Product Description

Includes: BounceBack Express, pedestal stand, USB cable, FireWire cable, AC adapter, & more. Seagate 400GB External Hard Drive - Backing up your computer's hard drive is essential to protecting your vital information. But with the size of hard drives these days, burning dozens of CDs and DVDs is no longer a convenient solution. Thankfully external hard drives, like this model from Seagate, are available to easily backup your entire computer with the push of a button. All of your data is then quickly transferred via a super-fast USB 2.0 or FireWire connection. Unique Interlocking Design - Allows the drive to be stacked Drive can also stand vertically with the included pedestal stand Built-in self-monitoring technology that continuously checks the hard drive for data safety and drive performance PC System Requirements - Microsoft Windows 98SE, Me, 2000, & XP Mac System Requirements - Mac OS 8.6, 9.x, & X (note - backup software does not support Mac OS 8.6 or 9.x) Unit Dimensions (w/o pedestal) - 7.125 (d) x 6.5 (w) x 2.25 (h) Unit Dimensions (w/ pedestal) - 7.125 (d) x 2.5 (w) x 7 (h) Unit Weight - 2 lbs. 9.5 oz.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #30688 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Seagate
• Model: 9Y7275-557
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 6.00 pounds
• Hard Disk: 400GB

Features

• Stackable external 7,200-rpm hard drive with a 400 GB capacity and an 8 MB cache
• Offers a choice of USB 2.0 and FireWire (IEEE 1394a) interfaces (both cables provided)
• Built-in self-monitoring technology continuously checks the drive for data safety and drive performance
• Hot-swappable, so you can connect and disconnect without turning off your computer
• Includes award-winning BounceBack Express software; backup your files with a schedule and/or at the touch of a button

From the Manufacturer
Compact, lightweight, and durable, this high-capacity drive makes it easy to take your work with you--wherever you go. Connect with USB 2.0 or IEEE 1394a (FireWire), and back up with the touch of a button.

• Award-winning BounceBack Express software from CMS backs up faster and easier than any other method
• High-performance 7,200-rpm drive with 8 MB cache
• On/off switch eliminates concerns that your hard drive hasn't been shut down safely
• Built-in self-monitoring technology continuously checks your hard drive for data safety and drive performance
• Designed to run much cooler than other external drives
• Hot-swappable, so you can connect and disconnect without turning off your computer
• Comes complete with USB 2.0 cable, FireWire 1394a cable, AC adapter and power cord, quick installation guide and backup software CD

Customer Reviews

IT DIED
So I have been using this external hard drive for quite some time, perhaps a year and a half or so.

It's worked fine all that time.

And then last week, it died.

I called seagate to find out when the warranty had expired, it expired last May!!!

I think it was actually less than a year when it expired.

I should have read these reviews before buying it.

Works OK, access lag takes some getting used to
I own two of these drives: one a 400 GB model, the other a 300 GB. Since
I am only using them to store multimedia files, none of which are over
2 GB in size, I left them formatted FAT32. I also don't need BounceBack
Express, which from reading other reviews appears to be crappy software.

The access delay, while annoying at times (it is part of the built-in error
checking routine the drive has), isn't that bad, and I have gotten used to
it.

One of these I've had since July 2005, the other since November 2005 (the
400 GB model was purchased then from a local Fry's store.) Other than
the access delay, I haven't had any problems with them. Both of them sit
flat on my computer desk, stacked on top of one another. But I do have
an external fan blowing cool air on them whenever the computer is on.

it's alriiiiiiiiiiiiight but not all that great... learn from my experience
If you're like me, you have read these reviews a hundred times because you:
a) want to get the right thing for your precious data;
b) are thoroughly boggled by the sheer quantity of hard drives out there from 300 different manufacturers.

Well hopefully I can help you rule one of these out. Yep, the ubiquitous Seagate external hard drive. Stores seem to love these Seagate drives; professional reviewers do too. But we plebeians that write reviews on Amazon have dogged this hard drive. Including me, in this review.

