Seagate GoFlex & GoFlex Pro USB 3.0 portable hard drives
Portable hard drives, from being boring blocks of black color used to store data, have now become a lot more vibrant in terms of features and looks. Western Digital quite literally patented the glossy black finish. Transcend relied on the distinct rugged finish of the Storejet 25M. Iomega, not to be left behind, came out with the really good looking eGo and Prestige hard drive range. All the above mentioned brands also loaded their drives with the software offering data backup, sync and restore features.
But the issue remained that Seagate, who are a very popular hard drive brand, kept persevearing with the FreeAgent range, which despite its best efforts, could not look as good as the rivals I have mentioned above. The backup feature was fine, but not the best out there.
As an individual plain jane hard drive, the FreeAgent did well. Seagate products are reliable, which helped. But now, the FreeAgent has a brother in the family- the GoFlex hard drive range.
The idea behind the GoFlex range is two pronged-
1. Good looks
2. Future upgradeability to USB 3.0
The idea looks promising, because none of the other hard drives have this upgradeability. but does it deliver? Lets find out, as we put both the two hard drives- the GoFlex 500GB (5200rpm) and the GoFlex Pro 500GB (7200rpm).
Initial Impression
The GoFlex hard drive is of the size similar to Western Digital's new MyPassport range. Both the drives, are similar, yet different!
The ones which I got were black in color, but the GoFlex range is also available in red, blue, and silver, depending on model and capacity.
The GoFlex is glossy black in finish, but thankfully, the base is matte black. This will prevent scratches somewhat while trying to pick up and keep the drive on any surface.
The GoFlex Pro is glossy black on the top panel, matte finish on the bottom panel and a silver strip running on the sides. Lends it a classy touch. The Pro also comes with a dock, which is quite useful if you need to keep the hard drive on a stable setting when connected to a media player in the TV console.
Both the hard drives are connected using the transfer cables which first have a proprietory connector plugged into the hard drive and a MiniUSB cable to connect to it. The connector does not ideally need to be removed in the GoFlex hard drive, unless you want to plug in a USB 3.0 connector.
In the GoFlex Pro, however, you may need to keep removing the connector if you take your hard drive around and also use the dock at home, say with a media player or on your desk.
The GoFlex drives have a clutter of folders the moment you open them for the first time. This is because there are some application folders for the Seagate Dashboard, which is an application which directs you to more applications to install on your PC- for sync, backup, share etc. However, I like the way Iomega approaches this issue. It ships its drives to the buyer spanking clean, and includes leaflets directing the user from where to download certain applications, in case they need them.
Performance
The two portable hard drives are USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 capable. A simple change of the cable (if your PC is USB 3.0 ready. If not Seagate USB 3.0 upgrade kit will help) will shift it to the USB 3.0 capability.
We tested the two hard drives under both scenarios to see how much of a speed bump USB 3.0.
Speed Test Results
I used a 1GB folder filled with a variety of files- videos, audio, documents, exe setup packs etc. This folder remained constant throughout the test.
For the USB 2.0 tests, we used the standard transfer cables provided in the hard drive box pack.
For the USB 3.0 tests, we used the Seagate GoFlex USB 3.0 Desktop adapter and the GoFlex USB 3.0 upgrade cable. Both these upgrade hardware packs are offered by Seagate as standard in case someone wants to use the USB 3.0 connectivity.
Seagate GoFlex 500GB (5200rpm)-
USB 2.0: From Hard Drive to PC- 19 seconds
USB 2.0: From PC to Hard Drive- 1:08 minutes
USB 3.0: From Hard Drive to PC- 16 seconds
USB 3.0: From PC to Hard Drive- 45 seconds
Seagate GoFlex Pro 500GB (7200rpm)
USB 2.0: From Hard Drive to PC- 26 seconds
USB 2.0: From PC to Hard Drive- 1.00 minute
USB 3.0: From Hard Drive to PC- 15 seconds
USB 3.0: From PC to Hard Drive- 37 seconds
What we infer from the USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 comparison tests is that even though USB 3.0 is supposed to 10 times faster than USB 2.0, this is not the case with this particular family of hard drives.
The basic GoFlex hard drive does not show too much of a difference between USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 when transferring data from the GoFlex to the PC, but a bit of an improvement in time taken in the PC to GoFlex data transfer.
The GoFlex Pro drive however showed very minor improvement in speeds when upgraded from USB 2.0 to USB 3.0, while transferring data to the PC. However, it copied data much quicker from the PC with USB 3.0.
PRICING
The ability to upgrade to the USB 3.0 experience will require you to buy a host of upgrade "parts" before the setup is complete.
First off, you will need to buy a GoFlex portable hard drive. Choose from either the GoFlex standard which costs Rs 5200 (320GB), Rs 6500 (500GB) and Rs 13900 (1TB) or the GoFlex Pro which costs Rs 7900 for the 500GB version.
Then it is all about making your PC USB 3.0 capable. For this, you will need to buy the GoFlex Upgrade Kit for USB 3.0 which costs Rs 6000 and includes an ExpressCard adapter and USB 3.0 cable.
VERDICT
The motive of moving to USB 3.0 before the rest of the world does seems to be a positive idea, but deserves better implementation.
First, the hard drives are expensive, which most people will refuse to buy since they still don't know much about USB 3.0.
Second, the upgrade kit and the cable costs Rs 6k, which is exorbitantly priced.
Third, why charge a premium from the early adopters of USB 3.0 when 6 months down the line, this same hardware will retail for half this price?
All in all, I did not notice a performance boost from these GoFlex drives which is enough to justify the premium you will pay to buy these hard drives and/or the upgrade kit. I would suggest you buy the WD MyPassport Essential 500GB for about Rs 5k or the Iomega eGO 500GB for about Rs 5.5k.
[source :ld2]
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