Seagate FreeAgent Go (blue, 320GB)

CNET Editors' Rating

4.0 stars
    Overall score: 8.5 (4.0 stars)

Excellent

Average User Rating

38 reviews

All prices Set price alert
Seagate FreeAgent Go (blue, 320GB) - OVR Seagate FreeAgent Go (blue, 320GB) - SD Seagate FreeAgent Go (blue, 320GB) - BK
Play Video
Scroll Left Scroll Right
  • Seagate FreeAgent Go (blue, 320GB) - Video
  • Seagate FreeAgent Go (blue, 320GB) - OVR
  • Seagate FreeAgent Go (blue, 320GB) - SD
  • Seagate FreeAgent Go (blue, 320GB) - BK

CNET Editors' Review

CNET Editors' Rating

4.0 stars Excellent
    Overall score: 8.5 (4.0 stars)
  • Design: 9.0
  • Features: 9.0
  • Performance: 8.0
  • Service and support: 8.0
  • Reviewed by:
  • Reviewed on:
Edited by: Rich Brown

The good: Inexpensive cost per GB; modern design; variety of colors and capacities; thinnest drive on the market.

The bad: No support service available on the weekend; short USB cord.

The bottom line: The Seagate FreeAgent Go is our favorite portable hard drive to date and takes our award for Editors' Choice. The drive is well designed and fast, and you won't find a better value for the price.

Review:

The FreeAgent Go is part of Seagate's latest new line of portable hard drives and is by far the thinnest we've tested while still maintaining a reasonably fast transfer rate. Seagate sent us a blue 320GB model ($150) for our review, but you can take your pick of four vibrant colors in a variety of capacities from 250 up to 500GB. If you need extra storage on-the-go, the Seagate FreeAgent Go will make a useful addition to your daily carry.

Drive type External hard drive
Connector options USB 2.0
Available capacities 250GB, 320GB, 500GB
Capacity of test
... Expand full review

The FreeAgent Go is part of Seagate's latest new line of portable hard drives and is by far the thinnest we've tested while still maintaining a reasonably fast transfer rate. Seagate sent us a blue 320GB model ($150) for our review, but you can take your pick of four vibrant colors in a variety of capacities from 250 up to 500GB. If you need extra storage on-the-go, the Seagate FreeAgent Go will make a useful addition to your daily carry.

Drive type External hard drive
Connector options USB 2.0
Available capacities 250GB, 320GB, 500GB
Capacity of test unit 320GB
Product dimensions (LWH) 5.12x 3.15x0.49 inches
Drive speed 5,400rpm
Cache 8MB
OSes supported Windows XP/Vista and Mac OS X
Software included None

Design and features
The FreeAgent Go is one of the thinnest mobile hard disks we've reviewed; the size makes it easy to throw in your bag on the run. Its official measurements are 0.5 inch high by 3 inches wide by 5 inches long and only weighs 5.6 ounces. The multicapacity drives (250GB, 320GB, 500GB) come dressed in silver, black, blue, or red models, but the blue and red versions are only available in 320GB. We're not sure why, since they use the same cases.

Aside from their slim figure, the shape of the FreeAgent Go looks like a lot of other external drives. The top of the rectangular case has a brushed metal finish that looks sleek and even passed our scratch test with impressive resilience. The bottom is covered with a slightly rough material that prevents the drive from sliding around on a hard surface.

The only hole on the front is a USB 2.0 powered port that connects the drive to your computer. The top of the Go is perforated on one end and a series of white lights underneath illuminate and pulsate underneath while the drive is active. If you leave it plugged in for an extended period, the display will fade slightly . In our opinion, the lights are barely useful and mostly superfluous--we don't need an arbitrary light to show us activity, but the aesthetic design is a nice touch.

Hide Review

Compare to other laptop hard drives

Compare selected

select

Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Pro

Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Pro Starting at $126.66

  • Editor's rating: 4.0 out of 5

select

Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk

Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk Starting at $86.49

  • Editor's rating: 4.0 out of 5

select

Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Ultra-portable

Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Ultra-portable Starting at $148.84

  • Editor's rating: 4.0 out of 5

select

Seagate GoFlex Slim

Seagate GoFlex Slim Starting at $114.99

  • Editor's rating: 4.0 out of 5

Average User Rating

2.0 stars out of 38 user reviews

Rating Breakdown

  • 5 star: 9
  • 4 star: 3
  • 3 star: 0
  • 2 star: 7
  • 1 star: 19

My Rating

0 stars click stars to rate product

CNET Community

This product is on 56 user lists. Add to my list

Most Helpful User Review

1.5 stars 8 of 9 users found this review helpful

"Worked well for 3 months" By sanggol09

Pros Quiet; slim; excellent price, given the storage capacity of the drive.

Cons This drive crashed after only three months of minimal use.

Summary This drive was seldom used, never dropped and rarely moved, nevertheless after three months of use, the drive abruptly stopped worked. Seagate could offer little assistance and had no explanation for this error. My product is still under warranty so they will replace the drive, however, I must pay for ... Expand full review

Most Recent User Reviews (Showing 2 of 38 reviews)

Where to Buy

See all prices Set price alert

Specifications

See full specs

Quick Specs

  • Hard drive size: 320 GB
  • Storage Hard Drive / Hard Drive Type: External hard drive
  • Interface type: Hi-Speed USB

Where to Buy

See all prices Set price alert