Conclusion

The Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex 1.5 TB portable hard disk drive is one of the better-designed USB drives we have seen. It is certainly unique 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 or eSATA?

The Seagate GoFlex system also allows you to buy just the drives (without their USB adaptors) at a lower cost and use them with the same adaptor. This drive comes with a standard USB 3.0 adaptor. This allows you to instantly "upgrade" all your older FreeAgent GoFlex drives just by pairing them with the USB 3.0 adaptor.

The 1.5 TB FreeAgent GoFlex drive is quite a bit faster than the 1 TB Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex, even when we upgraded the latter drive with the same USB 3.0 adaptor. This is due to the higher density platters used in the 1.5 TB drive, which boosted its throughput by about 12%. This is important as the FreeAgent GoFlex's main role is to copy large quantities of data from one computer to another. Of course, this is assuming you are able to use it with a computer that supports USB 3.0.

If you are forced to use it with a slower USB 2.0 port, then its performance advantage is squandered as the 1.5 TB FreeAgent GoFlex becomes no faster than any other USB 2.0 portable hard disk drive. Therefore, we highly recommend you invest in a USB 3.0 expansion card if your computer doesn't support USB 3.0 - using USB 3.0 will boost the 1.5 TB FreeAgent GoFlex's large sequential transfer performance by almost 3x!

We do have to point out though that the 1.5 TB FreeAgent GoFlex drive is about 50% thicker and heavier than other 2.5" portable hard disk drives. It also runs hotter than other USB 3.0 portable drives. However, those are just minor detractions from this FreeAgent GoFlex drive's biggest advantage - a phenomenal storage capacity of 1.5 terabytes in a compact 2.5" form factor!

If you are looking for the biggest storage capacity possible in an portable drive that does not require a separate power supply, then the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex 1.5 TB portable USB 3.0 hard disk drive is the best option right now as no other manufacturer is offering 1.5 TB of storage capacity in a 2.5" portable drive.

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

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