LaCie Hard Disk 500 GB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive, Design by Neil Poulton 301302U

by LaCie

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 8.2 x 3.2 inches ; 2.8 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0010YYPCY
• Item model number: 301302U
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (295 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 7, 2004

Product Description

Capacity: 500 GB

From the Manufacturer

The LaCie Hard Disk 500 GB USB 2.0, Design by Neil Poulton adds a sleek, sophisticated style to your desktop while delivering high-speed performance as a hard drive. You no longer have to worry about running out of disk space for your latest music, movies, and photos. And with universal compatibility and a compact size, this portable drive lets you easily share your music, photos and video files with your friends and family.

The Lacie Hard Disk 500GB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive, Design by Neil Poulton offers: 500 GB of disk space. USB 2.0 for fast transfer rates and universal connectivity. Near-silent operation thanks to a fanless design. 7200 RPM and 8 MB of cache for maximum drive performance.

The gorgeous, minimalist case was designed by Neil Poulton. View larger.

Beautiful, Stunning Design
Designed by internationally acclaimed designer Neil Poulton, the Hard Disk features sleek and sophisticated styling. The case is entirely black with a fashionable, mirror-polished finish. A cool, blue LED strip on the bottom casts an ambient glow. The ultra-minimalist look will blend perfectly into home entertainment setups and workstations.

But don't think the design is just about looking good. Built to optimize heat dissipation so that it can operate without a fan, the drive is also designed for convenience and portability. At just 4.6 x 1.8 x 7.6 inches (WxHxD) and weighing barely two pounds, it can be easily transported into your briefcase, allowing you to shuttle files between your home and office, or move your work between your laptop and desktop with ease.

More Space for More Media
With an additional 500 GB of disk space, the Hard Disk can store up to 2 million photos, 9,250 hours of music, or 750 hours of video. Instead of having all this data stored on an internal drive on your desktop computer that can't be moved around, imagine being able to carry your entire digital media collection with you on your travels. You can also use the drive to back up your computer files for extra security.

Fast Performance and Exceptional Compatibility
Using the universal and fast USB 2.0 interface, which offers a transfer rate of up to 480 Mbps, this drive will work with both Macs and PCs. Just plug it in and play it. The drive is pre-formatted for use across Windows and Macs, doesn't require any additional drivers, and is ready to go seconds after being removed from the box. The drive features a rotational speed of 7200 RPM and has a cache of at least 8 MB, providing performance that won't keep you waiting for your files to backup or your media to play.

A compact, fanless design allows for quiet operation. View larger.

The drive is compatible with Windows 2000, XP, and Vista, as well as Mac OS 10.3 or higher. Included in the box is LaCie's 1-Click Backup Software (Windows and Mac), as well as LaCie SilverKeeper Backup Software (Mac) making backups an easy and painless process.

The LaCie 500 GB USB 2.0 Hard Disk, Design by Neil Poulton is backed by a 2-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 hard disk, USB 2.0 cable, external power supply, quick install guide, LaCie utilities (preloaded on drive), user's manual, backup software.

