Re: Seagate 1.5 TB FreeAgent Desk External Drive

[Paint Guy]

First question.

1) I can afford to get either a: (1.5 TB USB 2.0 Drive) or a (1 TB Firewire drive). I would like the extra space of the 1.5 TB drive but USB 2.0 transfer rate is 480 mbps and Firewire is 800 mbps. Does the transfer rate make a big difference?

Which option would you go with?


I want to buy a Seagate 1.5 TB FreeAgent Desk External Hard Drive, but I read you can't use it as a bootable backup. (See User Comments at Link Below) I want to store all of my important files and software on the Seagate, but does this mean that if my HD crashed that I could not read my files on the Seagate? Please explain?

http://www.macworld.com/reviews/product/413083/overview/freeagent_desk_for_mac.html

1) Does anyone here own one and know if this is true?

2) Can Super Duper Software configure the Drive to be a backup drive or is this something that the manufacturer has to do?

3) Would this prevent you from buying this drive? I want to store all of my important files and software on the Seagate, but does this mean that if my HD crashed that I could not read my files on the Seagate?

Thanks
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[dnanian]

I wouldn't recommend a Seagate FreeAgent, no. I'd suggest a LaCie d2 Quadra out of the 'mainstream' drives, which has quad interfaces.

SuperDuper! can't 'make' a drive bootable if it doesn't support startup.

[sjk]

I've don't recall specific reasons but read something a few months ago recommending to avoid 1.5TB drives because of problems that 1TB and 2TB drives don't have.

[dnanian]

There was a bad 1.5TB Seagate line, actually... haven't heard of problems with the 2TBs (although you'll always find someone having problems with everything...

[Paint Guy]

Thanks both for your replies.

I've don't recall specific reasons but read something a few months ago recommending to avoid 1.5TB drives because of problems that 1TB and 2TB drives don't have.Interesting, so are all 1.5 TB drives bad? Does it have something to do with the fact that they are not full terrabytes like 1 or 2? I know with ram it's better to have equal amounts. Sounds crazy but I thought I'd ask.

SuperDuper! can't 'make' a drive bootable if it doesn't support startup.

I need 2 drives. 1 to store onsite and one offsite. When purchasing a drive, can you tell me how to tell if a drive supports "Startup" so I can boot from it. Is there something in the specs that will tell me this. I'm on a mac and it seems most drivers are PC /Windows so its hard to tell if they will be bootable.
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[sjk]

Interesting, so are all 1.5 TB drives bad?
Maybe only a bad batch of Seagates, as Dave mentioned.

When purchasing a drive, can you tell me how to tell if a drive supports "Startup" so I can boot from it. Is there something in the specs that will tell me this. I'm on a mac and it seems most drivers are PC /Windows so its hard to tell if they will be bootable.
You could buy 'em from a Mac-savvy dealer (e.g. Other World Computing), checking with their sales department before purchase to ensure OS X boot support (which is likely).