Rating: 
Summary: The search is over!
Review: After weeks search for a good option to back up our files, I finally landed upon the best combination of space, speed, reliability and ease of use. Seagate got it all together with its ST3160024A-RK 160 GB, which offers plenty of room, plus the ability to connect to it via either USB (2.0, or 1.0, in case your machine is a bit older... though I'd recommend that you get yourself a USB 2.0 card, if you don't have 2.0 or Firewire in your machine, so you can enjoy the full transfer speed this baby can support).
If all this were not enough, this Seagate backup unit can be set up to respond to the press of a button, or to a carefully drafted backup schedule, to take your backup worries off of your head. And that is exactly the case with me these days. From being very worried about the potential for loosing personal or client files to a misbehaving hard drive, I now have no worries, since it's all taken care of. This is why I recommend this unit without doubts.
Rating:
Summary: Cool & Quiet - Great with the Mac!
Review: Forget LaCie (have had >6 arrive DOA); Maxtor is loud, hot and heavy (had one arrive with loose parts rattling around inside) - the champ is this Seagate! Runs cool and quiet, no REALLY quiet. We buy dozens of drives (major movie studio) and these are the best we've found, short of building our own.Pros: Lightweight, quiet, cool, instant setup (Macintosh). External power supply uses standard line cord (not a funky appliance cord) so if it gets lost, we have another (or 100) hanging around. Ships with MacOS X (and Windows) software that features P.H.D. (Push Here, Dummy) backups. Cons: External, inline power supply (easily lost in shipping) has no label pairing it with the drive. If they get separated, you're S.O.L. Must have an internet connection to install software. Plastic enclosure, while 1/3 lighter, might fracture if you dropped it on a tiled floor. Conclusion: Highly recommended - Best-of-Breed for out-of-the-box, external drive.
Rating:
Summary: Fast! Reliable! Works!
Review: I bought a Maxtor OneTouch 200GB External yesterday and it just gave me headaches! I spent 2 days trying to get it to work with my computer. The backup program (Dantz) was horrible! It always produced corrupted backup files! The Seagate was a breeze! It didn't need drivers like the Maxtor to work. As soon as I plugged it in it automatically showed up on Windows Explorer. The backup program works great too (BounceBack). I will probably upgrade to BounceBack Pro since it has version control for backed up files.
Rating:
Summary: Software Suggestion
Review: I bought the Seagate drive and have had no problems with it. It makes a very low humming noise sometimes, but it ran right out of the box with no problems.
I thought of upgrading to the BounceBack Pro software, but when I checked on that software, I was disappointed in what I read.
I went instead with the SynchBack software described in the other reviews, and it seems to work well. However, the SynchBack software does not provide for disaster recovery in case you lose your entire hard disk.
To provide for this, I installed the BootItNG software. The manual for that is a bit oriented towards techies... but the software seems to work just fine and costs only $35. I recommend it!
Rating: 
Summary: Easy to install; works great after 6 months
Review: I bought this 160 GB unit to augment the internal drive on my computer being used as a network server. It was so fast, I used the Seagate as the main drive. I changed the computer out eventually and kept the Seagate and connected it to the new computer without a hitch. Hopefully it will be reliable, but so far so good.
I do think it's probably important to ensure there is adequate cooling area around the unit. Excessive heat would likely shorten its life.
Rating: 
Summary: Great external drive, crummy software
Review: I decided to rewrite my glowing 5 star review, following some problems with the Bounceback software. The drive itself is excellent, Seagate makes high quality products and this one is no exception. It runs fast, cool, and quiet, and takes up very little space on my desktop.
My only complaint is with the Bounceback software that comes with the drive. I upgraded to Bounceback Professional for around $50, and was pleased that this allowed me to easily make a bootable backup drive. The problem is that the software is not well written, and causes my WinXP system to sometimes lockup during shutdown, generally when the system has been running for at least a few days. At this point my only option is to crash the computer with a cold boot. The solution seems to be to restart the computer every day (I use it daily, and it's on 24x7)... not a big deal, but it's only necessary because Bounceback is lousy software. And no response from CMS tech support.
