[silkstone]

I've just bought one of these from Maplin for £75 and here are my initial impressions...

It all works (so far), it's quiet and it didn't get too warm saving 180GB of files. It is pre-formatted NTFS.

There is no on/off switch.

You are supposed to install Seagate's FreeAgent Drive Manager - the installation files for Windows and Mac are on the drive. To use the software on a Mac, you must remember to copy it somewhere else before reformatting the drive.

Drive Manager does two things. Firstly it lets you decide the period of inactivity before the drive goes to sleep - default setting is 15 minutes. Secondly it allows you to configure an automatic backup schedule in which the folders/directories you select are automatically backed up to the drive daily at a time you specify. You can also click to backup at any time.

The backup is very simple - it copies across new or altered files to the external drive, but does not allow two-way synchronisation. If you're using it simply as a backup drive for one PC, that should be sufficient. Otherwise you'd need to use SyncToy or whatever.

It does not back up 'hidden' files, and that includes thumbs.db, .ini files and also all the album art JPEGs which Windows Media Player generates if you let it. It recognises only data files.

The idea seems to be that you leave it on and connected permanently, set up the Drive Manager to do regular automatic backups, and just forget about it. If that's what you want, it's difficult to fault.

If you'd prefer something that you can switch on and off manually (without having to pull out the power cord), or for use with operating systems other than Windows or Mac, look elsewhere.