LaCie 301826U d2 Quadra 750 GB eSATA/FireWire800/FireWire400/USB 2.0 External Hard Disk

Other products by LaCie

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 1.7 x 6.3 inches ; 3.3 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 6 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0012HT8WQ
• Item model number: 301826U
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (146 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #17,450 in Electronics (See Bestsellers in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: January 11, 2008

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description
With a unique ridged exterior that enhances the enclosure's cooling performance, and a quadruple interface for full Mac and PC compatibility, the LaCie 301826U d2 Quadra External Hard Drive is an all-in-one drive that's built with the professional in mind. Designed by internationally acclaimed designer Neil Poulton, this versatile drive offers extreme performance and an aesthetic touch that will enhance any work space.

The LaCie d2 Quadra Hard Disk offers: eSATA 3Gbits, FireWire 400/800, and USB 2.0 for universal compatibility and extreme speed 750 GB of disk space. 7200 rpm spin speed and 16 MB cache. Fanless ridged design for cool, quiet operation. Unique ridged heat sink aluminum design increases surface area by 60% for cooler operation. (Show here with the Little Big Disk Quadra and the 2big Network.) View larger.

The minimalist space-saving design will enhance the aesthetics of any work space. View larger. View back.

The d2 can be racked horizontally and set up in a RAID configuration. View larger.

Quadruple Interface for Unmatched Performance and Compatibility
The LaCie 301826U d2 Quadra External Hard Drive features one eSATA 3 Gbit port, two FireWire 800 ports (9-pin), one FireWire 400 port (6-pin), and one hi-speed USB 2.0 port that is USB 1.1-compatible. (Cables for each connection are conveniently included with the drive.) This quadruple interface makes the d2 Quadra ideal for demanding multi-media applications that require extreme speed as well as universal connectivity. The USB and FireWire connections ensure that you can transfer or back up your data from your laptop or other computers, while the eSATA interface offers a transfer rate of up to 300 MB per second (3Gbits/sec).

The LaCie d2 is compatible with Windows, including Vista, and Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard, including Time Machine, making it an ideal partner for your Mac. Time Machine automatically backs up your Mac's system files, applications, accounts, preferences, music, photos, movies, and documents to an external hard drive and lets you easily go back in time to recover anything.

Superior Drive Performance for Power Users
Built for power users such as video editors, the d2 Quadra features a rotational speed of 7200 rpm and a cache of at least 16 MB. Perfect for digital content creation, audio/video editing, DVD authoring, web animation, and more, the d2 Quadra can handle multiple demanding professional tasks. It can also be daisy-chained via FireWire or connected to your DV camera and is even bootable in FireWire for Mac and in eSATA for Mac/PC.

With a capacity of 750 GB, the d2 Quadra can hold up to 750,000 photos, 262,500 songs, or 52 hours of DV video. If you purchase multiple drives, they can be daisy-chained and set to RAID 1 for data redundancy and protection, or RAID 0 for even greater speed.

The d2 Quadra also offers three power management options: "Auto" for energy efficiency; "On" for instant access; and "Off" for data protection. The drive also lets you back up files or launch any application with a simple push of the front blue button. This "shortcut button" can be configured to launch any document or application, or initiate the included EMC Retrospect Express software that offers automated backups.

Smart, Elegant Design and Loaded with Software
With the d2 Quadra, Neil Poulton has fashioned a unique, attractive and functional drive that offers excellent heat dissipation features and space-saving options for stacking. The fanless aluminum heat sink design features exterior ridges that provide 60 percent more surface area for heat dissipation, keeping the drive quiet and as safe as possible at all times. The d2 Quadra will sit nicely in an upright position alongside your PC or Mac machines, or it can be stacked horizontally with other drives or rack mounted to save desktop space.

