WISHING FOR A BRANDED EXternal hard drive, but wary of the hole they will leave in your pockets? We suggest that you grab a dekko at Seagate FreeAgent series FreeAgent Pro 320GB and 750GB, and also the FreeAgent Go 160 external drives. Though they might be quite above your budget line but these drives are definitely one of the best built external drives. With an attractive looking, black metal brushed finishing, a sturdy plastic base that houses the power and data connectors that supports the drive casing, they definitely grab eyeballs.

What's more, to set up these external drives, all you need is a power supply and anyone of these connectors (USB2.0, FireWire400, or eSATA connector) depending upon which is compatible with your system. When the drive is charging, the top and the spine are lit up by orange light. Unfortunately the power button does not have any indicator. Our team tested the performance of the drives, by recording the time taken to transfer a soup of files (.doc, .exe, .avi, .pdf, .jpg, .mov etc.) of lGB from an internal drive to the FreeAgent Pro (320GB) which was recorded at 1 min 22 sec and another 54 seconds to complete transfer of a single 700MB file.

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As far as connectivity is concerned you can simply connect the FreeAgent Pro to a PC using any of the connectors modules. These modules are actually removable.
The FreeAgent Pro is bundled with software called FreeAgent Tools and AutoBackup. The tool is used to manage various features and settings for the FreeAgent Pro. It allows you to create Restore points, execute rollbacks, and start or schedule backups. You can even backup your data on to a Seagate internet server so as to allow data accessibility from anywhere.

Of course, you will need to register for an internet storage account with Seagate, and you will have to run another software tool called AutoBackup. FreeAgent Pro Tools also let you run diagnostic tests on the FreeAgent Pro drives, adjust the drivesleep interval, and turn the lights on or off. We suggest you to loosen your purse strings a little, as FreeAgent Pro drives, not only look good on the desk, but also deliver a power packed performance.