Seagate 1TB Backup Plus USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive Review

In a world of ever increasing quality in audio, photography and especially video – the need for yet more space to store all this information is a constant battle. Although storing content in online cloud storage is becoming more and more practical, the need to have it with you all the time even when you are away from an internet connection leaves you with the requirement for an external hard drive.

The Seagate 1TB Backup Plus Portable Hard Drive is one such solution. Extremely portable and supporting USB 3.0 for quick transfer speeds, the 1TB hard drive is ready for all your media storage needs.

So let’s take a closer look…

Speed

As file sizes increase with higher quality audio, images and video – watching the file transfer notification window appear on screen detailing the time remaining can be extremely frustrating. USB 3.0 offers a far quicker speed than its predecessor USB 2.0 and if your computer, laptop or other device supports USB 3.0 (even Xbox One), you can take advantage of this feature with the Seagate External Hard Drive.

In my tests, the difference between a USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 connection was obvious. Files were certainly zipping along at a frantic pace compared to the older USB 2.0 technology transferring three times as quickly. Certainly not as fast as USB 3.0 claims, however instead of for example an hour to transfer a mass of information all at once, it would only take twenty minutes with the new USB technology – so a noticeable reduction nevertheless. Compared to the WD My Passport Essential Hard Drive I reviewed some time ago, another external USB 3.0 hard drive, the Seagate was actually much quicker rating another 30MB/sec or so faster! Not bad at all.

For those of you still managing with USB 2.0 ports that might be concerned, fear not as the Seagate External Hard Drive is backwards compatible with older USB 2.0 devices – ensuring that both your owned computers and the devices you next plug into the Seagate Hard Drive work without any difficulties. You won’t enjoy the increased speeds of USB 3.0 of course, however you will still be able to utilise all of the functionality and storage space of the device until the day you consider upgrading.

Hardware

At just 0.17kg in weight, it certainly won’t be an issue to carry around with you and the compact dimensions allow you to easily fit the hard drive in your bag or even your pocket. The hard drive comes with a USB 3.0 (USB 2.0 compatible) cable so you can begin transferring your files straight away and there is no need for a separate power cable either adding to its portability credentials.

A simple black squarish design houses the 1TB capacity and the hard drive really is as quiet as a mouse even though inside all the typical mechanical gizmos are hard at work.

There is a single LED light that illuminates when the hard drive is connected to a device, which gently pulses in and out when files are being transferred.

Specifications

• Capacity: 1TB
• Height: 15.5mm
• Width: 81.1mm
• Length: 122.3mm
• Typical Weight: 0.17kg

Software

Seagate feature two pieces of free software that work with the Seagate 1TB Backup Plus Portable Hard Drive…

Firstly the Seagate Dashboard can check you have the latest firmware update on your hard drive to ensure silky smooth operation, details how much free space is remaining, run hard drive tests and even generate video thumbnails for any videos found on the hard drive. You can also control whether you wish the built-in LED light on the hard drive to be on or not if this is something that might bother you.

Also available is Seagate’s Media Sync, which as the name suggests looks for media content on your computer or laptop and backs them up to your Seagate external hard drive. You can specify the locations that are backed up and ensuring your precious photos, music and video files are safely stored away in case your main storage is ever corrupted, damaged or lost.

You can of course use the Mac’s own Time Machine options to backup your computer or laptop to the hard drive.

Conclusion

At around £60, The Seagate 1TB Backup Plus USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive manages to store an impressive amount of data in such a tiny, quiet and sleek looking device. USB 3.0 improves the speed of your file transfers with impressive results, while also offering the all important backwards compatibility for older devices.

What adds to this immense appeal is the software, that looks after your important media files including images, music, video as well as all of your documents – with backup settings that are incredibly easy to configure with good customisation options.

If you are yearning for portability without sacrificing storage space and simple to operate backup options, the Seagate 1TB Backup Plus USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive is a fantastic choice to consider featuring speed, elegant design and super quiet operation.

Hardware kindly provided for review by eBuyer.