Seagate 160GB External Hard Drive (Seagate-ST3160024ark)

• Reviewed by:

  Strengths: Bang for the buck, simple, easy-to-use software, unit runs cool.

  Weaknesses: Power pack connector can be dislogged a little too easily

  Overall: Really like ths unit. Tried unit from another vendor, but like this one beter. Looks better in person than pictures. Unlike most other reviewers, I really like the BounceBack software. Unlike other backup software, Bounceback uses the native file format. While slightly slower, it is more relaible and it makes it so easy to restore a single lost file by drag-and-drop. the software can be upgraded for about $50 to a more automatic version, one that features intelligent restore of multiple lost files.

• Reviewed by: hu1213

  Strengths: Plug and play. The dual data transfer format USB2.0/IEEE 3194 makes this a very versatile unit.

  Weaknesses: BounceBack software doesn't work very well.

  Overall: I got my new Seagate 160GB external drive 18 days ago and set it up in under a minute after unwrapping. The first thing I did was to reformat the drive into NTFS, which allows for gigantic file sizes, is faster than the old FAT, and provides for security features under Windows XP Professional. Externally, the Seagate is pretty compact, measuring about 7"x7"x2.5". Assembled in the U.S., the unit looks and feels solid. This 7200RPM drive is fast. I use it over USB 2.0 and it's the fastest external drive I've tested. I'm pretty happy as I plan to use this as my photo and video editing drive. Fast, quiet, plug-and-play, fairly stylish, and supporting both USB 2 and 6-pin IEEE 1394, this Seagate drive looks like the definite winner in the external drive category.

• Reviewed by: fredthefan

  Strengths: The device's design is nice. Stackable and compact. Noise is minimal. USB 2.0/Firewire compatible. Very easy to setup. Backed up my Windows 2000 laptop with zero problems.

  Weaknesses: The software is a little confusing (see comments below) and doesn't have as many features as I wanted. Backing up my Windows ME desktop was shaky, but it's probably not the hard drive's fault.

  Overall: When you launch the enclosed CD, it installs BounceBack Express which is the backup program. But if you want to partition/format the hard drive, you need to install DiscWizard 2003 that you have to find in one of the folders in the CD (= it's not automatically launched). My previous backup method was using an H-P DVD writer with the included Simple Backup software. This software compressed your hard drive contents into a DVD. The Seagate BounceBack Express software simply copies files from your source to the external hard drive- I would have liked a "Simple Backup" compression feature. Backing up my Windows 2000 laptop was awesome, but backing up my Windows ME desktop was a task. I kept getting blue screens stating "Coping to disk error" when it tried to copy certain files. Windows ME is a buggy OS (from my past experience and comments from friends) but I'm too cheap to upgrade to XP, so I'm giving a free pass to Seagate on this issue. Overall, it's a great device but the software could have been better.

• Reviewed by: yzhan

  Strengths: Easy to use. Works well.

  Weaknesses: None noticed so far.

  Overall: It works as I had expected. Although I've never used an external hard disk before, it didn't cause me too much trouble to figure things out. We are using a script to back up things on our G5 Mac automatically every night, and so far it's working well. I haven't found anything I dislike about it yet.

• Reviewed by: eau697

  Strengths: Easy setup, fast, running cool and very quiet

  Weaknesses: BounceBack Express isn't useful

  Overall: The Seagate 160GB external hard drive is very easy to setup. I simply connected the power and firewire cables, power up the HD and my Windows 2000 recognized it without a problem. Then it took me a minute to reformat it to NTFS. The HD looks much better than I expected from the pictures available online and it is solidly constructed. My unit was assembled in the U.S.A. The HD is as fast as my internal drives. With the firewire (IEEE 1394) interface, it hardly places any load on the CPU. The HD runs cool and is very quiet. The casing is warm to touch even after hours of backing up files non-stop. I can hardly hear it running if not for its amber LED lights. The noise from the read and write access is negligible and comparable to internal drive anyway. The BounceBack Express is the weak point in this package. The functions available in this version are very limited. It is so limited that the Restore function is only available in the Professional version (a $49 upgrade). By the way, the backup button on the HD will only work with BounceBack software.