Storage developer Seagate has unveiled its latest FreeAgent GoFlex external desktop hard drive—and the company has capacity limits by making it the world’s first desktop hard drive to pack in up to 3 TB of storage. The drive offers a standard USB 2.0 interface—folks can, of course, adapt that to eSATA or FireWire 800—but the big feature may be its Seagate’s asking price: $249.99.
“Consumer capacity demands are quickly out-pacing the needs of business as people continue to collect high-definition videos, photos, and music,” said Seagate executive VP of sales Dave Mosley, in a statement. “Seagate has a tradition of designing products that break into new storage frontiers to meet customer requirements and the 3TB GoFlex Desk external drive is no exception—delivering the highest-capacity storage solution available today.”
Seagate says the GoFlex Desk external hard drive is compatible with Windows and Mac OS X systems right out of the box, thanks to bundling in an NTFS drive for Mac OS X which enables Macs to access the drive’s files without reformatting the drive to Mac OS Extended format. The drive ships with a USB 2.0 adapter by default, but customers can separately purchase eSATA or FireWire 800 adapters—and, thanks to the adapter technology, users get not only a compatible plug, but the improved performance of the USB 3.0 or FireWire 800 connection. The drives also feature an illuminated capacity gauge so users can tell at a glance whether they’re running out of space. Windows users can also take advantage of continuous backups and software file encryption that should help keep your data safe in the event the drives are ever lost or stolen.
The 3 TB version of the GoFlex Desk external hard drive is available now for a suggested price of $249.99; 1 TB and 2 TB versions are also available.
