Seagate GoFlex Upgrade Cables Overview

[wpcol_1half id=”” class=”” style=””] We recently took a look at the Seagate GoFlex Ultra Portable Drive which for us came in the latest and greatest USB 3.0 form. However, the whole point of the GoFlex drives is that you can use whichever connection you want, and can, when a new interface is released (like USB 3.0) upgrade the drive. This makes a product very much future proof and is quite frankly a brilliant idea. It also means you can use it with multiple computers using multiple interfaces, and not have to separate drives for each computer.

While this is not a full review, we are going to take a look at the cables that come with the GoFlex range as well as cables that can be purchased separately.

There is obviously not much to these products and as such all look fairly similar with the only difference being the connector on the end of the cable. They all plug directly into the bottom of the Seagate GoFlex Drives and may require you to remove a pre-existing adapter which just clicks in place.

Included is also a warranty booklet and a quick start guide

The cables plug in to the bottom of the GoFlex drives:

Test Product

• Seagate GoFlex UltraPortable 750GB Drive

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[wpcol_1half_end id=”” class=”” style=””]Our results while not a strict benchmark give you some idea of the 4 main interfaces available to most consumers and how the speeds differ quite dramatically. We also found that while USB 3.0 is reported to be up to 10x faster than USB 2.0 we only saw a performance increase of ~4x this is of course most likely due to the maximum capabilities of this drive. That said, we do already know that this drive, when used with USB 3.0 is pretty quick, and beats most variations on the market.

The results of this performance have highlighted the reason why FireWire has struggled to take off commercially and is mainly due to the fact that it always seems to be a few steps behind and a more expensive interface – for instance, both eSata and USB 3.0 gave faster speeds even though the data throughput of FireWire is similar to that of USB 3.0

Now we turn to pricing and value for money, but we must remember that you must have already purchased some form of Seagate GoFlex device for these to be a viable upgrade/exchange. You are also able to purchase a GoFlex drive with the right interface for you, but then may still want a secondary interface for your laptop  for instance.

The Seagate GoFlex FireWire 800 cable retails at £13.18 on Scan.co.uk  where as the USB 3.0 retails at £11.48 on Scan.co.uk  and the cheapest of the options is currently the eSata which retails at £9.47 from Scan.co.uk .

In conclusion we do love the GoFlex range, the GoFlex drives are brilliantly simple and give impressive performance, and as the name suggests they give you the flexibility to chose which interface you want to use and how many (different)  interfaces you want to use allowing any Seagate GoFlex drive to be a brilliant companion for your laptop and computer.

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