Today, no matter how much storage a computer comes with by default, one always finds it filling up faster than you could imagine. Thanks to the growing reach of the internet (and the tons of media that is freely available on it), it doesn’t take long before you realize that you’re almost out of space. Your HD movie collection, iTunes, Aperture or even iPhoto Library gradually start putting on enough weight to drive you crazy. And we often find ourselves in a storage space crisis when that happens. Even though there are a plethora of options available in the market today, one still has to go through the gruesome phase of deciding what to choose. Do I choose a External USB Storage or go with a FireWire option. Or should I just upgrade my internal storage? How about getting an internal HDD and stuffing it up in an external casing.

It is a common trait to have the external storage right next to your Mac on your Desk. And if you’re someone who takes utmost care of the belongings on your desk, chances are, you’d want something that’s stunning and goes along with the overall theme of your desk. Lucky for you, Seagate, one of the largest brands in storage has special Mac Editions of the FreeAgent Desk and FreeAgent Go series of hard disks and Smoking Apples got a chance to take em for a spin’.

We have an entire collection of photos uploaded to our Flickr stream, so you can browse through photos of either the FreeAgent Desk or the FreeAgent Go. Here’s what we think -

Seagate FreeAgent Desk – Mac Edition

Introduction

Name: Seagate FreeAgent Desk – Mac Edition
Capacity: 500GB, 1TB and 1.5TB.
Looks: Stunning
Price: $190
Form-Factor: Powered, 3.5″
Connectivity: USB and FireWire

The Packaging

I wish there was something interesting to talk about the packaging, but sadly, there isn’t. Even though these are Mac Editions, the HDD is packed inside an ordinary box package and is held together by a plastic mould along with the accessories. While I agree this is not something very important, it would definitely give the product a classy feel to it if Seagate worked on the design of the packaging.

The Look

The FreeAgent Desk looks stunningly spectacular. Housed in a Aluminum polished metal casing with white plastic, it gives you the typical Mac-like feel to it. The HDD stands tall on the desk, thanks to the plastic stand at the bottom. The FreeAgent Desk has the Seagate logo cut out into the metal, that lights up with a white light when the HDD in on. The same white light can be seen falling on the leg of the HDD. Trust me, it’s a spectacular sight at night.

The Usage

The FreeAgent Go comes pre-formatted for your Mac, so you’re all set once you plug it in. At the back of the HDD, there are 4 connectors — One for the power-supply, one for the USB and two connectors for FireWire. This is a huge bonus if you Mac has just two USB ports. The packaging comes with a power-supply adapter, USB cable, FW800 to FW400 cable and a FW800 cable and of course, the manual.

Performance

Sequential write at 60MB/sec and random write at 54MB/sec. Random read showed 54MB/sec while Random read showed 29MB/sec. Tests done over Firewire. USB was much slower, almost half in many cases.

Seagate FreeAgent Go – Mac Edition

Introduction

Name: Seagate FreeAgent Go – Mac Edition
Capacity: 500GB
Looks: Stunning
Form-Factor: Portable, 2.5″
Connectivity: USB, FireWire, Dock.

The Packaging

The Seagate FreeAgent Go has a much better looking packaging compared to its elder sibling. The entire thing is bound into a tiny package, but while it looks better, it’s much more difficult to open. I had to fiddle with the packaging for over 20 minutes, which is in fact sealed from all sides. Your only option is to cut it off.

The Look

Unlike its elder sibling, which has a polished metal finish to it, the FreeAgent Go has a smooth brushed metal finish on its top, with a matte white plastic at the side and bottom. The form-factor is very portable, just a little bigger than the iPhone.

The ports are conveniently located at the back of the HDD and the dotted pattern on the top lights up when the HDD is connected to your Mac.

The Usage

Being the Mac Edition, the FreeAgent Go comes pre-formatted as well. The back has connectors 3 connectors, one FireWire 800 connector, one mini-USB connector and a power cable connector. The accessories include cables for FireWire 800 – 800, FireWire 800 to FireWire 400, USB to mini-USB and USB to power connector, although I’ve never had to use the USB powered power cable.

The Dock

The FreeAgent Go has an amazing addon to it in the form of a dock. The dock is a convenient way to have the HDD on your desk and is connected via the FireWire port. The Dock looked marvelous on the Desk when placed next to my Unibody MacBook Pro and I preferred having the FreeAgent Go connected to the Mac instead of the FreeAgent Desk.

Performance

Excellent performance by the little drive. Sequential write was 50MB/sec while random write was 35MB/sec. Sequential read at 78MB/sec, and random read at 23MB/sec. Tests were done over Firewire. USB was much slower, almost half in many cases.

When comparing real world specs, both hard drives showed equal might while transferring a large file across. For instance, while dealing with a single 4.37GB file, both hard drives showed relatively same results. [Ed note: apparently the figures were too similar so he's just mentioning one]

Mac to HDD – 1min and 7 seconds
HDD to Mac – 53 seconds

The Verdict

For anyone looking out for external storage expansion options, there a tons of options available today. There’s even the mighty Drobo at your perusal if you’re concerned about data security. However, the Seagate FreeAgent Desk and Go stand as a worthy option for those who want to have a beautiful desk and don’t mind paying a little extra. Both the HDDs look stunningly spectacular on the desk and are highly recommended if you want something Mac-like.