*notcot in tech , 12:02

Seagate FreeAgent - Gorgeous!- 11.14.08

seagatemain.jpg From those pics my first thought would be some new modern ambient lighting… not the latest line of external hard drives. Always being on the go, and totally paranoid about losing photos/design files, i never travel without external hard drives… and i have some bigger boring ones from back in the day, and some sleeker new ones, but often the pretty ones worked terribly, the ugly simple ones were more reliable… and i’m so excited to see that brands like Seagate have really stepped up their design, realizing that its not even about accessorizing, so much as having more elegant solutions in the ext HD space. Especially with the prices dropping so much these days, aren’t external HDs like the new mix CD? Why bother with burning DVDs or filling tiny USB keys, when you can give someone a gift worthy ext HD filled with a lifetime of pictures and videos?

Anyhow, i’m ranting again - as you can tell, i’m pretty excited about the new era of external HD design… and i’m even MORE giddy to announce that Seagate has stepped up and sponsored this years NOTCOT Gift Guide 2008 (remember 2007’s?)! Which will be officially kicking off Monday! (Yes, yes, that’s why things have been a little quiet ~ my amazing winter intern, Alyssa, has been organizing some incredible discounts and giveaways for all of you ~ and i’m still madly scouring the net for fun products!) So you’ve been warned, gift guide madness starts Monday! (And while i’m trying not to do 31 days straight this year, it may get even crazier than last year!)

But for now… in our quiet before the gifting storm… How gorgeous are these new Seagate FreeAgent drives? So take a look at the details and unboxing on the next page ~ i had a lot of fun with this one!


For a quick into ~ here’s an overview of the full Seagate FreeAgent Family!
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Best first impression of these drives, is definitely meeting them in the DARK! The standout feature is definitely the playful lighting when these are plugged in and ready to store your precious files! Here’s the Free Agent | Go in its dock, and i just love the way the holes vary and have such a nice ambient pattern ~ beautifully conveying the transfer of data with light? (I’m probably also biased because i tend to doodle in dots when i space at meetings/classes)
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I was initially sad that they sent the Free Agent | Desk for mac, versus the other Desk lines and the XTreme…. until i plugged it in. See, the standard Desk and XTreme have a fascinating pattern of pin hole lights eminating from around the logo… and it didn’t look like the Mac one did… but wow. Plug it in, and the glow comes from BELOW! With projected little dots!
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Yes, i was totally fascinated and mesmerized…
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Here’s a peek at the underside that is creating this look…
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Also, the Mac FreeAgent | Desk ~ is SO much sleeker than it looked in the press images! The images made me expect it to be large and brick like. but it actually has a really nice… parallelogram to the horizontal plane, which makes it seem much sleeker (unlike my beast of an old La Cie you see next to it)…
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Exterior packaging of the two i have been poking at…
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Unboxing the Desk ~ it made me laugh when i opened it… the plastic molding felt very car engine like with the playful pattern that appeared
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So simple to just fold the top piece out and have easy access to the drive and cables which were simply laid out!
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How fun an unexpected is that silhouette?
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Not to geek out on cables, but these were some nice quality cables, and they really are prefectly mac matched… and nice touch on the Seagate logos on their clear bands, versus a pile of cables in plastic bags…
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Yay! Firewire 800! I’m a big fan, been intentionally skipping through macbook pros that had it (remember they were being wavery and they had them and then they didnt and now they do again?)
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I’m a big fan of products that feel great in your hand… pretty in pictures is nice and all, but not for those products that have to survive the ride in your purse and on your travels. This drive feels solid. Has a playful pattern (that is also functional!), but isn’t over designed.
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Like most drives, all you need is that one tiny USB port…
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Design details i loved ~ the case is sleek, and it has an elastic pocket! Perfect for keeping that mini, or perfectly coiled usb cable attached without scratching up the drive!
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See the whole Seagate FreeAgent Family here!

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3 Notes

Jean, Thank you for the great review of our new award-winning FreeAgent family of external storage solutions. Check out the television ads that are currently running on national cable networks.
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1740031125/bclid1740033126/bctid2156184001

----- Seagate 01.12.08 10:51

Which reminds me - time to backup!!

I was also wondering why the Mac drive lacked the fancy lights, and this is the first time I’ve seen why. That look’s great. It’s interesting that External HD design has really become important lately. I’ve got one of the LaCie brick HD’s around, which I think is fantastic (although a little slow, being only USB2 instead of Firewire). I wouldn’t mind complimenting it with one of these, plus a Time Capsule.

----- Nathan Adams 14.11.08 21:27

Perfect timing! We’re in need of some new hard drives. These look awesome. Much better than my old WD MyBook.

----- esotericsean 14.11.08 13:33


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