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Amazon discounts a bunch of SSDs and storage devices for Prime Day
Here are the best Amazon Prime Day 2021 deals on SSDs, microSD cards and other storage devices from SanDisk, Crucial, Samsung, and others.
LaCie's chiseled 5TB USB drive aims to make storage stylish
LaCie (and its parent Seagate) is still determined to inject some style into the world of external hard drives -- thankfully, with some improved functionality as well. Its 2019 Mobile Drive touts a chiseled-looking "diamond cut" metal design that wouldn't look out of place next to a MacBook Pro (you can still use it with Windows PCs, of course). The real allure, though, is the raw capacity -- you can opt for a 5TB version if you're editing gobs of media on the road, and even the slim version packs 2TB.
Lacie's DJI Copilot is the perfect portable hard drive for video pros
Look, it's kinda hard to get excited about a hard drive. But Engadget video producer Kaard Bombe immediately started geeking out hard over the Lacie DJI Copilot. It's a portable hard drive with the sort of features any professional videographer or photographer would kill for. Sure, at its heart it's a rugged 2TB drive, but it's also a media-card reader, a USB hub and backup battery.
LaCie's Thunderbolt drives are built for your MacBook Pro
If you bought a new MacBook Pro (or really, any Thunderbolt 3-equipped PC), there's a good chance that you're looking for high-capacity external storage that takes advantage of your system's newer, speedier ports. Well, you're in luck: As is its custom, LaCie is launching a pair of external drives that promise a load of extra space using newer interfaces. The centerpiece is the d2 Thunderbolt 3. While the hard disk itself is only slightly faster than before (240MB/s) and won't come close to saturating USB-C or Thunderbolt 3, the choice of connector makes it easy to daisy-chain other devices without sacrificing performance. You can hook up a 5K display, two 4K displays or five additional Thunderbolt 3 drives, so you may have to plug only one cable into your computer to power your entire setup.
LaCie's latest hard drives offer extra space via USB-C
As USB-C arrives on more machines, accessory makers will need to update their products accordingly. That's just what LaCIe has done for CES with its latest Porsche Design Desktop and Mobile hard drives. The aluminum-wrapped storage units now offer USB Type-C connections to your laptop or desktop. What's more, you can still charge your laptop while you're transferring files, so long as the drive is plugged in. If you haven't yet splurged for a new machine with the latest ports, there's a USB 3.0 adapter included with each of the hard drives. In March, the Porsche Design Mobile Drive will be available in 1TB, 2TB and 4TB models starting at $110 and the Desktop Drive will be offered in 4TB, 5TB and 8TB options from $210.
Which portable hard drives are worth buying?
With all our computers, phones and cameras, we create a lot of data. And while there are plenty of cloud-based options for storing all the information you generate, many people prefer something they can physically touch. A portable hard drive can give you plenty of control, while still making it possible to carry your data around in your bag. But which drives make it easy to transfer files to them in the first place? And which ones will survive the trips you take them on? We've taken a look at some of the better portable drives available now to find out which ones have the right stuff.
LaCie's latest portable drive is (almost) ideal for your new MacBook
Dead set on snagging one of those extra-slim MacBooks, but won't make the leap until you have an easy way to back up your files? LaCie has your back. It just unveiled a new version of its Porsche Design Mobile Drive that uses the same USB Type-C port as Apple's latest portable (and eventually, other computers), saving you the hassle of using an adapter just to offload that photo project or back up to Time Machine. It's not quite a dream storage device, though. You'll still need an adapter (thankfully included) to hook up to regular USB devices, and there's no passthrough port. Unless you get a hub, you'll have to choose between powering your Mac and expanding your storage. If that's no barrier, though, you can get the Mobile Drive in the second quarter in 500GB, 1TB and 2TB models. Pricing isn't available yet, but the regular USB models cost $80, $100 and $150 -- it won't be surprising if the USB Type-C versions are in that ballpark.
