Why You Can Trust CNET Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk review: Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk
Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk
The Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk is the desktop version of the portable FreeAgent GoFlex Pro . The two drives share the same flexible, interchangeable adapter design that removes the worry about what connection types to get for your external hard drive. This is because, though the GoFlex Desk comes with just one USB 2.0 connection, it can support any other type of peripheral connection, such as USB 3.0 or FireWire, via snap-in adapters.
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
At the street price of around $220 for the 3TB version (the 2TB and 1TB cost $140 and $100, respectively) the GoFlex Desk is a really good deal, especially when you consider its decent performance and the fact that its adapter also supports any internal SATA hard drives.
If you work a lot with internal hard drives and are looking for an external drive for your desktop computer, be it a PC or a Mac, look no further than the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk.
| Drive type | 3.5-inch external USB hard drive |
| Connector options | USB 2.0, USB 3.0, FireWire |
| Size (WHD) | 6.22 x 4.88 x 1.73 inches |
| Weight | 2.38 lbs |
| Available capacities | 1TB, 2TB, 3TB |
| Capacity of test unit | 3TB |
| Notable design | Interchangeable connection adapter |
| OSes supported | Microsoft Windows (XP, Vista, 7); Mac OS 10.5 or higher |
| Software included | Memeo Backup |
Design and features
The FreeAgent GoFlex Desk comes in two parts: the hard drive and the adapter. The hard drive is basically just an internal hard drive housed in a plastic chassis. At the bottom, the drive's housing has a small opening to reveal the internal hard drive's standard SATA female connector. The adapter part has a male SATA connector; these two parts can be snapped onto each other and fit tightly to form the GoFlex external hard drive.
Out of the box, the GoFlex Desk comes with only one USB 2.0 adapter, but thanks to its revolutionary flexible design, you can add support for other connection types, such as USB 3.0 or FireWire, with the simple addition of other adapters--though these, unfortunately, cost extra. You also have the option to buy the GoFlex hard drive part on its own and then a separate adapter to form the external hard drive with the connection option of your choice. In this case, we recommend you get the USB 3.0 adapter, which costs $30, especially if your computer supports USB 3.0 (USB 2.0 ports will accept USB 3.0 adapters as well).
We really love the innovative, flexible design, as it means you can use the hard drives and the adapters interchangeably when you have multiple GoFlex Desk drives in the house. Or you can use just one drive with multiple adapters, which is an ideal scenario for an environment with multiple computers that have different types of peripheral connections. For example, you can use a USB 3.0 adapter with one computer and a FireWire adapter with another. You then can conveniently move the hard-drive part around and leave the adapters attached to their respective computers at all times.
Another great thing about this design is the fact these adapters can also be used with any internal SATA hard drives, of both the 2.5-inch (laptop) and the 3.5-inch (desktop) designs, even those not made by Seagate. This makes the GoFlex Desk a must have for anyone who works often with internal hard drives, because it can replace other docking-station solutions, such as the Ineo USB 3.0 Dock or the VanTec NexStar.
Though the hard-drive part of the GoFlex Desk is just a bare-bones drive, the adapter also includes a storage gauge that has four white LED lights to show the approximate amount of storage being used. Each light represents 25 percent of the drive's storage.
The GoFlex Desk's design is not perfect, however. We found that the adapter, which is designed to also be the base of the drive when used in the intended vertical position, is too narrow and light, so that the drive topples easily. You can avoid this by using the drive in the horizontal position, but that deflects from the look of the whole package.
The GoFlex Desk comes bundled with Memeo Backup software that you can choose to install or not. The software is rather limited in its local backup functionality and comes bloated with many features that try to coerce users into buying premium services. For this reason, we would recommend using third-party backup software with the drive.
The drive is preformatted in the NTFS file system to be used with Windows computers, but you can easily reformat it into HSF+ to use with Macs. Once this is done, the drive fully supports Apple's Time Machine.
Performance
We were happy with the GoFlex Desk's performance both with USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 connections, though it wasn't the best we've seen.
In USB 3.0 tests, the drive scored 80.5MBps in the write test, which is about the average among USB 3.0-based external hard drives. In reading, this scored went up a notch to 91.5MBps--again, a decent number. For comparison, the WD MyBook 3.0 scored 106.6MBps and 108.8MBps for the write and read tests, respectively.
In USB 2.0 tests, the GoFlex Desk scored 27.8MBps and 36.7MBps for the write and read tests, respectively. Among USB 2.0-based external hard drives, the GoFlex Desk is the top three in the write test and about average in the read test.
During testing, the drive seemed to be rather hot, though not to an alarming degree. Still, we recommend using it in an open area.
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
 | USB 3.0 read | | USB 3.0 write |
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
| USB 2.0 read | | USB 2.0 write |
Service and support
Seagate backs the FreeAgent GoFlex Desk with a two-year warranty, which is one year shorter than what it offers for the portable version, the GoFlex Pro. This is a little disappointing, especially because Seagate often offers warranties of up to five years for other products. But considering that most other drives come with just a one-year warranty, this is still relatively generous. Seagate's Web site contains a comprehensive list of forums, knowledge bases, driver downloads, installation help, and FAQs to help you troubleshoot your drive. The company's technical support is also available via live chat, e-mail, and phone from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. PT weekdays.