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Seagate FreeAgent Go
Price: From around £50 inc VAT for 80GB, £60 inc VAT for 120GB and £70 inc VAT for 160GB models

Features
Performance
Ease of use
Value for money
Overall

Reviewed By: Andy Shaw

This review updated: 01/03/2008
Featured in magazine:
Issue 180
Manufacturer Contacts:
Supplier: Seagate
Tel: 01628 890366
Web Address: www.seagate.com


Best Price:
There are two ways to carry your important files and documents around with you. If your needs are modest, a USB memory drive will be sufficient to store a few gigabytes of data so you can have at hand your important files and a few favourite programs. The other option is a portable hard disk, also able to connect to your computer via USB and especially handy if you've got more sophisticated or cumbersome requirements. There's a big difference between these two options and Seagate's FreeAgent Go aims to fill the gap by offering a portable hard disk with all the trimmings that's still small enough to slip into a pocket.

Features:
Available in a range of capacities, from 80GB to 160GB, the first thing you'll notice about a FreeAgent Go is that it's small enough to fit into a shirt or jeans pocket – a bit bigger than a wallet but still smaller than a paperback book. It comes with a bunch of software programs, so you can use it as a virtual Desktop and also install your own programs on it. This proves very handy if you need to work on a computer that isn't yours exclusively and don't want to leave traces of your files behind.

Performance:
The USB 2.0 connection to a computer is reasonably fast and efficient, but has a maximum speed of 5,400rpm. This isn't unusual for a portable device like this,
which is based around a hard disk designed for laptops and has a reduced power requirement. However, if you have an up-to-date hard disk stored in your main computer, it's probably working at 7,200rpm and you may notice the FreeAgent is significantly slower.

The device worked like a dream on our desktop PC, but when we tried plugging it into an older laptop the USB port couldn't apply enough power to make the disk work, despite the reduced power requirement. With this in mind, you'll need to make sure that you've got a reasonably modern PC with enough power to supply the disk, and you're not working from a feeble power source or unpowered USB hub.

Ease of Use:
Although the drive will work as a simple external storage disk, it also comes with a collection of extra features. Its Ceedo software lets you run a sort of virtual Desktop on any PC you plug it into, so your software as well as your files are present. There's also superior synchronisation software, which lets you keep files and folders on multiple machines in the same state, as well as a bunch of utilities for getting the most out of the disk.

Value for money:
Prices of hard disks are falling all the time and, despite being equipped with extra features and svelte styling, the FreeAgent Go is very reasonably priced. This might have something to do with the fact that it isn't achieving cutting-edge speeds in terms of hard-disk technology, but what you lose in raw performance you gain in extras. Be sure to shop around because these disks are widely distributed, so you should be able to find a retailer somewhere that's willing to offer a discount.

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