Seagate ST302504FDA1E1-RK FreeAgent Desktop 250 GB 3.5" USB 2.0 External Hard Drive

Amazon Customer Reviews

(1 out of 5)

Works great - at first

The FreeAgent is everything great that NEW buyers say it is. Lots of storage and a snap to set up. The problem is (and I'm about to return my second one) - the defect rate is pretty high. After about six weeks of use (just sitting on my desk, not moved from computer to computer or handled), I got messages saying the device had malfunctioned and my computer no longer recognized the drive. I went through all of the troubleshooting procedures on Seagate's website and nothing worked; finally, when I called the vendor about it they offered me an immediate replacement. The tech support rep I spoke to had seen the same issue so often he issued me an RA and sent me a new one before I even sent the old one back. Unfortunately the same thing happened with the new replacement drive, after about two months.

I haven't decided which product to replace this with, but my advice would be to not only find out about the bells & whistles but to ask about reliability and defect rates. Personally I was very troubled about sending back the drives just to get a refund when they have all my personal data on them.

(5 out of 5)

Werks gud 4 me!

This is just to balance some of the negative reviews here. I got one a week ago ($50 after rebate from Office Depot) and it's been absolutely glitch-free. Moronically easy to set up, 'puter recognized the drive immediately, transferred 60+ GB from another external with no glitches except for a couple files that wouldn't copy because -- I suspect -- they were virus-infected and AVG Free prevented the transfer. Anyway, I looked at the files, realized they were nothing I ever created, used or wanted, and so I deleted them. No probs with the transfer after that.

It's been running fine for a week now. I do shut my computer down at night, so I never run it more than about 12-16 hours at a stretch.

As to the lack of backup software -- good point if you need it. I use something I wrote myself (a QuickBasic MS-DOS program that still runs under XP, believe it or not) so I've never used anything else.

I use external hard drives for all my data, never any data on the C: drive. That way if the computer dies, or you want to pass it on or sell it, no hassles about getting the data off. Just unplug the external and you're in business.

For what it's worth.

Stan Jones
Anchorage, Alaska

(5 out of 5)

A breeze to get it running!

It's not often that a technical product is geared towards the non-techie. It's rarer that it delivers a product that works for a non-techie. Certainly external hard drives are nothing challenging anymore, but Seagate embraces non-technical folks with quirky packaging and a ridiculously short setup manual that includes the estimated time to completion - in minutes and seconds!. Not only is the Free Agent truly plug and play but the look is clean, sharp, cool, and eye-catching. You won't mind having this sit on your desk. This thing takes longer to get out of the box than it takes to get it functioning. Seriously!

Of course I'm something of a techie, so in order to get a truly non-technical seal of approval, you'll have to read a review from a grannie. I wouldn't hold your breath.

My only gripe in order to truly make this device fully functional would be to address the obvious next steps: how do I do a full system backup? How do I copy files? Seagate makes an error in not cross-promoting an equally easy-to-use backup third party software. Of course all Windows XP users have Microsoft Backup available, which includes an easy-to-use wizard to get you going.

As someone who has had a few hard drives fail on him in the past, I remark at how long it took me to get one of these things. Remember, all hard drive manufacturers measure the reliability of a hard drive in terms of "mean time to failure," which implies that all hard drives eventually fail. With a backup hard disk, you always are operating with a safety net!

(5 out of 5)

Solid, simple set-up

I'm a technical/knowledgebase writer for a large software company and whenever I get a new product, I'm really aware of the set up process and documentation to improve on my own work.

With that, I'm surprised to hear some of the bad reviews of this product. The manual is a simple, one sheet that gives you 5 steps to set it up totally in pictures and a single line of text. In fact, it was easier than that for me on My Winddows XP Pro machines: I yanked it out of the box, plugged in both the usb and power supply, and it was recognized immediately and worked perfectly. I didn't install any software.

Also, keep in mind that it uses USB 2.0. If you are running USB 1.0 on an older computer it won't transfer as fast.

Additionally, my girlfriend has an older, USB 1.0 laptop running XP Home, and I recommended this to her because it has a power supply. This means if you are looking to buy one of the USB 2.0 powered portable/external HD's, it won't have the juice to work. But since this runs off AC current (plus into the wall), she has no issues and has been totally happy storing her MP3 collection it.

As for power consumption, yes, it keeps spinning. BUT, these hard drives are generally meant as backup or storage of media files. Since it only turns on when the computer boots up, this is fine for most applications. The effort to unplug the drive from the back is no different then reaching for an on/off switch. Additionally, if you are using it to play back you MP3 or video collection, the drive will have to spin up anyway to play them back.

I'd highly recommend this drive for experienced and non-techies alike - and, yes, would buy it for my mom. A drive this easy to use keeps guys like me out of business ;^)

(5 out of 5)

Speedy, attractive, great value

The falling prices and increasing speed of external hard drives make for great values like this unit. The upright design is practical and, at least in my opinion, very attractive. Time will tell as to reliability, but the five-year warranty is reassuring. It is true, as another reviewer noted, that it has no power switch. However, the drive powers down automatically (or at least goes into some kind of standby mode) when the computer is turned off or put in standby mode. I prefer that approach myself to a power switch.