LaCie's latest artist collaboration is a hard drive wrapped in Gorilla Glass
For the past two years, LaCie has revealed at least one new artist collaboration at CES, and this year is no different. Keeping with the reflective theme of last year's device, the 2015 edition is wrapped in Gorilla Glass and appropriately called Mirror. After teaming up with Philippe Starck and Christofle for previous releases, the company tasked French designer Pauline Deltour for a shiny 1TB hard drive that's covered in Corning's durable glass material and powered through a USB connection (no Thunderbolt here). To properly show the thing off on your desk, a stand of ebony wood provides a resting spot. If you're looking to keep the collection going, or just nab this particular entry, Mirror will arrive later this month for $280. What's that? You were hoping LaCie would have a new Rugged portable hard drive, too? Well, read on.
Giveaway: LaCie Rugged USB 3.0 Thunderbolt SSD Drive
Don't you just love getting stuff for free? Especially computer stuff? Especially computer stuff that's fast and rugged? If you do, you're going to love this giveaway, as one TUAW reader is going to walk away with a LaCie Rugged USB 3.0 Thunderbolt SSD drive (500 GB capacity) valued at US$499.99. Not sure what to think about this drive? Well, just head on over to our review of this speedster -- the LaCie Rugged drive garnered a coveted 4 star rating out of 4 stars possible. Here are the rules for the giveaway: Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older. To enter, fill out the form below completely and click or tap the Submit button. The entry must be made before July 11, 2014 11:59PM Eastern Daylight Time. You may enter only once. One winner will be selected in a random drawing and will receive a LaCie Rugged USB 3.0 Thunderbolt SSD drive valued at $499.99 Click Here for complete Official Rules. Good luck! Loading...
Benchmarking LaCie's speedy Rugged USB 3.0 Thunderbolt SSD drive
LaCie's been supplying Mac users with drives since 1987, but the company's still able to surprise and delight the Mac community with new and innovative products. One that I had been looking forward to testing just showed up at the office -- the new LaCie Rugged USB 3.0 Thunderbolt SSD (starting at $199 for SSD models). The model I tested was the $499.99 500 GB SSD model, and I'm pleased to say that it actually surpassed the advertised speeds in benchmark testing. Specifications Capacity: SSD -- 120 ($199.99), 256 ($299.99), 500 GB ($499.99) HD - 1 ($199.99 street price), 2 TB ($349.99 street price) Interface: 1 Thunderbolt port (with built-in cable), 1 USB 3.0 port (USB 2.0 compatible) HD rotational speed: 5,400 RPM SSD Type: SATA 6 Gb/s Average Transfer Rate: (USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt) SSD - 385 MB/s, HD - 110 MB/s Drop height: 4 feet/1.2 meters (in non-operating mode) Dimensions: 3.5 x 5.5 x 0.97 in. (89 x 140 x 24 mm) Weight: 9.2 oz. (260 grams) Included: USB 3.0 cable, Thunderbolt cable (0.5 m, integrated), software Bus powered Design Highlights LaCie has a history of making external drives look good. In the case of the Rugged, form follows function and the drive is encased in a thick orange silicone bumper to protect from drops and falls. Designer Neil Poulton smartly included an integrated Thunderbolt cable that fits into a groove around the middle of the bumper, with a silicone "door" that holds the end of the cable in place and covers the bare USB 3.0 port. The Rugged drive is designed to take a 4 foot drop in non-operating mode, meaning that the HD version is unplugged, the platters have "spun down," and the drive heads are retracted. No such restriction for the SSD version, of course, as it has no moving parts. However, you still want to take care to keep accidental drops to less than 4 feet. Benchmarks Sad to say, we don't have any single Thunderbolt SSD drive benchmarks run on our standard tool (QuickBench) to compare the Rugged drive to. But let's just say that it's fast -- very fast. As a comparison, I have added results for the G-Technology G-DOCK ev, which is a Thunderbolt 2-drive RAID setup. It's not exactly a straight comparison, but it should give you an idea of just how speedy this little portable drive is. For the purposes of testing external drives and RAID arrays, we traditionally use the Intech SpeedTools QuickBench 4.0 app to run multiple cycles of read/write tests. The Rugged was directly connected to a MacBook Pro with Retina display using the built-in Thunderbolt cable. To ensure accuracy in testing, I performed a 100-cycle complete test. This subjects the drive to sequential and random read and write tests with file sizes from 4K to 100 MB, then graphically or textually