Seagate Backup Plus 500GB USB3 portable HDD Review

Review: Seagate Backup Plus 500GB HDD
Reviewed by: Wendy
Robertson

Provided by: Seagate
Model: STBU500202
Connection: USB3STBU500202

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Moving data from one location to another is something that
most of us will do from time to time. If we're only moving a small amount of
data, then a USB pen drive is probably the simplest way to achieve this task.
However, if we need to move around large amounts of data, then a USB pen drive
is hardly a cost effective method of doing so. A far more cost effective way of
moving large amounts of data from one location to another is by utilising a
portable USB hard drive.

It's not that long ago that this inevitably meant having to
use a rather slow USB2 portable HDD. Fortunately the transfer speed of portable
HDDs is no longer an issue, thanks to the USB3 interface and protocol.

Today I'm taking a look at the Seagate Backup Plus USB3
portable HDD, which Seagate were kind enough to send me for review. The drive
I'm testing is the 500GB version, but there are other capacities available in
the Seagate Backup Plus range, 750GB and 1000GB. The Seagate Backup Plus range
is also available in four colours, black, read, silver, and blue. It's also
worth mentioning that the Backup Plus is also backwards compatible with USB2,
although connecting via USB2 will obviously not give the same performance as a USB3
connection.

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So let's find out how this USB3 portable HDD performs in our
range of tests.  

Seagate company information

Seagate should need no introduction, but those of you who
would like to find out more about Seagate, can do so at their website.


The Seagate Backup Plus USB3 portable HDD.

Now it’s time to take a look at the drive itself and what it
came shipped with.

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Packaging


Package front


Package rear

Inside the box


Complete package

The Seagate Backup Plus package consists of the 500GB USB3
portable HDD itself, a short USB3 connection lead (42cm), and an instruction
manual. At the rear of the case you can also remove the USB3 controller and
connect the Backup Plus via eSATA, providing you have a suitable eSATA to SATA lead
which can also provide power to the Backup Plus. There are also optional FireWire
800 and Thunderbolt adapters available for the Backup Plus at extra cost.


Drive top

The case of the Seagate Backup Plus is made from high quality
plastic, on which we can see the Seagate logo. Near the end of the case we can
also see an LED which glows blue when the Backup Plus is connected, and
flickers when data is being transferred to and from the drive. We can also see
the detachable interface controller. The case itself measures (H) 14.5mm, (W)
81.1mm, (L) 123.4, and weighs in at 224 grams.

The HDD installed in the Seagate Backup Plus is Seagate's
own Momentus ST9500325AS which has two platters, and spins at 5400RPM. The
Momentus also has 8MB of cache, and an SATA2 host interface.

The detachable SATA to USB3 controller.

As I mention above, the Seagate Backup Plus uses a handy
"interchangeable" SATA2 to USB3, Firewire 800, and Thunderbolt
adapter. Only the SATA2 to USB3 controller is supplied, but one can detach the
controller and connect other drives via the adapter.


Supplied SATA2 to USB3 controller

One can even connect an SSD to the adapter, although you
will only be able to achieve SATA2 speed, which is around 260 MB/s.


A Corsair Neutron GTX SSD connected to the detachable SATA2 to USB3 controller


Software

Seagate provide their Dashboard software, which features an
easy to use backup suite, including backing up and restoring to the Backup Plus
portable HDD, and also to the Cloud. The Cloud option allows you to store up to
4GB of data on a remote Cloud server. This data is then of course available
anywhere in the world, providing you have access to the Internet.


Seagate Dashboard option screen

The Dashboard software also provides a means of managing the
backups, setting power saving options on the Backup Plus, and also a basic
diagnostic test that will put the Backup Plus through a test procedure to make
sure it is functioning correctly.


Seagate Dashboard information screen.

The info screen provides information of the capacity of the
Backup Plus, how much free space is available on the Backup Plus, the drives
serial number, and also the firmware version.


Seagate Dashboard Cloud information screen.

The Cloud information screen provides useful information on
the amount of data you have stored in your Cloud account, and also how much
free space you have available.


Seagate Dashboard backup management screen.

The backup manager screen allows you to manage your backups,
select the backup type (full or individual files and folders), and set how
frequently the backup will run. This screen is also used for restoring data to
the Backup Plus.

Summary

The Seagate Backup Plus is a nice looking portable HDD, it
also runs quietly, and runs cool, even after prolonged use. The Dashboard
software works well, and is very easy to use.

Let’s head to the next page where we take a look at our
testing methods and the review PC.

 

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