Conclusion

The Seagate Backup Plus 1 TB portable hard disk drive is one of the better-designed USB drives we have seen. It shows its GoFlex roots in its upgradability. Where else can you find a portable drive that you can upgrade from the standard USB 3.0 interface to alternative interfaces like FireWire 800 or Thunderbolt?

The Seagate Backup Plus system is backwards compatible with the older FreeAgent GoFlex system, allowing you to reuse your GoFlex interface adaptors with the newer Backup Plus drives. You can also reuse your Backup Plus interface adaptors with the GoFlex drives, albeit only the lower-capacity models.

Seagate has obviously optimized the Backup Plus drive for the USB 3.0 interface. This results in truly great performance when used with USB 3.0 ports but poor performance when we tried using the slower USB 2.0 port. So make sure you use this drive with a USB 3.0 port. If you are still stuck with USB 2.0 ports, you will have to live with the Backup Plus' lacklustre performance, or try a drive that works better with USB 2.0, like the 2 TB Western Digital My Passport.

This drive also runs hotter than other USB 3.0 portable hard disk drives, although this is generally not an issue for most people. If you intend to use it with USB 2.0 ports though, you will be glad to know that it runs much cooler in that mode.

Although there are portable hard disk drives that can offer a lot more storage capacity, this Seagate Backup Plus drive is 30% thinner at a slim 14.5 mm. So, if you are looking for a thin 1 TB portable hard disk drive with an upgradable interface, then the Seagate Backup Plus is your best option.

For the lowest current prices on Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex hard disk drives, click here!

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