I recently got a Segate FreeAgent Desktop 320GB external hard drive and I’m pleased to say I’ve been quite happy with it so far. There are many other similar external storage devices in the same price range & category such as the Western Digital My Book and the LaCie Hard Drive, but I ended up going with Seagate because of the price and for some of the items mentioned in this review.

The packaging was clean and secure. Other than the hard drive itself, only the power supply, USB 2.0 cable, and Warranty Card are included in the box. The FreeAgent’s body is made of plastic, but was quite robust. The unit has a fancy design with a glossy top and upper base. The front of the hard-drive light ups with a neat orange-colored light making it looks like some sort of DVD drive. The light only turns on when the USB cable is plugged in. In fact the hard drive actually turns itself off as soon as it is disconnected from a computer. I’m no expert, but some say it is better for the drive to turn itself off as this one does and others argue that it is better to have a drive running constantly at the same speed with a constant temperature. Speaking of temperature, the base of the unit is the FreeAgent’s heat exhaust. It probably do the job better if it was placed on the back, but the drive didn’t seem to warm up too much during the stress test anyways. Either way don’t complain since LaCie doesn’t even have a fan and many of their drives have ended up overheating (causing data loss) during heavy use.

The setup process was as simple as it could get for Windows XP and Vista users. Just plug it in and it was ready! However Mac OS X users unfortunately have to waste a few minutes reformatting the NTFS drive. On the bright side, no drives or software was needed for either operating system. Performance-wise, it was pretty acceptable. For example most real-life users wouldn’t be able to notice the speed difference between the Seagate FreeAgent or the Western Digital My Book. However when benchmarked, the My Book did in fact performed slightly better. As mentioned previously, our unit was the 320GB model, however Seagate also offers the FreeAgent Desktop in 250GB and 500GB capacities. All three models are SATA II drives running at 7200RPM with 16mb of cache. Seagate also offers a 5-year warranty which covers any hardware malfunctions, but NOT data loss. The drive has been available for a few months and costs only $85 for 250GB, $99 for 320GB, and $130 for 500GB.

If you don’t already backup your data we highly recommend investing a bit of money into it. If your hard drive with all its important content happens to fail, restoring the data can cost as much as a few thousand dollars! Whether it be the Seagate FreeAgent, LaCie Porsche, or Western Digital My Book, BACK UP!

Links: Seagate FreeAgent Desktop
Buy Now: Seagate FreeAgent Hard Drives

Having stared at all of the displays for what seems like an eternity, trying to determine which one has the best image quality, you think you’ve finally make up your mind and walk over to a store representative. You tell him you came in looking for a new Hi-Def TV, and that you’ve made up your mind; you want that brand new 55″ Plasma from Samsung next to the Sony. Upon hearing this, the representative musters the most horribly insincere smile you’ve ever seen, as he tries to decide how gullible you are. A second later, he turns, walks a few feet and stares at the rack in front of him.

“Sir, if you want the best out of your expensive new TV, I recommend that get these cables,” he says, holding up a $150 HDMI cable from Monster.

“And of course, you’ll also need a few of those if you want to get the best image quality out of your DVD player, sir” he continues, pointing at a set of $90 component cables, also from Monster.

At this point, the representative should be talking to himself, while you’re a few aisles down looking at the far better value. A quality alternative which gives the same bang for less bucks is Tendon cables.

Tendon Cables
Tendon offers practically every cable imaginable: everything from computer cables to home theater cables. Every cable is made from high-grade materials and is manufactured in full compliance with the latest standards. On top of that, each cable is individually tested, and comes with a life-time warranty to assure customers that they are paying for a quality product that the company stands behind. Now, if you’d only read this paragraphs, you might be tempted to think that these cables come from the same price league as Monster’s cables. Fortunately, they’re not, and that’s what makes these appealing.

If you do a little online bargain-hunting, it’s not too hard to find any computer cable from Tendon for well under $20, sometimes even under $10. For that price, you get a product that is not only well designed, but also feels like it can really take a beating. The connectors on either side of the cables are appropriately large, well fastened, and color-coded. Each cable type has its own unique color, making it pretty easy to know at a glance if you’re dealing with, say, a USB cable or a FireWire cable. Each computer cable also comes with a matching Velcro cable wrap. The Ethernet cable, as well as the HDMI cable, has gold plated connectors to ensure the best transfer.

The Truth about Cable Quality
Store representatives love telling customers that if they want the best image quality, they need those expensive Monster cables. And to help you in case you’re a little hesitant, they’ve made sure that the only cables even remotely close to the home theater section are those over-priced Monster cables. They know that if you just spent several thousand dollars on a new flat panel or on some high-end speakers, you’ll be more willing to spend a few hundred dollars on cables. And the more the cables cost, the more money the store makes. It’s just that simple.

The truth is, however, that for most applications a $12 Tendon HDMI cable will perform just as well as that $150 Monster cable. I’m not saying that those Monster cables aren’t worth it, but unless you have a reference quality home theater system, (something that would equal the cost of your car, if not your home) you’re not going to notice the difference. For short runs in general you’re not going to see any noticeable increases in performance by using a super expensive cable. And as long as the connection between the two devices is digital, signal degradation should be even less of a problem, since all that the cable has to successfully transmit is either a 1 or a 0, unlike analog connections. So, if you have to cover a short distance between two digital devices, do yourself a favor and check out Tendon cables.

In short, if you need quality cables and don’t feel like being ripped off by Best Buy or Circuit City, we seriously recommend that you check out Tendon. Also as a bonus, Tendon has offered Skatter Tech readers a 20% discount on their next purchase. Just use the code ‘CPLgamer07′ during check out!

Links: Tendon USA | Coupon Code: ‘CPLgamer07‘