displays that information to show the "sweet spots" for a specific drive or array. For example, if your work involves shuffling around a lot of very large files, you'll probably want a drive that has peak read/write speeds for files around your average file size. Here are the test results, compared to the G-DOCK ev set up as a RAID 0 volume: Sequential Read: 206.553 MB/Sec (189.675 MB/Sec for G-Dock ev via Thunderbolt) Sequential Write: 188.524 MB/Sec (197.831 MB/Sec for G-Dock ev via Thunderbolt) Random Read: 174.414 MB/Sec (22.432 MB/Sec for G-Dock ev via Thunderbolt) Random Write: 169.066 MB/Sec (38.360 MB/Sec for G-Dock ev via Thunderbolt) Large Read: 380.365 MB/Sec (272.062 MB/Sec for G-Dock ev via Thunderbolt) Large Write: 353.494 MB/Sec (262.744 MB/Sec for G-Dock ev via Thunderbolt) Extended Read: 391.315 MB/Sec (266.927 MB/Sec for G-Dock ev via Thunderbolt) Extended Write: 362.019 MB/Sec (264.170 MB/Sec for G-Dock ev via Thunderbolt) This thing cooks! That extended read rate of 391.315 MB/sec is better than the advertised rate of 385 MB/sec. As you'd expect, being an SSD, the Rugged USB 3.0 Thunderbolt SSD is completely silent in operation. Conclusion Portability? Check. Rugged design? Check. SSD speed? Check. Bus-powered? Check. Thunderbolt and USB 3.0? Check. Built-in Thunderbolt cable? Check. The only negative for the LaCie Rugged USB 3.0 Thunderbolt SSD is the price tag. A bare 500 GB SSD drive runs as low as $200 through online, but you'll be hard-pressed to find a small enclosure that has both Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 interfaces. So if you need a fast, ruggedized, bus-powered drive with half a terabyte of storage and blazing speed, the LaCie Rugged USB 3.0 Thunderbolt SSD is going to be your absolute best bet at this time. Rating: 4 stars out of 4 stars possible
LaCie's popular portable drive adds more convenience and durability
Who hasn't misplaced an accessory cable at one time or another? We've all been there. Well, to combat that issue with its popular orange-draped Rugged portable drive, LaCie has built it right in. A Thunderbolt cable is now attached to the mobile storage unit, wrapping around the edge of the device for safekeeping. What's more, there's a cap that protects the jack and an additional USB 3.0 port with IP54-rated dust and water protection. This means that not only are the drives capable of taking a fall of up to two meters (just over 6.5 feet), but it can also keep debris and moisture out whilst in the field.
The TUAW Daily Update Podcast for April 16, 2014
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get some the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the player at the top of the page. The Daily Update has been moved to a new podcast host in the past few days. Current listeners should delete the old podcast subscription and subscribe to the new feed in the iTunes Store here.
Data swiped from LaCIe and other news from April 15, 2014
News from Tuesday afternoon includes: LaCie is notifying customers that malware was used to gain access to customer transactions between March 27, 2013, and March 10, 2014. Customers who have shopped through LaCie's site during this time might have had their names, addresses, email addresses, and payment card numbers and card expiration dates revealed. Apple will be joining Google, Microsoft, Samsung and others in including new anti-theft technology on their devices starting July 2015. Apple has already started down this path with the addition of Activation Lock to iOS 7. Google has debut a new app for its Helpouts program, which allows people to consult with experts over video. And catch up with these features: Using a Lego robot to defeat freemium game roadblocks Review and giveaway: Moshi VersaKeyboard for iPad Air On the road with the Divoom Voombox Travel Bluetooth speaker How to turn your iPhone or iPad into a retro game console without jailbreaking Who else could direct the Jobs movie and what would it be like? iPhone 101: Improve the App Store search experience with this easy trick
LaCie's hyper-fast 1TB Thunderbolt 2 disk now on sale for $1,300
Though 1,375 MB/s' worth of disk speed might seem extravagant, applications like 4K RAW video need to squeeze every byte. Luckily, you'll get all of that with LaCie's 1TB Little Big Disk with Thunderbolt 2 packing two 500GB SSDs, now available for $1,300. If even that isn't enough -- and you happen to have a new Mac Pro with six Thunderbolt 2 ports -- you can put two in parallel for an eye-watering 2.5 GB/s (capital 'B'). That'll let you transfer 1TB of footage in under seven minutes or run more than 10 streams of 14-bit RAW 4K video simultaneously. Overkill? Sure, but we don't need a 949 HP car, either.