Product Description

The LaCie 500 GB Hard Disk, designed by Neil Poulton, will provide you with serious storage and subtle design all in one compact hard drive. The efficient and simple LaCie Hard Disk is compact and easy for anyone to use. Very small for its huge capacity, this lightweight drive has a fashionable, mirror-polished finish. Setup is nearly effortless; it¿s plug & play and offers customizable formatting with LaCie Setup Assistant. LaCie `1-Click¿ Backup Software for PC and Mac is included for quickly saving files in one click. The LaCie Hard Disk adds sophisticated style to your desktop yet its presence is quiet and unobtrusive. This compact, sleek hard drive has a unique distinguishing feature - a cool, blue LED strip on its underside that creates an ambient glow. Its smartly engineered design allows for heat dissipation and near-silent, fanless operation. With Hi-Speed USB 2.0, this hard drive makes a great companion to your PC or Mac. Even use it as a reliable data shuttle between USB-equipped desktop and laptop computers. Hi-Speed USB 2.0 provides universal compatibility, cross-platform convenience, hot-pluggable connections, and good transfer rates. The user-friendly LaCie Hard Disk is a great storage tool for laptops or workstations. Use it to regularly back up your entire system or upgrade capacity when your computer¿s hard drive is full. Conveniently download digital photos and save all of your music files. Box Content: LaCie 500 GB Hard Disk, USB 2.0 cable, External power supply, Quick Install Guide, LaCie Utilities (preloaded on the drive): User Manual, LaCie `1-Click¿ Backup Software (Windows & Mac), LaCie SilverKeeper Backup Software (Mac). Minimum System Requirements: Computer with USB 2.0 (USB 1.1 compatible), Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista/Mac OS X 10.3 or higher Pentium II 350MHz processor or greater / G3,G4,G5 Mac Intel processor or greater, 32MB RAM minimum

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

152 of 157 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LaCie 301304U, September 26, 2008

By 

Larry A. Chafin (Highland, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: LaCie Hard Disk 1TB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive designed by Neil Poulton 301304U (Personal Computers)

I attached this 1-TB USB external drive to my 2.8 ghtz IMac. The setup was a snap, but the included utilities wanted to take the whole drive as a single partition. I used the Mac's disk utilities, and created two partitions. This way, one partition can now be used for Time Machine (which by the way, will keep backing up until the disk is full, then begins deleting the oldest files), and another partition that is used to back up my Linux server.

The rest of the setup was fast. The Mac found the drive quickly, and so did Time Machine. The Time Machine software asked me which partition I wanted to use, and once that was decided on, Time Machine took off, and has been backing up ever since. How simple is that?

Also, most of the specs I read on this drive show a cache of 16 mb, but the drive as delivered, much to my pleasant surprise, has a cache of 32 mb. Even with the USB connection (I think firewire, which is available on some other La Cie drives, is about 15% faster), I found the file transfer time more than acceptable. I have run video from the drive with no issues. Also, I often transfer rather large photo files, and graphic images to and from the drive, and again no issues.

All that being said, for the money, the drive is hard to beat.

62 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful & solid design, October 9, 2008

By 

gee three pea oh-a (WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: LaCie Hard Disk 1TB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive designed by Neil Poulton 301304U (Personal Computers)

This was purchased as external backup - it's quiet and lovely. The blue LED reflects off the surface (desktop) so you know when it's in use. Easy to use backup software included, but not robust enough for a power user or tech-geek (use cobian!).

The USB cable is kinda short, about 8", so if you're not planning on placing this directly next to or on the box you're backing up plan to purchase or use a different USB cable.

70 of 80 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Drive For a Reasonable Price, January 5, 2008

By 

John D. (Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: LaCie Hard Disk 750 GB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive, Design by Neil Poulton 301303U (Personal Computers)

I bought two of these (750GB) to replace a failing drive and to be more responsible about backups. I have some complaints, but overall I really like them.

Pros: great case, good size (a largish paperback; slightly narrower, lower and longer than my Mac Mini), on/off button, small adapter with a regular plug, no fan, relatively low light output from the front indicator.

Cons: louder than other fanless drives (compared to the Seagate eSATA 750), ambient light flickers with drive activity (I'd prefer a constant light).

Depends: only has USB.

In my opinion, online images make it look bigger than it is. Check the dimensions. The smooth black case lacks prominent logos. They can be stacked, but only two. I assume this is for heat dissipation reasons.

Why only 4 stars? Lacie's advertising claims it is "near-silent". Close, but not quite.

UPDATE:

1 of these drives has failed as of 4/2009. Neither has ever been used for anything but a backup drive, so it's not as though it failed from overuse. I'm somewhat disappointed. I doubt I'll buy Lacie again.

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