Seagate introduces upgradable hard drives

Jake Widman
Thursday, 06 May 2010 10:26

Your IT - Home IT

The storage company's new line of GoFlex external hard drives feature interchangeable interface adapters that can turn a USB 2 model into a USB 3 model.

The GoFlex drives are sold like any other USB 2 external hard drives, with a standard USB port on one end and a cable.

But should an owner upgrade their computer to support USB 3, or want to use the drive with a Firewire or eSATA connection, all they have to do is snap on an upgrade cable. The drive stays the same, but it now has a faster interface.

The standard GoFlex portable drive runs at 5400 rpm and comes in four colors with 320GB, 500GB, 750GB, or 1TB capacity. The price ranges from US$99 to $199.

The GoFlex Pro portable runs at 7200 rpm and comes in a 500GB black model. It includes a dock along with backup and restore software that supports encryption. The GoFlex Pro lists for $122.72.

The upgrade cables cost from $19.99 for an eSATA interface to $29.99 for USB 3 to $39.99 for Firewire 800. There's also a USB 3 upgrade kit for $79.99 that includes the USB 3 cable and a USB 3 ExpressCard upgrade for a laptop.

For more new products in the GoFlex line, see Page 2.