I'd actually ruled out this HD, but then I found it at a price I couldn't refuse and got it. In terms of data storage, it's been reliable, sure, but it has some other mitigating factors that REALLY irritate me.

Read on and learn from my experience.

What it is actually good for, i.e., where it scores points: for being a reliable hard drive to store data. I haven't had any data problems (like crashing or loss of data). I can fit tons of stuff on it. So the Seagate 400gb External gets points for those things. However, all of those features are things that ANY hard drive should have: the given amount of storage, and reliability. So although it gets points for these things, that's like giving an employee high marks for the mere act of completing what they're supposed to do.

Here are the problems that I have with this drive:

PROBLEM #1: I found the backup software basically useless.
I couldn't get it to work at all. (And I do computer tech support so I'm not a moron!) A few back-and-forths with the provider's tech support got me nowhere. (It's a 3rd party app.) That tech support seemed like it consisted of one guy who would start ignoring me when he couldn't figure out what happened. I eventually gave up on it in favor of Karen's Backup Replicator, a free online utility that works like a charm. (Karen has tons of other awesome free utilities too.)

PROBLEM #2: The drive has SERIOUS lag time when I try to access it, durring which it whirs, hums, sputters, etc.
I got the Seagate to replace my old HD, which was a W_stern D_gital brand. Some professional reviews have dogged that brand, but for me it was a great drive: it worked like CHAMP through four years of daily use, with constant data writing/rewriting; it was quiet and made no noise; I never had any problems or data loss; and it would always access folders and subfolders VERY quickly. (i.e., when I'd browse to it and then down into folders, it would respond and show me the contents just as fast as if it were my actual C drive.)
The ONLY reason I was looking to replace the WD-brand drive was that I'd filled it up, and that after four years, I was worried that it might start developing problems, even though it had not been showing any signs of problems at all and was working just as well as the day I got it. So I decided to get another drive and just have everything backed up in one additional place.
The Seagate drive hasn't worked nearly as well. When I browse to it, it invariably (as in, EVERY TIME) lags... takes several seconds to open up, another few seconds to go down into a submenu, etc. Sometimes it even takes a moment to FIND the drive. During this time, it whirs and sputters and generally sounds really constipated... like it needs some Ex-Lax to squeeze out a list of folders for me.

PROBLEM #3: The BIGGEST problem I have with this drive, though, is BAD and UNRELIABLE CONNECTIVITY.
My connection to this thing uses the very standard USB cable between it and my machine. The cable is in fine shape, and it plugs in snugly to both the HD and my machine. But for some reason, this connection just winks out ALL THE TIME. Several times a day. Which causes my machine to give me the annoying "hey! new device found!" thing every time. If I'm listening to mp3's stored on that machine, it wipes out the playlist when the connection goes out. If I'm watching an mpeg or avi, then it vanishes when the connection winks out. And I can't even count how many times this has caused a "write failed" error when I'm trying to back my stuff up.
Yes, this could be the fault of the USB cable, and no, I haven't tried a different USB cable to isolate the problem. I just believe that this should work right out of the box with no problems; and by now I'm probably out of warranty.

THE BOTTOM LINE:
Yes, this thing gets the basic job done (data storage), but it has SO MANY ANNOYANCES that I wouldn't get it again if I could go back in time to when I got it. I find myself using my mp3's, etc. LESS because of the wonkiness of this drive. So I'm about to go out and get another one-- such as WD brand-- and then relegate the Seagate to be not even my main backup, but to be my backup-of-a-backup. By then I'll have my junk backed up in so many places that it won't be a huge problem when one of them-- probably this one-- craps out.

Based on my experience, I won't purchase another Seagate drive, period.

I'd read such good things about Seagate, and maybe their internal drives live up to the hype, but I wouldn't get one of these again. Besides, in the short time I've had my drive, they've come out with two or three bigger models-- they seem to be in such a rush to push toward a one terabyte model that they can't possibly be doing much quality control on this now-punier model.

Learn from my experience. It has held my data without failing, yes, but I hate this thing.