Lacie Hard Drives: Good, bad or ugly?

I have one of LaCie's d2 120Gb external hard drive. I bought this some 2 years ago so they don't make the 120GB model any more. I'm not too pleased with this model though. It's a bit on the loud side. The case is nice looking though.

I suggest you look at Western Digital's My Book. The MyBook comes in Essential Edition (only USB 2.0 connection), Pro Edition (USB 2.0 and FireWire 400), and Premium Edition (USB 2.0, FireWire 400 and FireWire 800).

I own the 500GB Pro Edition and it is EXCELLENT. Very quiet and the case is super nice too. I like it more than the LaCie d2 design.

The My Book comes in sizes smaller than 500GB too. I bought mine from Dell when they had a discount and paid only $220 including shipping. Great deal!

You can shop around for a good deal or check out dealmac.com for good deals on this hard drive.

I have done quite a few searches on the forums about
lacie hard drives. Most of what I have found is
about larger models (500 GB or more). Alot of
people seem to think these larger models aren't all
that great. I am looking for an approximatly 160 GB
external hard drive. I'm looking at the Lacie Brick
Desktop 160 GB. This drive doesn't have firewire. I
know that firewire is supposed to be better for video
editing, but I don't plan on doing any. Is there any
other reason why firewire would be preferable to USB
2. (I only have firewire 400 on my 15' MBP) Any
input would be appreciated. The lacie drive is only
$90 on newegg.com. That price sounds pretty good, I
just want to be sure that it's not too good to be
true.

Seth

MacBook Pro 15.4'
Mac OS X (10.4.6)

FireWire is preferable to USB 2.0 if you can afford it because it is faster over the long run. Even though USB 2.0 max is rated at 480Mbit/sec and FireWire 400 is at 400Mbit/sec, real life tests shows that FireWire is able to sustain a higher throughput than USB 2.0

USB 2.0 also uses CPU processing power while FireWire does not. This is because FireWire has its own "controller" (I am sure I'm using the wrong term) were as USB 2.0 relies on the computer for that. (Someone correct me but essentially the idea is FireWire has its own brain while USB relies on the brains of the computer).

So, if you can afford FireWire, go for that.

I just bought 2 Freecom external hard drives, a 400GB and a 160GB. I also have a LaCie 250GB 'Porsche' model.

I think the Freecom drives are excellent - they are quieter than the LaCie, and look really nice with the black metal outer casing and the blue LED on the front which shows the HD capacity (this is a fixed display and shows the size of the drive). The LED flickers with drive activity.

Freecom's Mac support is good too.

I bought 250 GB lacie brick harddrive, and returned it after one day! It makes a lot of noise! It is cute, but very very noisy! Like a desktop computer with a low quality fun. But I have no idea about other models.'

I bought 320 GB western digital mybook essential, and I am very happy with it. It is really quite, and it has a very cool design.

Good, to answer your question.
I have a d2 300GB that I just got a short while ago (USB2.0/FW400/FW800) and I love it. It is exceptionally quiet, great capacity (not unique to LaCie), VERY FAST, and it matches my/your MBP (if that is important to you).

I love it, recommend it very highly. If you are looking for a portable HDD, this is probably not your best bet, but as a desktop external it's hard to beat imho.

Cheers,
Macinator

My only word of caution with Lacie. I have had three of their drives for ages - a 500GB, 250GB and 160GB. I have had to replace the power supply on all three! These are not terribly expensive but I wonder if there's a QA issue.

Having said that, the drives are very fast, very quiet.

David

it's funny that you posted this because i just bought a lacie 250gb external harddrive (firewire) yesterday from my school store. i must say that it's a very nice hd and so so simple to use. just plugged it in and put stuff on it. i have no comlaints about lacie.

Hi

I just bought the Freecom 250GB hard drive last night, may I ask a quick question if you have the same make connected to a Mac??

I presume there is no need to install the hard drive as the guide said PC installation only and when I plugged the drive in it recognised it straight away.

I copied a small PDF to the drive which was fine and copied no problems, but then I tried copying files from my iTunes folder (which is basically why I bought the drive as a back up)and it seemed to lock up. Is it because the files are quite big? It didn't seem to move so had to keep re-booting?? Do I just need to copy them over in steps or have I missed something?

Thank you for any advice you may be able to offer??

Beckyboo

You might want to reformat that drive to MACOS(Journaled) using Disk Utility.

Regards

TD