Recently we looked at the Seagate Backup Plus Ultra Touch and walked away impressed with its overall value. Some of this was due to the fact that it came with ‘value added’ features that totaled the entire asking price, but mostly it was its combination of compact size, with good enough capacity and good enough performance. This time we are turning our attention to the Seagate Backup Plus Portable series. Specifically, the latest generation Seagate Backup Plus Portable 4TB (model STHP4000401).
Much like the smaller capacity Seagate Backup Plus Ultra Touch we are looking at the smaller 4TB model instead of the 5TB capacity option because of its potential value. Much like the Ultra Touch 1TB, the Seagate Backup Plus Portable 4TB comes with software that is equal to $70. Unlike the Ultra Touch 1TB, this does not equal the total cost… but since it can easily be found for $89 that is arguably just as good a deal. After all, the Seagate Backup Plus Portable 4TB (obviously) comes with 4 Terabytes of capacity (4000GB) and even at $89 that is a lot portable storage for little asking price.. as it is not every day you will find a hard drive for as little as 5 dollars per TB! So, when the value-added features are taken into account, this specific model appears to be as big a ‘no brainer’ as its smaller form-factor’ed Ultra brethren.
Beyond its low, low asking price (and value-added features) the Seagate Backup Plus Portable 4TB does have others things going for it. While yes it is a USB 3.0 (aka USB 3.1 Gen 1) enabled device and not USB 3.1 Gen 2, thanks to its rather good (for its class) Seagate BarraCuda 2.5-inch hard drive the performance should prove to be more than up to the task of transferring massive amounts of data from place to another via your ‘sneaker net’. Mix in an upgraded exterior chassis and the Seagate Backup Plus Portable 4TB may just be a pretty good value proposition.
