Overview
I really like the revamped design of the FreeAgent drives, while they keep the same overall design the silver and while make them look modern, much better than the older FreeAgent Pro drive we took a look at back in March. They also changed the front of the drive adding the Seagate logo plus a really cool dot design. There are only 2 connections on the back of the drive, power and mini USB. There is also a lock port. If you are looking for firewire or eSata the FreeAgent XTreme has those connections. Don’t worry we will be taking a look at that hard drive in the next few weeks.
The FreeAgent Desk comes in 4 different capacities: 500GB, 640GB, 1TB and 1.5TB. The drive comes with a plastic stand that will let you stand the drive up vertically. It has 4 rubber circles on the bottom to help keep your drive in place.
Setup
Getting the FreeAgent Desk setup is quite easy. All you have to do is set it up where you want it, plug in the power and then plug the USB cable into your computer. Seagate uses a mini USB cable to connect the drive to your computer; it’s not proprietary so if you lose it you can just get a cheap cable. If you don’t want to use the stand Seagate provides you with 4 attachable feet that will keep the drive off the ground.
Once you power up the drive and plug it into your computer Windows will pop up with a window asking you what you want to do. The drive comes preloaded with the Seagate Manager software, you don’t have to install it, but if you want to setup regular backups you might want to.
When you power on the drive the Seagate logo on the front will illuminate with white LED’s. When you are transferring files to and from the drive the LED’s will pulse, here is a short video of the drive in action.
