LaCie 250 GB Rugged Hard Disk with FireWire 800, FireWire 400, and USB2.0

List Price: $170.99 Discount Price: $139.99

Features:

• Ultra durable 250 GB USB/FireWire portable storage for people on the go
• USB or FireWire powered; no bulky power adapter required
• Drop-resistant aluminum alloy shell with bumpers can withstand vertical drops of up to 35 inches
• Includes USB cable and USB power sharing cable
• Measures 3.5 x 1 x 5.7 inches (WxHxD); weighs less than 9 ounces; 2-year limited warranty

Customer Reviews:

Rugged and Reliable [Posted on 2008-04-03]
Purchased this product for on-the-road backup and storage. This hard drive works very well. 250GB capacity while small in size and weight. And the Firewire 800 is very fast with my MacBookPro. Highly recommended.

Excellent Connectivity and Design [Posted on 2008-04-04]
If you are like me and use portable drives on a regular basis...then this drive is for you. I LoVE it!!! It is rugged enough so that I dont have to worry if it slips out of my hands or gets bounced around my bag. It is a little bigger then most portable drives...but not big enough for me to give it a bad review.

The connectivity on this drive just blows away the competition. I mean USB, Firewire 400, Firewire 800... that pretty much handles it all.

The drive is bus powered but also has the option to be powered by an AC Adaptor that can be purchased separately.

The speeds of this drive are awesome and due to the various options cannot be compared to anything else.

Get one asap...you wont be sorry.

LaCie 250 GB Ruged Hard Drive w/ FW 800/400 and USB2.0 [Posted on 2008-04-05]
I am very impressed so far. My MacBook Pro with Time Machine works seamlessly with the LaCie. I love the portability, just take it with me when I travel and appreciate the speed with FW 800.
Just one problem which may be with my Mac when I have it on auto save, it will save once and then experiences a problem with the next save. Works fine when I save manually.

Great Addition to My iBook [Posted on 2008-07-19]
My first Mac is an older iBook [2005] and has only a 60GB HD.
Using this LaCie, I was able to make 3 partitions: 1 to backup the install DVD for Leopard, 1 that contains a clone of my HD and is what I am now booting from [160GB], and 1 for extra photo & video storage [60GB].

[I used Carbon Copy Cloner w/ Disk Utility instead of trying-out the backup software that came w/ the HD.] So far; so good - very happy be able to install new software, work w/ graphics and have plenty of room to spare ;-)

LaCie Rugged Hard Drive 250 GB - The Fire wire And USB Ports Are Great!!! Great HD!!! [Posted on 2008-08-13]

The LaCie 250 GB Rugged Hard Disk with FireWire 800, FireWire 400, and USB2.0 is a great unit that is ideal for those with fire-wire ports built-in to their laptops and computers. Unfortunately while most Macs have fire-wire built-in, right now the majority of Windows based laptops do not. That is changing as more PCs are getting them built-in. I need drives for several computers, including Mac, Windows and Linux boxes. Suffice it to say that this drive is definitely a must own if you have a Mac and may even be worth installing a fire-wire card if you have a PC.

While it is no secret that I love my WD hard-drives, the LaCie drive definitely outperforms it in a few key areas. So depending on your needs, it may be well worth the small premium to pick up the LaCie.

Don't get me wrong, when it comes to value and best performance for your buck the Western Digital My Passport Essential 320GB USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive (Intense Blue) is a great option. Like the LaCie, it has a variety of color options including black, red, white and blue. Of course changing colors on your LaCie is much easier than buying a different color WD drive when the mood strikes. The rugged color bands are interchangeable. The WD also doesn't have the "rugged" edges of the LaCie, and it only has USB 2.0 which makes it impractical for certain situations.

Namely, if you want to run something off your external drive, such as a program or a media library, the performance of USB alone is just not as good. Just ignore the specifications and numbers, because from first hand experience I can tell you fire-wire definitely performs faster for large backups or regular data access. It's just faster.

The LaCie is also more versatile. Even if you are planning on using it for USB only right now, having the fire-wire means that if you get another computer that is capable you already have the option built in. That may be a stretch, but if you are planning on getting a new laptop within the next year from one of the big brands you can pretty much plan on them having fire-wire.

Now there are a few slight advantages that the WD has over the LaCie. The LaCie is definitely slightly bigger and thicker, and it's also more expensive. Still, the difference is small enough that the pros will probably outweigh those small cons, especially for Mac users.

Pros
+ Great versatility with fire-wire 400, 800, and USB 2.0
+ Fire-Wire speeds give you better response times for online data access
+ Nice size with aluminum shell and "rugged" edges that hold up regular use
+ USB or FW powered, so no A/C required, which is great for portability
+ USB power sharing option allows you to hook up a USB hub, etc.
+ Works well on Windows Vista, XP and Mac OS X and older versions too
+ You can set up your own disk encryption for security and privacy
+ Nice looks, and the brushed surface scratches much less than my WD drives
+ Other color options for your rubber bumpers are sold separately
+ Turns on and off with your computer or easily ejected via system tray
+ Easy driver-less installation really works!
+ Included backup software is less buggy than WD and may be useful for some
+ 250 GB capacity is decent for most users, but I hope a larger size is coming SOON!
+ The 2 year warrantee is good, but not as good as WD's 3 and 5 year warrantees depending on model

Cons
- Priced higher than WD on a dollar per gigabyte basis
- Larger GB capacity drives not widely available from LaCie though they are offered by WD
- Form factor is slightly larger and thicker than the WD passport drive
- Warrantee is also shorter than WD
- The *rugged* thing may be oversold, and I don't recommend dropping it
- Still no standard Linux drivers or software included, but there are workarounds
- Have to spend your cash to get a case that should have been included

Conclusion

This drive is great or those who want a portable drive for backups or running a media library application like iTunes or Media Center. I only wish they sold it in larger capacities. The premium price may be worth it for those who need that extra edge in speed offered by fire-wire connectivity.

Enjoy!

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