I recommend getting the drive, but you should probably avoid upgrading to Bounceback Professional, and use another package like Norton Ghost. Also, keep an eye on the Amazon price, it seems to vary quite a bit over time.
Rating:
Summary: Great addition to my system
Review: I got the Seagate HD because of the other good reviews at the site and because it came with back up software. I am pretty happy with my purchase. The HD:
* Has an off switch, so I don't need to leave on all the time (I just use it for backups at night).
* Is relatively quiet and unobtrusive.
* Connected to my Win2000 system without a problem.
* Comes with all of the cables you need.
* Comes with backup software.
* Has a little button on the front to start a backup session (it flashes and glows while it's at work). If you are using the HD for extra storage, it seems perfect. My only quibble is really with the backup software. Handily enough, it lets you select which files and folders you want backed up and schedule the process. You can start a backup manually by pressing the button on the HD or through the software, too. Unfortunately, the backup copies every file every time, rather than just the files that have changed since the last time you did the backup. I only have USB 1. So my nightly backups take a pretty long time. It would be nice to see an upgrade (for sale even) that could do delta backups (just the stuff that's changed since the last backup). But the automated copy-backup is still a lot better than having to drag and drop your whole computer over to the HD icon manually each night.
Rating:
Summary: Best External Hard Drive
Review: I had been researching new external hard drives, and it seemed like there wasn't anything worth purchasing until very recently. I purchased the Maxtor OneTouch, but I couldn't get past the numerous problems. I just received this Seagate 2 days ago after returning the Maxtor One Touch. The Seagate is faster, more quiet, cooler running, and cooler looking. The manual and software operation is as simple and straightforward as you can get. I chose to get the 160GB because the Seagate Barracuda internal harddrive in this product has S.M.A.R.T technology and has been proven to be a reliable, quality unit. The difference between the Seagate and the Maxtor is clear as soon as you remove it from the box - it is heavy, rugged and solid, while the Maxtor just felt cheaply made. The software installed without any problems on a Win98SE system (unlike Maxtor) and is very easy to configure and use. With the one question I did have, Seagate email tech support got back to me within a few hours. This product has the quality and features that should make it very popular. If you are looking for a really big external hard drive, there aren't many to choose from, but the Seagate is easily the best.
Rating:
Summary: I am pleased
Review: I have an 80GB hard drive and after putting so many things on my computer I had only 3 gigs of free space. Something had to be done about that. Not only did I need more space, but I also wanted to backup all the data so I could format and install over the operating system. Sure I could use CD's, but how many CDs would it take to back up roughly 80 gigs? Not only that, but some files were simply too large for a cd. So I came here in search of a hard drive and based on the reviews, I decided to go with the Seagate external 160 gigs hard drive. While I haven't had much experience with external hard drives, at least I can say that I haven't had a bad one. Naturally transfer speed is reduced, but its not a problem. Setup! What setup? If you are running Windows ME, 2000, XP, you don't have to do anything with regards to setup. All you have to do is plug in the hard drive and connect it to your computer. Its that simple. In fact it took me longer to take it out of the package than to set it up. While its suppose to be 160 gigs, its actually 148 gigs. However, I've come to expect this. One good thing about this hard drive is that its very silent. Its like a new Dell computer. There is also some feature about one button backup. I haven't tried this nor have I had to put the packaged CD in my computer. This drive is like adding a very big USB flash drive to your computer. So far I haven't had any problems with it. All that's left is to find out how long it will last.
Rating:
Summary: Only way to backup a laptop. Slick, fast and easy.
Review: I installed the Seagate 160MB external a few days ago, and it is terrific. I had problems initially when I tried to use the provided USB cable. My Toshiba Satellite is a couple of years old with only USB 1.1 speed. This is a disaster. It takes Windows 15 or 20 seconds to recognize the drive, and the provided BounceBack Express software will not work at all. Older laptops and desktops have an IEEE 4-pin Firewire (also called I-Link) port for heavy date flows. I purchased a Firewire 6-pin to 4-pin 6-ft cable from a computer store, installed it, and all my problems went away. Now the scans and backups are fast and easy, and the one-touch button works great. This quality product is very quiet too.
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