Seagate's lineup of external storage devices just got a facelift with a bump in storage capacities, brand new designs and new software. The 3.5-inch FreeAgent drives are available in two variants-Desk and XTreme. While the former sports a silver shell and only has th~ USB interface, the latter is all-black and offers FireWire 400 and eSATA connectivity as well.

Both the variants are available in 500 GB, 640 GB, 1 TB and 1.5 TB capacities. We sourced a 1 TB FreeAgent XTreme and put it to test to find out what it has in store.

FEATURES: The FreeAgent XTreme is the successor to FreeAgent Pro and offers similar features. Seagate has moved away from the detachable connector design and instead placed all the connectors at the rear. The design of the drive is similar to the previous generation FreeAgent drives except that the front portion features the Seagate logo surrounded by tiny dots that form a spiral pattern. The logo and dots illuminate (white in color) when the drive is connected to the Pc. You can either place the drive horizontally or vertically using the bundled vertical stand. Four rubber feet are included in the package so that the surface doesn't get scratched you place the drive horizontally. The package contents also include a mini-USB cable and FireWire 400 cable. However, like most other external hard drives, the package lacks an eSATA cable. The white cables and AC adapter are also disappointing as they are a mismatch for a black drive.

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The FreeAgent XTreme comes preloaded with a backup and synchronization software called Seagate Manager. In addition to scheduling backups and selecting file types it can even encrypt data in a private zone created on the drive.

PERFORMANCE: The performance of the drive isn't excePtional when hooked to a USB or FireWire port, the latter is a faster though. If you want the fastest speeds, get an eSATA cable and plug the drive to an eSATA port if your motherboard has one. The drive performs as fast as an internal hard drive, with average read and write speeds of around 100 MB/s and 60 MB/s respectively which is three times faster than USB or FireWire mode.

VERDICT: Like its predecessor, the refreshed FreeAgent range has a good mix of solutions for all budgets and storage requirements. If your motherboard has an eSATA port, we suggest you pick the FreeAgent XTreme.

FOR: Triple interface, blazingly fast in eSATA mode, sleek design.

AGAINST: No eSATA cable, no one-touch backup button, white cables and adapter