LaCie unveils new Apple-focused storage lineup with Wi-Fi, Thunderbolt 2 options
French hardware maker LaCie on Monday took the covers off of two new external storage solutions, a Wi-Fi-enabled model designed to work with iOS devices and a Thunderbolt 2-equipped drive that the company says allows professionals to stream and edit 4K and 3D video.
Dubbed the LaCie Fuel, LaCie's new wireless external hard drive connects to iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch units by creating its own private Wi-Fi network. Up to five devices can join the network simultaneously and access the drive's content using the Seagate Media iOS app.
According to LaCie, the Fuel's 1 terabyte capacity is enough to store 500 movies, 160,000 songs or 190,000 photos, and a built-in battery can power the drive for up to 10 hours on a single charge. The Fuel is also AirPlay-enabled, though it is unclear whether the drive itself provides this capability or if it is dependent upon the Seagate Media app.
Files can be added to the Fuel by connecting with a Mac either wirelessly or via USB, where the Fuel appears as a normal external drive. Dropbox users can link the Fuel to their Dropbox account to automatically mirror data when added to the cloud storage service.
LaCie's second new product is the aptly-named Little Big Disk Thunderbolt 2, which combines two 500-gigabyte solid-state drives in a striped RAID 0 configuration with Apple and Intel's second-generation Thunderbolt 2 technology. A svelte aluminum chassis completes the package, and LaCie says a new thermoregulated fan "only turns on when necessary and produces nearly zero noise."
The diminutive drive --?one of the first to sport Thunderbolt 2 connectivity -- is capable of sustained read speeds of 1,375 megabytes per second, "several times faster" than any mobile USB 3.0 hard drive, according to LaCie.
Announced less than one month after Apple began shipping the all-new Mac Pro with a focus on ultra-high definition video editing, LaCie touts the Little Big Disk Thunderbolt 2 as an ideal solution for mobile video professionals dealing with 4K and 3D formats. The company says the drive will enable videographers to "capture 250 gigabytes of 4K footage on a Little Big Disk in the field, and then transfer the content to the post-production team in under 10 minutes."
LaCie says the Fuel will be available "soon" for a suggested retail price of $199.99, while the Little Big Disk Thunderbolt 2 will hit shelves in the first quarter of 2014 with pricing yet to be announced.
Dubbed the LaCie Fuel, LaCie's new wireless external hard drive connects to iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch units by creating its own private Wi-Fi network. Up to five devices can join the network simultaneously and access the drive's content using the Seagate Media iOS app.
According to LaCie, the Fuel's 1 terabyte capacity is enough to store 500 movies, 160,000 songs or 190,000 photos, and a built-in battery can power the drive for up to 10 hours on a single charge. The Fuel is also AirPlay-enabled, though it is unclear whether the drive itself provides this capability or if it is dependent upon the Seagate Media app.
Files can be added to the Fuel by connecting with a Mac either wirelessly or via USB, where the Fuel appears as a normal external drive. Dropbox users can link the Fuel to their Dropbox account to automatically mirror data when added to the cloud storage service.
LaCie's second new product is the aptly-named Little Big Disk Thunderbolt 2, which combines two 500-gigabyte solid-state drives in a striped RAID 0 configuration with Apple and Intel's second-generation Thunderbolt 2 technology. A svelte aluminum chassis completes the package, and LaCie says a new thermoregulated fan "only turns on when necessary and produces nearly zero noise."
The diminutive drive --?one of the first to sport Thunderbolt 2 connectivity -- is capable of sustained read speeds of 1,375 megabytes per second, "several times faster" than any mobile USB 3.0 hard drive, according to LaCie.
Announced less than one month after Apple began shipping the all-new Mac Pro with a focus on ultra-high definition video editing, LaCie touts the Little Big Disk Thunderbolt 2 as an ideal solution for mobile video professionals dealing with 4K and 3D formats. The company says the drive will enable videographers to "capture 250 gigabytes of 4K footage on a Little Big Disk in the field, and then transfer the content to the post-production team in under 10 minutes."
LaCie says the Fuel will be available "soon" for a suggested retail price of $199.99, while the Little Big Disk Thunderbolt 2 will hit shelves in the first quarter of 2014 with pricing yet to be announced.
Comments
If you have to ask, you can't afford it...
Screw Lacie. I've owned many external hard drives, and Lacie's are the only ones that have failed on me. Of the 3 Lacie HDs I owned, all of them failed like clockwork. And that was after having to purchase brand new power adapters from Lacie for $30 a pop because the adapters are known for burning out. I've sworn off buying Lacie hard drives. The Seagate and WesternDigital drives I've had for years have never let me down.
