Seagate FreeAgent 500 GB 3.5-Inch USB 2.0 Hard Drive ST305004FDA1E1-RK
by SEAGATE
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List Price: Our Price: $75.00 You Save: $194.99 (72%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Personal Computer See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Seagate FreeAgent 500 GB 3.5-Inch USB 2.0 Hard Drive ST305004FDA1E1-RK
Customer Review: One Star is One Too Many
Summary: 1 Stars
Beyond the poor reputation of this drive for its lack of reliabilty, the most annoying problem is that the drive insists on installing OVER FIVE HUNDRED MEGABYTES of junk in over a hundred folders and subfolders on the customer's main hard drive (C:). The installation program asks only about installing the Muvee software, and then installs it anyway even if you tell it no. The rest of the junk files are loaded without even asking. Among the trash that Seagate feels entitled to stuff onto your hard drive are multiple pdf files of every version of the user license agreement for every country in every language. Despite the fact that the customer has to select both their country and language at the beginning of the installation, the install program still copies every version onto the customer's main hard drive.
And, if you try to contact Seagate tech support to ask if any of the files are really needed, you then discover that Seagate does not have any tech support available. All they have is a supposed "live chat" system, but after you fill out all the data required to enter the so-called "live chat" you get a prompt "How may I help you?" which turns out to be their server software pretending to be a live operator -- but that is all you will ever get from the so-called "live chat".
Customer Review: Hit or Miss
Summary: 1 Stars
I bought this external hard drive as backup for my Dell laptop about a year ago and it has totally failed me. It now makes a lovely buzzing noise and gives off a groovy, but utterly useless, pulsating orange glow. Apparently, this is a common problem for Seagate drives: [...]
Set-up was ok, but not totally user-friendly. I had to eventually disable the Autobackup feature because every time I plugged in the drive, it would want to copy ALL of my files all over again -- a fantastic way to tie up my laptop for several hours. Once I disabled that, I was able to backup only the files I wanted, but after doing that 2 or 3 times, the hard drive stopped working altogether. The drive was no longer recognized by my laptop, and if I wanted to safely unplug it, I'd get the error message telling me I couldn't because it was still in use -- which it wasn't because the drive wasn't recognized by the laptop in the first place.
I'll look into getting a replacement from Seagate since they already have my money, but I won't bother paying their data recovery fees because that's just a slap in the face. From other Seagate reviews, it seems you can either luck out and get a stellar piece of hardware, or crap out and get an unattractive, buzzing lava lamp. Thanks, Seagate.
Customer Review: Archive Space Solution
Summary: 5 Stars
If your sole purpose is to offload archives, then this is a great product. Most people don't think twice of backing up their existing data. Also, each version of windows comes with a backup program which originated from the Veritas Brand of Software. You can easily set the Free Agent Hardware and make it an active drive, then setup the Backup Software within MS 2000, XP, or Vista.
I've read reviews that seem to point out the burden of USB2 write speed. It makes no difference if the interface is Firewire or USB if the intent is to just backup data. If it takes a few extra seconds or minutes, no big deal. Either way the data will get to the disk and you can rest peacefully.
Update as of September 02, 2007: It appears my drive has began failing. I've heard from various sources that this series of Drives lacks cooling capacity. I've left mine plugged in for a few hours to begin noticing Windows Cache errors reading and writing from the drive. If the drive is left to cool, it is fine when plugged in. This is a major problem and I am considering having the drive replaced. Also, I've used the Seagate tools and it failed to run the tools on the detected FreeAgent Drive. Weird? I'll say.
Customer Review: Worst External Harddrive YOU can Buy
Summary: 1 Stars
[...]Anyways, mine didn't last long before I began having I/O errors, diskwrite errors, computer not recognizing it, etc
BUT before that even happened, it takes a long time for any one of my 5 computers to recognize it, boot and or transfer files.
I was using this as my backup storage and when my computer failed, losing all my work, I was glad to know I had backup storage.... what a joke that idea was, because my backup storage failed even more miserably! I lost everything. I lost 5 years of consolidated video. I lost all of my work. I lost everything.
If you go to the link I posted above, you will find numerous responses to the problems associated with this product and a few jimmy rigged fixes (such as taking drive out of case, modifying insides by cutting wires that power lights on drive.. etc)
In short STAY AWAY... don't be a fool like me and after being failed by the 500 gb model, be tempted by the sale price of the 750 gb model and have it happen even faster! YES, that is correct. I was fooled twice, and my 750 gb model failed only two months after it was bought. Shame on me for thinking it might be an isolated case.
Customer Review: Junk, junk, junk
Summary: 1 Stars
I was given one of these drives (brand new) for a project at work. It fails constantly. Plug it in, hook it up, and the PC recognizes it pretty quickly. Works fine for a couple of hours, then start getting "Windows delayed write failed" errors. I can see folders on it in Windows Explorer, but no files within the folders. Turn it off (i.e. unplug it, as there is no on/off switch) for an hour or two, plug it back in, and it's working again - all of the files are visible in Windows Explorer. Works for another couple of hours, then fails again. It's in a room with frigid AC, I have it stradling some CD jewel cases to allow airflow to the cooling vents on the base, but it is still apparantly overheating after a couple of hours of use. Tried different USB ports on the PC, different PC entirely, same problems. Some people obviously have had good experiences with this device based on the positive reviews, but the high percentage of bad reviews here, all citing the same problems, makes this a clear "do not buy". There are more reliable choices out there. Don't take a risk on this lemon. Seagate should be ashamed for leaving this junk on the market for so long.