5TB hard drives are here, shipping now in select LaCie products
25 terabytes of storage in a single standalone cube? That's now possible, thanks to Seagate's new 5TB hard drive. You can pair the LaCie 5big Network 2 five-bay NAS Thunderbolt series with up to five individual 5-terabyte drives for a maximum of 25TB of storage for less than two three grand. Based on the $300 price difference between the 15TB kit ($1,299) and the 10TB version ($999), we imagine you'll be able to max out the RAID device about $1,900, once these gigantic drives become available for purchase individually. For now, you'll need to settle for one of the two above configurations, available directly from LaCie beginning today. The 5big is available in a 10TB config (two drives) for $999, while doubling the storage will also double the price. You can even max the thing out with five drives for 25TB of storage for a cool $2,500. If smaller capacities are what you're after, LaCie's 2big is available with a pair of the new 5-terabyte drives for $899, or in a single configuration with the $449 d2. Update: We never like to strikethrough any content, let alone four full lines, but after hearing from LaCie, we have a bit more clarity when it comes to the company's new product offerings. The 5TB drive will be available in three products (outlined above), but not the aforementioned NAS. Ultimately, that's great news for consumers -- you can opt for a single-drive (5-terabyte) config for just $449.
LaCie's Culbuto is a $50 USB thumbdrive inspired by roly-poly toys
Ever wished your thumbdrive were a bit more whimsical? If so, LaCie has just announced an accessory to fill that void. The storage outfit teamed up with French designer Constance Guisset for Culbuto: a USB flash drive with a design inspired by roly-poly toys -- complete with weighted bottom to keep it upright. Further explained as "a storage device disguised as a decorative object," Culbuto is coated in molded rubber with a solid gold metal base and connects via USB 3.0. As if that weren't enough, the cap doubles as a photo or business card holder when not in use. How's that for getting the most bang for your buck? The Culbuto is available in both 16GB and 32GB capacities starting at $50. One thing's for sure: the 504 Boyz will have a new go-to storage option.
LaCie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt 2 wields dual 500GB SSDs, Intel's latest port tech
When Intel officially ushered in Thunderbolt 2 back in June, it promised that we'd see devices sporting those blazing-fast speeds soon. It seems LaCie was one outfit poised to embrace the tech as the storage company has just announced the Little Big Disk Thunderbolt 2. The successor to the original model, version 2.0 touts transfer speeds of 1,375 MB/s, thanks to Intel's port, and a new all-black paint scheme on its aluminum shell. Inside, two 500GB PCIe Gen 2 SSDs in RAID 0 can wrangle 4K and 3D video edits -- power that should properly arm the creative lot for hefty fieldwork. That interior space has also been designed to properly handle heat distribution so that the virtually silent, thermoregulated fan need only kick on every now and then. There's no word on pricing just yet, but the storage gadget is set to arrive later this quarter. We were able to see the new Little Big Disk in action in order to catch a glimpse of its speeds. During our time with the unit, we observed write speeds of 1,200 MB/s and read marks at 1,300 MB/s -- transferring a 300GB file in about four minutes. Thankfully, the drives that were set up ahead of our arrival, and had been sorting files for some time, remained at nearly room temp. With two of the Thunderbolt 2 drives set up in RAID 0, we witnessed 2,000 MB/s write speeds and 2,600 MB/s read numbers. Although the front plate of the new unit is glossy, the entire enclosure is still metal and the black paint job looks quite nice beside a new Mac Pro.
