Tuesday Seagate introduced the world's first 1.5 TB 2.5-inch portable external drive, costing a rather meaty $249.99 at select retailers and online via Seagate.com. The new portable drive follows the release of Seagate's 3 TB GoFlex Desk drive and the Momentus XT solid state hybrid drive.
According to the company, the new 1.5 TB FreeAgent GoFlex drive will ship with a USB 3.0 interface cable, allowing data transfers up to 10x via a compatible USB 3.0 port when compared to USB 2.0 connection speeds. The drive will also come packed with the new SuperSpeed USB 3.0 cable for plugging the device into USB 2.0 ports.
In addition to the cables, Seagate threw in other items such as an NTFS driver for Macs, allowing the device to store data from both Windows and Mac platforms without formatting, and pre-loaded backup software with encryption. The external drive is also compatible with other Seagate products like the GoFlex Net media sharing device and the GoFlex TV HD media player.
"Today’s announcement is a 'triple-crown' of consumer technology—packaging record breaking capacity, blazingly fast USB 3.0 connectivity and the bonus of movie entertainment—making the 1.5TB GoFlex ultra-portable drive an unprecedented and innovative solution," said Darcy Clarkson, vice president of Global Retail Sales and Marketing for Seagate.
As of this writing, Seagate has knocked $20 off the price, making the 1.5 TB FreeAgent GoFlex drive a slightly cheaper $229.99 at Seagate's online store. The drive is available in the States now--a global release is slated for "later this year."
