Performance: 37 out of 40.
While not ground breaking, and certainly not the fastest we have ever seen, the Seagate 1TB Expansion Desktop is pretty darn peppy for its price range. Its combination of CMR technology and 7200rpm rotation speed is a winning one… and why we just wish the rest of the series made use of it.
Technological Innovation: 15 out of 20
On the one hand having a CMR, 7200RPM drive is rather radical these days. Serious outside the box thinking. Such outside the box thinking only niche (read expensive) products do it. Seeing it in a down right inexpensive drive is a breath of fresh air. On the other side of the coin is the fact that this just seems to be a ‘one of’. A mistake and not intentional bucking of the latest trend in the industry. Arguably even just because it is a model that got lost in the shuffle and was not worth the time and effort to refresh.
Build Quality & Warranty: 12 out of 20
This is the weak link of the older Expansion Desktop models. A one year warranty is rather cynical and way too short. This in combination with the build quality which is best described as decent but relies way too much on plastic to get the job done is disappointing. Also in the disappointment department is the fact it does not even have vertical mounting orientation abilities.
Value: 16 out of 20
The value of this drive really is going to be controversial and highly personal. For those who do not need a ton of capacity but want peppy performance the $60 asking price is an incredible deal. For others… it is rather pricey on a price per TB ratio, and it does come with a rather short warranty period. As such the value will be variable. We have split the difference and called it decent 15. You can add or subtract from your final score as you see fit.
Final Score: 80 out of 100
This model proves that newer is not always better… and sometimes older models are the better value. In the case of the Expansion Desktop series it really is a shame that the older 1TB variant is the only Desktop Expansion to have the sensible combination of a CMR and 7200rpm hard disk drive. This model really does give us a peak of what things could have been. A world where the ‘Cuda Pro was used in the larger capacity models. A world where the entire capacity lineup was a no-brainer purchase… just like the 1TB model will be for some.