LaCie Fuel brings 1TB of wireless streaming storage to your Apple devices for $199
We're quite familiar with LaCie's reputation for stellar storage devices, and here at CES 2014, the outfit is expanding its territory. The company has just outed Fuel: a 1TB portable repository for that media library, offering wireless streaming to your Apple arsenal. With no internet connection required, Fuel acts as a WiFi hotspot for on-the-go streaming to iPad, iPhone and Mac (up to five devices or three HD streams at once) while claiming 10 hours of battery life. The peripheral is accessed just like an external drive and -- as you might expect -- allows file transfers sans cords with Dropbox integration in tow. For times when a cable is absolutely necessary, there's a USB 3.0 port for handling those tasks. Streaming stored media on those mobile devices is sorted via the Seagate Media app and the unit plays nice with AirPlay-compatible devices and Apple TV. In a spot with connectivity? Fuel will allow you to share it with that handful of gadgets as well. If all of that sounds too good to pass up, you can snag one when they hit shelves "soon" for 200 bucks.
LaCie partners with Christofle on Sphère: a silver-plated limited-edition hard drive
Last year at CES, LaCie unveiled the Philippe Starck-designed Blade Runner to grab the attention of those who prefer their storage gadgets to be extra dapper. This time around, the outfit has teamed up with French silversmith Christofle on Sphère. The globe-influenced external hard drive is silver-plated and touts a 1TB capacity. File transfers are sorted via a USB 3.0 connection that doubles as the device's power supply. Just like its predecessor, the shiny Sphère is going to be in short supply when it arrives later this quarter with a $490 price tag, ready to upgrade the look of that workstation. We were able to take a closer look at the Sphère just ahead of the proper start of CES 2014. Despite what appears to be a weighty silver shell, the drive is quite light. The shiny exterior may double as a mirror in a pinch, but mucking it up with fingerprints will happen quickly. Aside from the branding inscriptions on the front and the iconic blue light, there aren't any other details aside from a cable slot around back on the unit's black base. Of course, less is more definitely applies here.
LaCie wants to put a Porsche key in your pocket
OK, so that headline was bit ... link-baitish. But the real news is that storage accessory manufacturer LaCie and Porsche Design have teamed up to create a keychain flash drive that is both speedy and stylish. The LaCie Porsche Design USB Key (starting at US$29.99) is available starting today, and the company provided one for our review and testing. Design The key is lightweight (.3 oz, 8.5 gm) and tiny (2.1" x .5" x .15", 53 x 12 x 4 mm), while still retaining a feeling of solidity through the use of stainless steel in construction. It's available in both 16 GB ($29.99) and 32 GB ($49.99) models, and it's a bit surprising that the company didn't choose to offer a 64 GB model as well. I used one of LaCie's USB keys on my keychain for about four years until it finally split in half this year. That model was made of two pieces of aluminum that were pressed together, and it always had a somewhat flimsy feel to it. Not so with this USB key -- it feels extremely solid, and the case is made in one piece. It should definitely put up with the day-to-day pounding it will get on a keychain. The LaCie Porsche Design USB Key is USB 3.0, so copying files to and from a USB 3.0-equipped Mac is quick. LaCie provides key owners with several utilities if they wish, one of which provides AES 256-bit encryption and another that provides a year of cloud storage of the same capacity as your key through the company's Wuala storage service. LaCie doesn't "trash up" your Porsche Design USB Key with this software -- you just download it from a website if you want it. Benchmark When connected, the Porsche Design USB Key was initially formatted as MS-DOS FAT 32. I chose to open up Disk Utility and reformat the key as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) because that's the way I roll. Beginning with this device review, TUAW is using the Intech SpeedTools QuickBench benchmark app to do comparisons of disk drives. We performed the Standard Test suite in numeric view, which performs sequential and random reads and writes with varying transfer sizes. The results were pretty impressive. LaCie notes that the key can "deliver speeds up to 95 MB/s" and our testing showed that to be true -- small file read and write speeds reached approximately 91 MB/s, and for large files, read speeds were in the range of 85 - 86 MB/s. As with most drives, write speeds slowed down considerably with larger transfer sizes, dropping from an average of 66.2 MB/s below 10 MB to 24.0 MB/s between 20 MB and 100 MB. Conclusion The LaCie Porsche Design USB Key not only looks great, but has speed to match. With the one-piece stainless steel construction, the key should be able to survive jangling against a pocketful of keys for quite some time. Pros Sleek design, small footprint Solid construction USB 3.0 speed Good capacity Utility software is optional and not pre-loaded onto the key Cons None to speak of Who is it for? Anyone who needs a keychain USB flash drive who wants both speed and good looks -- kinda like a Porsche sports car
