100
- High performance 7200RPM drive
- FireWire 800 or USB 2.0 plug-and-play
- Compatible with Time Machine software
- Upgradeable to USB 3.0 and powered eSATA
- Use the same drive interchangeably on both Mac and PC computers
- Durable soft-touch silver finish to help withstand fingerprints
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Portable External Hard Drive for Mac and PC TS750GSJ25M3
Product Details
EAN : 0763649029701UPC : 763649029701
MPN : STBB500100
Brand : Seagate
Weight : 1 pounds
Height : 3 inches
Length : 7 inches
Width : 6 inches
Binding : Personal Computers
Manufacturer : Seagate
Model : STBB500100
Publisher : Seagate
Size : 500 GB
SKU : INGA6033
Studio : Seagate
Where To Buy
You can buy Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Pro FireWire 800 USB 2.0 Ultra-Portable External Hard Drive for Mac STBB500100 on Amazon . Click here to Read More
