LaCie 301442U d2 Quadra Hard Disk 1TB eSATA/FireWire800/FireWire400/USB 2.0 External Hard Drive (Aluminum)

Review: LaCie d2 Quadra 301827U 1TB/ 7200 rpm/ eSATA 3Gbits/ FireWire 800/ FireWire 400/ Hi-Speed USB 2.0

If you find yourself quickly running out of space on what you once thought was a never ending pit of storage capacity, and you are looking to add more, then you may want to check out the LaCie d2 Quadra Hard Disk 1TB 301827U. Whether you are a PC or Mac user, the d2 Quadra Hard Disk 1TB is bound to fit a need you may not have known you had.

With a case designed by Neil Poulton, the d2 Quadra Hard Disk 1TB measures only 1.7” x 6.3” x 6.8” with a total weight of 52.91 ounces, which is not that much when you take into account the large amount of storage you have in such a small footprint. The d2 Quadra Hard Disk 1TB can hold up to 1,000,000 photos, 350,000 songs, or 70 hrs of DV video making it a great storage companion for all the multi-media files you can throw at it.

Features

With the large amount of storage that the d2 Quadra Hard Disk 1TB offers, you would hope that it would come packaged with a wide range of connectivity options so you could quickly utilize all that the d2 Quadra Hard Disk 1TB has to offer. LaCie delivers with three connectivity options. With eSATA, Firewire 400/800 and USB 2.0 the d2 Quadra Hard Disk 1TB offers a variety of different connectivity options ranging from the fastest of up to 300 MB/ sec to the most portable.

The d2 Quadra Hard Disk 1TB also offers users three power management options. There is auto for energy efficiency, on for instant access or off for data protection, allowing the user to customize the hard drive to their specific needs.

The best feature is the EMC Retrospect Express Software that the d2 Quadra Hard Disk 1TB comes bundled with. Once installed, the software offers several different backup options ranging from fast to scheduled backups of either a single file or your entire system. The software is also easy to use, making it great for those who are more concerned about protecting their prized photos then about how the backup actually works.

Performance

With a fanless design, the d2 Quadra Hard Disk 1TB performs quite well for what some may consider just another external hard drive. Some may think that the loss of a fan might cause the d2 Quadra Hard Disk 1TB to turn into a mini space heater, but that is not the case. The case stays cool, no matter how long the hard drive is on for and is quiet as well.

The d2 Quadra Hard Disk 1TB also offers users the option to daisy, via Firewire, chain multiple hard drives together with one of two options. You can either choose Raid 1 for data protection and redundancy, or Raid 0 for speed.

The best part is that it can handle multiple tasks at once, which is just what you would expect from your hard drive. Feel free to edit videos or photos to your hearts content, the d2 Quadra Hard Disk 1TB can keep up.

Summary

In conclusion, the d2 Quadra Hard Disk 1TB makes a great companion to the multi-media hog in all of us. Whether it be storing music, videos or utilizing it as an expansion to your DVR, the d2 Quadra Hard Disk 1TB provides a wealth of storage that will not be consumed overnight.

Key Points

Quiet
1,000,000 photos, 350,000 songs, or 70 hrs of DV
eSATA, Firewire 400/800 and USB 2.0 connectivity
EMC Retrospect Express Software
Raid 1 or Raid 0 daisy chain capable

Laci Firewire 800 Hard Drive

LaCie 301442U d2 Quadra Hard Disk 1TB eSATA/FireWire800/FireWire400/USB 2.0 External Hard Drive (Aluminum)

Comments & Reviews

One Sweet Hard Drive
Fast. Sleek. Silent. This HD has been working flawlessly since we took it out of the box. We use it for all our video and photo storage, as well as backups. Never again will we buy a Western Digital or Maxtor external HD drive. LaCie has a great product! Impressive so far! I agree with the other reviewer- get one NOW!

Great Piece of Equipment
I finally received my LaCie hard drive. This is a well made piece of equipment - it has a solid, heavy construction and an elegant appearance.

I was relieved that the light is a pleasant shade of blue and is not bright at all, unlike other hard drive lights with blindingly bright LEDs.

This is not a quiet unit, however. I can clearly hear the drive running from several feet away though it's not disturbing. The fellow who said that he can't hear it with his ear right next to it, well the drive must not have been running at that moment.

I'm using this as a Time Machine backup drive. With a Firewire 400 connection to my old G5 iMac, it backed up 270 GBs in under 5 hours. At first the Time Machine backup was dog slow. Then I remembered to turn off my virus software, AND most important, I changed the Spotlight preferences by selecting the Privacy tab and adding my backup drive to prevent Spotlight from indexing/searching it. After that the backup process just flew!

After writing data for 5 hours the drive was warm, but not hot. The aluminum heat-sink case seems to cool the drive very well.

Eventually I will attach it to an Apple Airport Extreme via USB to use it as a network drive for wireless use by my laptop as well. Unfortunately the Airport Extreme wireless router does not provide a Firewire 400/800 connection - just ethernet or the much slower USB 2.0. I'll provide an update on the performance at that time.

All in all, I am quite happy with this purchase.

Special Service

WOW GOLD SECRET

LaCie 301442U d2 Quadra Hard Disk 1TB eSATA/FireWire800/FireWire400/USB 2.0 External Hard Drive (Aluminum)

Comments & Reviews

Special Service

Cable

Head Phone

External Hard Drive