Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk (4TB)

The Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk (4TB) is an external hard drive on a mission to be the most versatile desktop drive in the office, and it succeeds with style. With 4TB of storage, speedy USB 3.0 data transfer with an changeable interface, and the flexibility to seamlessly swap between PC and Mac without reformatting, the FreeAgent GoFlex Desk (4TB) makes a name for itself as our new Editors' Choice for external desktop-class hard drives.

Design
The chassis of the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk (4TB) is gleaming black plastic, with a black matte stripe running down the center. Vents along the top and back help keep things cool, and the included 3.5-foot USB 3.0 cable and 6-foot AC adapter cable should let you find a setup on your desk that works for you.

The base of the drive is a desktop GoFlex adapter. This proprietary system that lets you swap out the included USB 3.0 connection for FireWire, eSATA, Thunderbolt, or whatever new speedy connection becomes available in the future. The adapter base also has an LED gauge that indicates how much of the drive's 4TB capacity is full.

Counting both the drive and GoFlex adapter, the FreeAgent GoFlex Desk measures about 6.2 by 4.9 by 1.7 inches (HWD) and weighs 2.4 pounds. It's quite a bit smaller than other desktop drives, such as the Buffalo Technology DriveStation HD-HXU3 (1.5TB) ($144.99 direct, 4 stars) or the hulking and rugged Editors' Choice ioSafe SoloPRO (1TB) ($249.99 list, 4.5 stars), but not small enough to really be considered portable. Between its size and AC umbilical cord, this drive will stay stationed on your desk.

Features
Though the Seagate's physical footprint isn't much larger than the Buffalo DriveStation HD-HXU3's, it packs more than twice the storage space, using a 4TB desktop-class hard drive spinning at 7,200rpm. Compared with other high-capacity drives, such as the Buffalo and the ioSafe SoloPRO, it's also fairly inexpensive. With a direct price of $249.99, the FreeAgent GoFlex Desk rings up at less than 7 cents per gigabyte. This is significantly cheaper than many competitors, most of which sell for around 10 cents per gigabyte, such as the Buffalo and the Iomega eGo Desktop Hard Drive, Mac Edition (2TB) ($185 Street, 3.5 stars). Others are pricier because they offer extra features, such as the nigh-indestructible ioSafe SoloPRO (25 cents per gigabyte).

The GoFlex Desk is also remarkably flexible in terms of compatibility. The drive works with both Windows and Mac operating systems, thanks to Seagate's own NTFS driver for Mac. The latter is one of many bits of useful software preinstalled on the FreeAgent GoFlex Desk. Another, the Seagate Dashboard program, lets you set up automatic backups of all your data and even adds Triple DES encryption for an extra layer of protection.

The Dashboard provides information in a simple and intuitive visual display, letting you know how much capacity is free, how the drive is partitioned, and what portions of the drive have encryption applied. Scheduled backups are accomplished with Memeo Backup, which is integrated into the Dashboard. You can either schedule backups at regular intervals or back up data continuously. Seagate also protects the FreeAgent GoFlex Desk with a two-year warranty.

Performance
With 4TB of 7,200rpm storage and a USB 3.0 interface offering connection speeds of up to 5Gbps, strong performance scores were expected, and the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk didn't disappoint. Using the USB 3.0 interface, it transferred our 1.2GB test folder in 15 seconds. Using a slower USB 2.0 connection, the same task took 42 seconds, nearly maxing out the speed of the older interface.

By comparison, the Buffalo completed these same tests in 15 seconds (USB 3.0) and 40 seconds (USB 2.0). The ioSafe SoloPRO edged slightly ahead, finishing the job in 13 seconds (USB 3.0) and 43 seconds (USB 2.0). A software error prevented us from testing the FreeAgent GoFlex Desk with PCMark 7.

If you need to protect your data from the elements, the ioSafe SoloPRO is still the better bet, but for everything else, you'll want our new Editors' Choice, the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk. Given its large capacity, the relatively inexpensive cost of its massive storage, and its wide array of options for connecting and protecting your data, it stands above the competition as one of the most versatile drives on the market.

COMPARISON TABLE
Compare the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk (4TB) with several other hard drive side by side.

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