Sorry to hear that. I have 4 LaCie external hard drives (Rugged, Quadra d2, Cloudbox, Rikiki) that I have been working non-stop without a problem for the past 3 years.
I read somewhere these will be offered in sizes up to 4Tb (nice). I can't imagine the price for that, but it's exactly what I want, small and extremely fast!
http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?id=10621
If you have to ask, you can't afford it...
Seriously? A lot of people have the money to buy them but we don't like to throw our money around if we don't think it's worth it. Right now I have a half dozen LaCie drives and two(2Tb and 3TB) were just recently purchased.
I read somewhere these will be offered in sizes up to 4Tb (nice). I can't imagine the price for that, but it's exactly what I want, small and extremely fast!
http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?id=10621
I was just looking into getting a 4TB. I think this one looks great.
http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?id=10613
I have personally had 2 Lacie power supplies fail on me in 2 drives, and I did have to replace them with $30 replacements from Lacie. That was several years ago, and I decided not to purchase from them again, usually getting drives from OWC (and by the way, OWC has a nice power supply that replaces burned out LaCie supplies here at slightly less cost: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/ELITE4SAUS/). Last week I was reading through some posts at Ric Ford's Macintouch site, and someone there also recently complained about LaCie power supplies failing on them. I think this is not a high frequency event, but it isn't unheard of, and in my case, 2 of the 3 drives I purchased from Lacie failed, high enough for me to say "enough". ymmv….
Sorry to hear that. I have 4 LaCie external hard drives (Rugged, Quadra d2, Cloudbox, Rikiki) that I have been working non-stop without a problem for the past 3 years.
I've never used anything else but LaCie now for many many years.They have lasted for long periods of time. Btw, most of their drives they use inside their enclosures are Seagate. And speaking of Seagate they bought Lacie last year. The sale should be finalised sometime this year.
Pretty soon there will be only five companies that sell all the products we buy. Like the foods we buy at grocery stores. Yay capitalism.
Perhaps I'm naive, but I'm going to go with Apple's Time Capsule. I like the fact that the router and the HD are combined. I know I risk the HD breaking before the router. But I deplore cables and power bricks more. Plus, it's white and has Apple SW in it.
I wish Apple would add a modem inside the Time Capsule as well. I know, I know, Apple won't do this b/c of the variety of modems needed.
P.S. I have a WD where the power light comes on but the HD does not "wind-up." And does not get recognized by my iMac. I hoping it's just the pwr brick. I will get a new pwr brick to test it...but I'm not holding my breath for a good outcome!
I read somewhere these will be offered in sizes up to 4Tb (nice). I can't imagine the price for that, but it's exactly what I want, small and extremely fast!
http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?id=10621
Actually, the drives are surprisingly cheap (laCie sells a TB1 4TB drive for something like $300) -- much cheaper than OWC drives.
Perhaps I'm naive, but I'm going to go with Apple's Time Capsule. I like the fact that the router and the HD are combined. I know I risk the HD breaking before the router. But I deplore cables and power bricks more. Plus, it's white and has Apple SW in it.
I wish Apple would add a modem inside the Time Capsule as well. I know, I know, Apple won't do this b/c of the variety of modems needed.
P.S. I have a WD where the power light comes on but the HD does not "wind-up." And does not get recognized by my iMac. I hoping it's just the pwr brick. I will get a new pwr brick to test it...but I'm not holding my breath for a good outcome!
I have had a lot more software issues with the time capsule than with any third party drive. I do have a TC, but I am not sure it is such a win.
I have had a lot more software issues with the time capsule than with any third party drive. I do have a TC, but I am not sure it is such a win.
Thx bro. Good to know.
From what I've been reading, Time Capsule is not one of Apple's "best" products.
Certainly, not up there with the iPhones, iPads and MBA's. Or even the MagicTrackpad and BT Keyboard. Which are great!
It's kind of in the second tier product line. Like iCloud, needs some more love.
Having said that, it is white and matches my orig. intel 20" iMac. I know that sounds silly! Hell, I paid a $100 a year for MobileMe and whatever it was called before that. And I bought an orig. iPhone that didn't even have "copy and paste!"
Best.
Screw Lacie. I've owned many external hard drives, and Lacie's are the only ones that have failed on me...
My experience has been quite the opposite. I have tried cheaper brands, but they failed. LaCie has been reliable for me. That's why I keep coming back.
I've pieced them all together to get, currently, 1 working drive.
Some of these were drives that I had recommended to clients.
For many years now though, it's been nothing but OWC, though lately I've put a couple people onto Fantom.
I don't think this is the right form factor for this kind of drive. It should be more like a USB thumb drive, with just one bus powered blade SSD. Apple did not need 2 blades in a RAID 0 to get that kind of speed.