Seagate FreeAgent XTreme external hard drive

Cool Yule Rating: 4 stars

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Cool Yule Rating: 4 stars

Price: $229.99 (for 1TB); $279.99 (for 1.5TB)

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Description: The high-end of Seagate's FreeAgent line of external hard drives is the XTreme series, which aims to provide "blazingly fast performance" via eSATA connectivity. The drive boasts an eSATA port on its drives (we tested a 1TB version), but ironically it doesn't include an eSATA port (you have to buy one separately). It does include a mini-USB 2.0 cable and FireWire 400 cable (the drive has two FireWire ports), I'm assuming that because most users probably still only have FireWire and USB ports on their computer systems (eSATA is just starting to appear on newer notebooks and PCs), that Seagate figured they'd include those cables instead of the eSATA.

In addition to the faster connection speeds for transferring, the XTreme drive includes automatic backup, synchronization and encryption software (it's already on the drive, so you don't have to install software via a CD or DVD). The drive can be placed horizontally or vertically on a desktop – the small design is meant to be unobtrusive as it sits on your desk.

If you have a lot of large files that you need stored, backed up or transferred quickly, the XTreme drive is worth a look.

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