In the digital photography era, digital storage is a major concern of many photography enthusiasts and professionals alike.
Recently, Seagate sent us a unit of their popular 1TB FreeAgent Xtreme drive for us to do a user review. Having personally owned its predecessing 500GB FreeAgent Pro, I decided to put it through its paces in comparison to see how the new-comer did.
Unveiling The Package
The Xtreme comes with everything you need to quickly get up and running:
Old versus New
Outwardly, I must say that the old and the new drives are very similar yet different:
The following photo shows the 500GB drive standing vertically with the FireWire module selected while the 1TB drive has the whole spectrum of interfaces that it offers built into its back (from right: 2x FireWire ports, USB 2 port and eSATA port).
Recently, Seagate sent us a unit of their popular 1TB FreeAgent Xtreme drive for us to do a user review. Having personally owned its predecessing 500GB FreeAgent Pro, I decided to put it through its paces in comparison to see how the new-comer did.
Unveiling The Package
The Xtreme comes with everything you need to quickly get up and running:
- power adaptor
- USB cable
- FireWire cable
- quick start guide
- software for automated backup, synchronisation and encryption
Old versus New
Outwardly, I must say that the old and the new drives are very similar yet different:
- the 500GB FreeAgent Pro feels more solidly built (due to aluminum like materials)
- the 1TB FreeAgent Xtreme is less troublesome as all the available interfaces (FireWire, USB 2 and eSATA) are built right into the back. With the 500GB FreeAgent Pro, the desired interface module has to be selected, plugged in and secured first before first use, making it less flexible if you are the type who needs to share the device between multiple machines (e.g. between notebooks)
- asthetically, both have nice lights - the 500GB one has orange lighted logo and edges while the newer 1TB drive has a white lighted logo - that turn on when the drives are connected to your machine
The following photo shows the 500GB drive standing vertically with the FireWire module selected while the 1TB drive has the whole spectrum of interfaces that it offers built into its back (from right: 2x FireWire ports, USB 2 port and eSATA port).