Seagate Backup Plus 3TB USB 3.0 Desktop External Hard Drive for Mac (STCB3000900)

I really enjoy products that make my life simpler, and the Seagate Backup Plus series of hard drives do just that. I have both the 2TB and the 3TB versions, and they have both worked perfectly since plugging them into my new Mac Mini. No setup, just plug them in and start backing up. They are very quiet when in use (to be honest I've never heard anything from either one), and don't seem to put out any heat. I like the rubbery finish, and they feel very well made. I use an excellent backup program called Carbon Copy Cloner, well worth the money. I will say, however, that there are a few minor issues I will mention (minor enough to not deduct a point). Fist, it would be nice if they included some kind of a small stand, because these stand up just like a small book, and it's a little to easy to knock them over. It hasn't really been a problem for me because I have them located behind my monitor, out of the way, but I have to be extra careful when I'm hooking something else into the system. But again, that's really only a very minor quibble. Second, the 2TB model came without the USB 2.0 cable. Not a huge issue, as I am using these with the included Firewire 800 cable, but a little annoying that it wasn't included as specified. The 3 TB model did come with both the Firewire and USB cables. Again, a pretty minor quibble. Third, because these use an AC/DC transformer (wall wart), they take up an extra space when plugged into my UPS, so it would be nice if they would include a short AC cable from the transformer to the AC outlet, thus taking up only one space instead of two. So, only very minor issues, and not enough to stand in the way of me highly recommending the Seagate Backup Plus series of hard drives as an excellent and easy to use value for the Mac user. Edit (September 5, 2013). Almost a year, and no problems. It's nice to have equipment that works quietly in the background, never requiring attention. Good stuff.

When I first got this drive, I was very pleased. It's an attractive drive, and feels solidly built. I hooked it up to my iMac via firewire, and partitioned it into two drives - one to hold my iTunes library, and one for use as a time machine backup. Setup was easy, and the drive seemed plenty fast, and very quiet. It worked very well for about a year. Then the trouble started. I started getting messages from iTunes that the library could not be found. Sure enough, the drive had unmounted itself. Powering the drive off and back on would fi the problem, but it would happen again, seemingly randomly. Then the same thing started to happen with the other partition. Finally, the drive just died. I lost my entire iTunes library (fortunately it was backed up elsewhere) and my time machine backup history. Disk Utility was not able to re-format either partition, or the whole drive, successfully. I can't give it one star, because when it worked, it worked well and was quiet and fast. But I can't give it more than two stars because it can't be trusted to save and protect your data, and really, that's its whole purpose.

This is just a preliminary review after the first 24 hours. The enclosure is smaller than i expected, it has a super nice silicone like feel to the case though it is not made from silicone or rubber. The design is a lot better than the pictures show, it's a handsome piece. The LED for power and working status is not intrusive at all, in fact while working it actually dims and returns to normal instead of flashing like a police car, and that's a welcome relief...when the drive is not being accessed or used the power status LED goes to sleep. It's about the size of a standard paperback book, the intake vents are on the botton, while exhaust is out through the top in a nice looking metal grill. It doesn't get warm...not even to the touch, you can feel a temperature rise just enough to know it's working. The power cord is nothing special, the plug end has a small case similar to a cell phone, i've seen smaller, but it isn't a burden in your power strip. The speed is great through the Firewire 800 port on my iMac, i use a SSD in my computer for the OS and all my software programs, the external drive is for mass data storage...everything but the OS and programs i use. So far the 128 gig SSD is roomy enough...but i can add another if needs be. I let the Imac use the drive as the Time Machine storage drive to see the speed...it's not my backup drive, just a test...the timer for the time machine backup rose to about five hours...i had some worry there...but the backup completed in under forty minutes for the first run, i triggered a second backup and it completed in about ten minutes...perfect. I question the use of drives exceeding 1TB as data loss from drive failure would just be that much more of a problem, if this model came with 1TB i would have chosen it instead. I would rather have multiple 1TB drives than 1~3TB drive for safety...daisy chaining 1TB drives through Firewire800 is simple and safer. It's the reason i did not give five stars. Adding a 1TB option would have been simple. So far so good, i'll update failures immediately, otherwise an update prior to about three months seems premature... UPDATE June 9, 2014 After heavy use every day since i purchased it in sept of 2012 my drive developed a glitch that required i reformat to repair...until a few days ago it was perfect. I ordered the same drive although updated to current tech standards, it too was a 2 tb drive. I installed the new drive and used it to backup the contents of the original...after reformatting the original it is working perfectly again and i now have two of these reliable drives running on my system. Was i disappointed in the drive? No...it's been a stellar performer. Are there better drives out there? perhaps, but this one works so well and for so long without trouble i went with the same product again...no regrets with either purchase.

When it said that firewire 800 was included in the box I bought it for my 3 year old imac, but when it arrived on the outside of the box it stated that an optional adapter had to be purchased separately! Returned it without opening it.