Set-up and use is quick and easy, thanks to LaCie's preloaded Setup Assistant that helps format the hard disk according to your needs. For instance, the d2 Quadra lets you easily create a FAT32 partition for use with Macs. With the LaCie 1-Click Backup, you can backup any file into the location of your choice with a simple "click"--either via the desktop icon, or CTRL-S on your keyboard. And LaCie's Shortcut Button lets you easily launch any application with one push.

Also included with the d2 is EMC Retrospect professional backup software for PC and Mac users. This award-winning software offers several back-up options, including fast backups and scheduled back-up of either a single file or your complete system. With EMC Retrospect Express, you'll never have to worry about losing your data again.

The drive measures a slim 1.7 x 6.3 x 6.8 inches (WxHxD), weighs 3.31 pounds, and is backed by a 3-year limited warranty.

About LaCie
Established in France in 1989, LaCie is a leading manufacturer of computer peripherals for Windows, Apple and Linux users. With offices and plants in the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia, Europe, Singapore and Hong Kong, LaCie develops and manufactures external storage solutions and color monitors that help professionals and everyday people easily manage their digital lives. LaCie has differentiated its products through original designs and leading-edge technology.

What's in the Box
LaCie d2 Quadra Hard Disk; eSATA-to-eSATA cable; FireWire 800 (9-to-9 pin) cable; FireWire 400 (6-to-6 pin) cable; USB 2.0 cable (USB 1.1 compatible); external power supply; drive stand for upright desktop use; LaCie Utilities (preloaded): LaCie '1-Click' Backup Software for PC or Mac; SilverKeeper Software for automatic backup and file verification (Mac); EMC Retrospect Express 6.1 (Mac); and EMC Retrospect Express HD 2.0 (Windows).

Product Description
The LaCie d2 Quadra 750GB Hard Drive handles multiple demanding professional tasks, including digital content creation, audio/video editing, DVD authoring, and web animation. It can be daisy-chained via FireWire or connected to your DV camera and is even bootable in FireWire for Mac and in eSATA for Mac/PC. Advanced features include 3-level power management (Auto/On/Off), using USB or Firewire, and software RAID 0/RAID 1 potential when daisy-chained with other drives. Fully loaded with all the best interfaces ¿ eSATA 3Gbits, FireWire 800, FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 ¿ it offers complete universal connectivity for PC and Mac users. Use it to easily store all of your files or back up your computer or small server regularly, whether at home or the office. With fast burst transfer rates of up to 105-115MB/s via eSATA, this industry-leading hard disk delivers superior performance. Setup and use is quick and easy; the preloaded LaCie Setup Assistant helps format the hard disk according to your needs. With the LaCie Shortcut Button (via USB or Firewire), you can easily launch any application with one push such as the included EMC¨ Retrospect¨ professional backup software for PC and Mac users. The d2 Quadra¿s new design is sturdy, compact and versatile, making it ideal for intensive professional use. The unique, fanless aluminum heat sink design with 60% more surface area for heat dissipation keeps it quiet and as safe as possible at all times. The d2 Quadra can stand upright, be stacked horizontally with other drives or rackmounted to save desktop space. System Requirements: Computer with an eSATA, FireWire 800, FireWire 400 or USB 2.0 port, Windows® 2000, Windows XP, Windows VistaTM; 500MHz processor or higher, Mac® OS 10.2.8 (Mac OS 10.3 for eSATA) or later; G4, G5, Mac Intel 500MHz processor or higher, Minimum 128MB RAM (512MB or greater recommended).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptionally easy, April 29, 2008

By	Jane Harper "trauma wonk, photographer" (Rockford, IL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm in shock.

Having just moved from Windows to Mac (OS X 10.5.2) I'm used to long, involved nightmare hardware installations. Between OS X and the utilities supplied by LaCie on this drive, the whole business was up and running in about ten minutes. It took me longer to figure out which was the FireWare 800 cable than it did to finish the rest of the installation!

