Seagate FreeAgent Desk for Mac - 1 TB: Good choice?

[Khryz]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148359

Seems like pretty good deal, although only 2 reviews it seems to be very good. I heard a lot of good things about Seagate, especially their warranty.

I was leaning towards WD but I've heard a lot of reliabilities issues with their MyBook's actually.

Anyone have this drive? I would go 1.5 TB but I hear current HDD technology isn't up to snuff yet to make another more than 1 TB reliable .. though that could be false.

 

[CTYankee]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148359

Seems like pretty good deal, although only 2 reviews it seems to be very good. I heard a lot of good things about Seagate, especially their warranty.

I was leaning towards WD but I've heard a lot of reliabilities issues with their MyBook's actually.

Anyone have this drive? I would go 1.5 TB but I hear current HDD technology isn't up to snuff yet to make another more than 1 TB reliable .. though that could be false.

I personally like getting an empty case and adding a HD to it. About the same price, but you can get eSATA, FW400, FW800, USB and the HD of your choice.

 

[Hot Snowboarder]

I was gonna buy that drive but ended up getting a FreeAgent Xtreme instead (needed it in a hurry). Its been great.... good speed and reliable. It only has FW400 though, 800 would be fantastic.
I say buy it.

 

[Demigod Mac]

FreeAgents are rather noisy and have an unbearably bright LED. I returned mine and got a Western Digital MyBook Studio; couldn't be happier with it.

 

[Khryz]

Man, I'd hate to avoid getting a good HDD just because of a bright light. I'd just get some black tape or something.

So 1 TB drives are okay now? Anything more than that gets a little risky right?

 

[Demigod Mac]

It's pretty bad if your workstation is in your bedroom or somewhere you might not want excessive light, plus the base is irregularly shaped, so blocking it is tricky. What really bothered me was the loud fan and access noise, which I could hear even while it was stashed under my desk.

 

[Khryz]

And the MyBook has a 1 TB option for a similar price with the same warranty/reliability?

 

[Khryz]

Can anyone who has/had this Seagate drive confirm if you can simply cover up the bright light with some electrical tape or something?

I've been reading more reviews of it and it seems like it's awesome except for the damn light (what idiot developer decided to put that in I have no idea) and I have been checking on MyBook's and lots of people seem to say they have a lot of problems.

 

[Demigod Mac]

The base is irregularly shaped (spherical) so it would be rather tricky to get tape around it. It could be done, but it wouldn't look pretty.

My main issue with the Freeagent is that it was just loud, really annoyingly loud, even when sitting idle.

 

[929406]

can't beat stardom

I have a Stardom device that holds two 3.5" HDs up to 1 TB each, it has two FW800 ports and the usual USB. It was designed for Macs so it looks like an Apple product and it has been very reliable thus far.

I highly recommend this brand, I compared it to Lacie and this is just as good with more space

 

[im333]

I'm in EXACTLY the same predicament!
I've researched the usual - MyBook and Maxtor 4plus firwire 800 versions but come across too many negative points. Finally read about this drive and am about to take the plunge!

Waiting for Amazon to stock it directly - their returns service is unrivaled imho - worst case scenario!

Let me know what happens and if anyone has this - do write.

im333

 

[aa521490]

Got the 1.5TB variety when my frys electronics had it for $159.99 last week. No problems so far. As for its bright light, it turns off (doesn't shine) when my iMac goes to sleep. In fact, as I am typing right now it is not on...I think but shows on my desktop.

 

[im333]

Got the 1.5TB variety when my frys electronics had it for $159.99 last week. No problems so far. As for its bright light, it turns off (doesn't shine) when my iMac goes to sleep. In fact, as I am typing right now it is not on...I think but shows on my desktop.

I've read of a few people having problems with the 1.5tb vs 1tb, specifically with iMac's.

Check out newegg.com and amazon.com - seem to be the best places for hardware reviews!

 

[MacUser2525]

Got the 1.5TB variety when my frys electronics had it for $159.99 last week. No problems so far. As for its bright light, it turns off (doesn't shine) when my iMac goes to sleep. In fact, as I am typing right now it is not on...I think but shows on my desktop.

I grabbed one of those a couple of weeks ago myself works great only thing I don't understand is what genius decided that you don't need a power switch...