Comments on: Seagate FreeAgent Go for Mac 320 GB USB 2.0 and FireWall 800 Portable External Hard Drive with Doc ST903203FJA105-RK

By: CityGal

CityGal — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 05:56:53 +0000

Seagate FreeAgent Go Dock and Case 100521233 (Silver/White)
I happened to purchase this drive and dock bundled together by Seagate (along with a case too) from another vendor, but I wanted to share my experiences here with you. I have a MacBook Pro, Intel chip, purchased January 2008. It has both FireWire 400 & 800 as well as two USB 2.0 ports. I wanted to replace my older, much physically larger Seagate backup drive with a portable drive and have been looking for a FireWire one that was reasonably priced. I was able to get this bundle for $109, a super deal. These Seagate FreeAgent Go for Mac drives in Silver are a stunning accessory to your aluminum MacBooks. They are small, lightweight, and very portable

One of the great things is this drive is already set up for Macs, so there is no changing the drive format from Windows to Mac. I'd been using Time Machine (part of Mac OS X Leopard) to do backups on the old Seagate drive and wanted to move the backups from that drive to this one. There were very easy instructions to follow in the Apple Support Discussion forums on how to do this using Disk Utility. I was able to move it easily (though it did take quite a long time-just be patient). Because this drive can use FireWire 800, all future backups will be much faster than the USB connection I'd used with the old drive.

A few things to note:
1. this Mac formatted drive is available in several different GB sizes.
2. you can connect it in several different ways, and the various cables needed are packaged with the drive. The fastest way is to use FireWire 800. The drive itself can connect to your computer with any of the following, going from fastest to slowest:
A. FireWire 800
B. FireWire 400
C. USB 2.0
If you wish to use the available dock, you must connect with FireWire 800 as the cable is hardwired to the dock, and the connector on the other end is only FireWire 800. I honestly don't know if you could use an aftermarket adapter to change the connection to FireWire 400 (if that is all you have), so check with Seagate if that is of importance to you.

If you don't use the dock, you can use the supplied cables to make any of the above mentioned connections. However, while the drive is powered through the FireWire cables, to use USB requires you to have TWO available USB ports as one port is used for the data transfer and one is used for the powersupply. The proper cables are supplied, but just know this will be a much slower data transfer than if you can use FireWire.

I then wanted to use my old Seagate external drive as a bootable disk, should disaster strike my Mac. It isn't a simple process to create such a thing with Mac supplied software, but there are several freeware/shareware programs that are mentioned in the Apple Support Discussion group that are easily available online and once I'd downloaded one it was a snap to create the bootable disk.

I am thrilled with this purchase, and commend Seagate for making such an exceptional product. Oh, did I say it has a FIVE year warranty? Happy Backups!

By: Pseudonym

Pseudonym — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:25:05 +0000

Put simply, the ideal external drive should have, good capacity, reliability, speed, and ease of use.

- At 320 gigs (and 500 gigs in a slightly larger model), this offers decent capacity - though terrabyte drives are being sold, as well. It's nearly perfect for holding my media collection.
- Seagate has a sterling reputation for putting out reliable drives. It's 5400 spin speed isn't quite as quick as its more expensive 7200 rps competition, but faster spins mean a greater chance of disk problems.
- This drive is widely known for the rarity of disk problems, and mine has worked quietly and uneventfully for some time now.

Here, you have the choice between USB and Firewire; the latter means you can pull the cable after use without incident. If you opt to leave the cable attached, you'll notice a small amount of residual heat - which wears down a drive - so Firewire is an attractive option. This drive allows you to use its dock only when using Firewire 800, not 400. In either case, the speed is close to tops in its class.

The drive comes with a set of short cables and a leatherette case for the drive itself.

By: Michael S. Garvin

Michael S. Garvin — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 02:47:54 +0000

only problem I have is that I don’t have a fw800 jack on the back of my mac mini! But it does come with enough cables to make up for it.

By: Diva's Mama

Diva's Mama — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:16:00 +0000

I’m quoting directly from this page:

“What’s in the Box:

FreeAgent Go portable hard drive, Desktop docking station, Travel case, FireWire 800 cable, FireWire 800 to 400 cable, USB cable, and Quickstart guide.”

I only received the hard drive with no docking station, travel case, etc. I communicated with the third party and they said there is an error on the Amazon website but they were nice enough to give me a credit.

I just wanted people to be aware that you may not be getting the whole package so clarify with third parties before you buy.

That said, I didn’t understand the Quickstart guide. It was basically pictures to show you how to plug it in. But being not the most computer savvy person, I needed more info on how to actual USE the thing. So I called Seagate and they were nice and patient on the phone but they will only talk to you for free up to 30 days. After that, there is a fee of US$14.99 to call them. I downloaded a program (free) from their website and after that, I found it much easier to use.

So far, the drive is working well and I don’t have any other complaints.

By: Doreen Gruchawka

Doreen Gruchawka — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 22:24:40 +0000

Mac OSX 10.4.11, Powerbook G4

The 320 GB USB/Firewire drive is simply excellent in ALL respects! No complaints. For me, the light is not a disturbing factor; if it was, I would simply block it with a shade of some sort. It’s quiet, fast, reliable (so far), and the desk cradle is a nice touch. I heartily recommend this product!