I have a new iMac with both FireWire 400 and 800 ports, and I'm using the LaCie as my Time Machine drive, so I opted to use the fastest interface available, the FireWire 800. The installation had four steps:

1. Physically attach the footplate to the drive so it could sit on its thin side, as in the photo with this review. Tools: included Allen wrench. Time: 60 sec

2. Attach the FW800 cable and the power supply. Plug in same. Tools: none. Time: 60 sec.

3. Turn on the drive. Tools: finger. Time: 15 sec.

4. Click through the installation program that pops up on the screen. The last click is to inform OS X that this will be my TimeMachine drive. Tools: mouse, finger. Time: 5 min.

Total time: 7.25 min. (It took me about 2.5 minutes to figure out which cable to use.)

The FireWire interface is so fast, it did the initial TimeMachine 30GB backup in about 30 minutes.

The drive is quiet, it's fast, and it has a cool blue light on the front. It also has an auto power switch that detects when the iMac is seeking from the drive and switches on drive power.

What's not to like?

56 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shhhhh..... this HD is so quiet., May 28, 2008

By	G. Burns (Chino Hills, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have been considering an external HD for some time now. Most of the research that I have done points to a couple of problems that I want to avoid: noise, and heat. Recent reviews of the LaCie d2 Quadra seem to indicate that the noise and heat problems have been greatly reduced in this HD. Well, I was suprised to discover that is not EXACTLY correct, the heat and noise problems have actually been totally eliminated.

Pros:
1) The drive small and sturdy - the weighted base plate has a footprint of only 6.5" x 2.5". With the base plate attached, the HD has enough weight to prevent it from moving about.
2) The drive is very easy to set up - it is a total no-brainer and takes just a few minutes to follow the simple setup procedure.
3) The drive is quiet - there is no fan so there is no noise... period!!!
4) The drive does not get hot - with the unique "the whole case is a heat-sink" design this drive stays cool to the touch even after running all day long.
5) The drive just looks good - the drive design is very simple, but for some reason it looks quite stylish at the same time.
6) The drive comes with every connection that you could possibly need - I hate getting gear that does not have a cable or connector or what-not. That is not the case with this HD, it has every concievable connector included in the box. Depending on your computer's installation location an additional USB extension cable might prove helpful though.

Cons:
1) A bit on the expensive side - but IMHO worth the extra money.
2) User Guide not complete - OK, there is very little that has to be in this tiny user guide, but there is no reason after setting up the HD that you would look at it and say "What the heck does that thing do?". Nowhere, either in the user guide, nor on the manufacturer's website could I find information on what the "Shortcut Button with Active LED" does (there is a one-line reference in the user guide that says "5. Install LaCie Shortcut Button software to enable the feature" but it does not tell you what will happen if you install that software). Now that button is like a big blue eye that always stares at you and blinks whenever the drive is active. The software to install the Shortcut button is pre-loaded on the HD (as is all the other required software for PC and Mac), just find it and run it from there. What the software does is give you 3 options to assign to the button: 1) 1-click backup, 2) 1-click launch of a user selected application, and 3) No Action - Button Disabled.
3) The drive is NOT really 500GB. After setting mine up it had only 465GB of storage. Now that is a lot of storage, but by the same token the missing 35GB is a lot of lost storage space. Removing all of the multi-language documentation that is preloaded on the HD made no difference what-so-ever, it is really a 465GB HD.

That is about it. I love this HD so far, and would make the same choice again. I consider it a very smart buy.

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent buy, July 18, 2008

By	Paolo Palombo - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I owned a 250GB LaCie Triple Interface drive for 3 years and I was very happy with it. When the time came to buy a 1TB disk, I originally chose the LaCie Big Extreme+ (301199U) because it was substantially cheaper. I returned it after 1 week because: a) the drive was much bigger than it looked in the pictures; and b) the fan was always active, even in standby mode.
I bought this drive in its place, and I couldn't be happier. It is much more compact and fanless, thus extremely quiet.
Definitely recommended unless the higher price is an issue.