Seagate ''Ships'' First 3 TB External HDD

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It's the world's first external drive with a 3 TB storage capacity.

Seagate said on Tuesday that the world's first 3 TB external hard drive is now available for purchase. Part of the company's FreeAgent GoFlex Desk line of drives, the new addition is USB 2.0 compatible by default, however Seagate offers an adapter--sold separately--that lets users connect the drive to USB 3.0 and FireWire 800 ports.

"Consumer capacity demands are quickly out-pacing the needs of business as people continue to collect high-definition videos, photos and music," said Dave Mosley, Seagate executive vice president of Sales, Marketing and Product Line Management. "Seagate has a tradition of designing products that break into new storage frontiers to meet customer requirements and the 3 TB GoFlex Desk external drive is no exception, delivering the highest-capacity storage solution available today."

According to Seagate, the new external drive is interchangeable between PCs and Macs thanks to a NTFS driver for Mac OS X. This means consumers can move files between the two platforms without the need for formatting. The huge storage capabilities could even allow both PC and Mac users to digitally stash away "up to 120 HD movies, 1,500 video games, thousands of photos or countless hours of digital music."

But there's a catch: the new 3 TB GoFlex Desk external drive doesn't come cheap, selling for $249.99 through select retailers.

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Kevin Parrish
32 Comments Comment from the forums
  • awood28211
    Doesn't come cheap? Haha! 3 TB for 250 bucks. I remember when my 40MB Seagate cost quite a few hundred more than that. Oh the spoiled world we live.
    Reply
  • nforce4max
    Hmmm why external? I rather use 3.5 to 5.25 bay adapters and save the space as well spare my self from the issues. Hell I even got a cooling mod ware I added a heatsink to mine that mounts an 80mm fan.
    Reply
  • I have concerns regarding the failure rates of these drives. 2TB drives are already notorious for failing, and I'm sure that 3TB drives are no different.
    Reply
  • sliem
    1 TB is now $60
    2 TB can be found around $100 if on sale
    3 TB should be under $200
    Reply
  • the last resort
    it looks big enough to cram a 2TB drive and a 1TB drive next to it.
    Reply
  • Lowdown
    I agree, it would be real rough if the drive failed, that's a lot of information. Its nice to see there is a way to connect to either firewire or USB 3.0 but just think how long it would take to fill up 3TB over USB 2.0, hehe.
    Reply
  • jrabbitb
    more likely 2 x 1.5TB drives. option to use it in mirror mode at 1.5TB or max space at 3TB?
    Reply
  • asiaprime
    disappointed by the external too

    sliem1 TB is now $60 2 TB can be found around $100 if on sale 3 TB should be under $200at the same time like you said 2tb is 100 on sale. and forgetting the $50 for the external case. hard drives has always suffered from diminishing returns after a certain point especially when it comes to "world's largest consumer drive" level. my opinion it's not that bad of a price. as of today. feel free to disagree
    Reply
  • zoemayne
    This does not count it probably has an extra platter or maybe 3 2.5" discs not 3.5"
    Reply
  • kinggraves
    sliem1 TB is now $602 TB can be found around $100 if on sale3 TB should be under $200
    Alright, sales and wholesaler pricing do not matter here, 249 is the suggested retail. You're also paying for the "enclosure" and any special features of this model, so don't compare it to bare drive prices. Here's the fair comparison (retail prices off Seagate's site):

    129 for the 1TB version
    189 for the 2TB version
    249 for the 3TB version

    You're still paying 60 dollars per terabyte. The other 69 is for the enclosure. Retailers usually do not charge the full retail price.

    As someone else stated though, these things are getting far too dense to be reliable. I'd rather get 3 1TBs and switch them out.
    Reply