Seagate Freeagent Go Flex

The Freeagent Go Flex is a pocket-sized portable hard disk that comes in two parts.

There’s the main disk section (we’re looking at a 500GB model but other sizes are available) and the separate connection to the computer. This snaps on and off the main section to give the user a choice of socket type.

Our test unit came with a standard USB adapter attached. If your computer has the faster USB 3 sockets (they will usually be marked in blue) you can remove the standard USB adapter and snap a Go Flex USB 3 adapter (£50) into place for faster transfers.

There is also an adapter that does automatic backup, which we will be reviewing separately in future, an eSata adapter for computers with that relatively rare socket (£30), and a Firewire adapter (£40).

Using the USB 3 adapter was roughly twice as fast at reading and writing data as standard USB 2. The USB 3 standard is even faster than this but the disk cannot physically move any faster which is why the speed increase is relatively modest.

The extra adapters are not cheap but if you think you’ll be upgrading to USB 3 the Go Flex system will make the move easier. For most people, though, the switching adapters are a little too expensive to be worthwhile.