Customer Reviews

LaCie 80GB Firewire Desktop External Hard Drive ( 300699U ) P3 design by FA Porsche

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I bought this hard drive 3 months ago to use as additional storage for my iBook. I was wary to buy it because it had not received any reviews and because reviews of larger Porsche Lacie drives were not glowing. However I didn't really need 100+ GB of space, I didn't need a backup button, I appreciated the design and the price was good, all of which set it apart from the rest for me. I use it almost exclusively for storing music files and digital photos. So far it has worked almost perfectly in these respects with iTunes and iPhoto. The setup was very easy and it was already HFS+ formatted (I think), though I formatted it myself to make sure, which was no trouble using the instructions given in the online documentation from Lacie. The online documentation was also very good, another aspect that set it apart from the rest for me. The only troubling moments I've had and the reasons I don't give it 5 stars are:

1) When I first copied over my iTunes library, it hung up on one song and would not proceed. I removed the song from my library and everything copied fine. To this day, I am unable (ironically) to add "Wait" by Sarah McLachlan to the hard drive.
2) When the drive is running there is a periodic ticking sound (maybe once every 10 sec) which is annoying because it makes me feel like something is wrong, but it doesn't seem to affect the performance.

Overall, the drive looks good, it's small and works fine for my needs. Also, it has two Firewire ports which allow for the connection of an iPod (while the drive is connected to the only Firewire port on the laptop).

'Designed by F.A. Porsche', claims the big packaging for this little box of storage. Coupled with the Lacie track record, and own experience of other Lacie drives, I had high expectations about this product. But on opening, the 'minimalist' design looked more like a Tandy or Maplin project box for electrical enthusiasts to stuff with DIY circuitry. So F.A. design indeed! Then, the first use of it on Apple i-mac led to an un-recoverable crash after trying to transfer data from one machine to another. There was a loud beeping, followed by an ominous flashing light on the front panel AND on the power-supply! Soon a SNAP sound and the smell of electrics burning. I took it back to our supplier who duly replaced it. Now two weeks later, it proved slow and impossible to use for editing with I-movie & a 700mb I-book. So after a few unsuccessful attempts to transfer the data to the laptop hard-drive, it seemed errors had crept in, and the Lacie unmounted itself from the I-book desktop. On restart, data could not be recovered, and prompted a 'Mac OS X doesn't recognise the drive...Intialise?' message instead. I know that Mac OS can be very fussy about some removable storage, but this is riduculous. IMHO stay away from this drive. Come back those sturdy old Lacies. Porsche go back to cars!

I've had mine for over a year now (use it for backing-up my library of files) with little to no problems. Dependable and not fussy. I give it 4 starts instead of 5 just for the bulk, which isn't that big of a deal.

Satisfied with my purchase. Satisfied with my LaCie Porche. Happy comsumer.

I have a small Pro Tools audio recording set up at home, and was looking for a hard drive that I could use to store my audio files. I have heard that Pro Tools does not like to use the same hard drive to run the software and access audio files.

After much research, I found that there are many companies building hard drives specifically for this purpose - but they cost at least double the price of a standard drive. Even LaCie has a drive that they market for this purpose. I kept looking at the specifications of these "audio drives" and comparing them with other, standard, drives. I found this Porsche designed LaCie drive, and it had all the same technical specifications as the others. I even called LaCie Tech Support to get thier opinion. The guy on the phone could come up with nothing more than "well, the other one has a heavier metal case." Given that, I bought this drive for half the price of the others.

So far the drive has worked wonderfully (it's been a couple of months). I have my audio recording software on my Mac's hard drive, and use this drive to access the actual audio files. Both drives are running simultaneously while I work, and I've had no problems at all. I couldn't tell you how well this would work out if I was in a full production studio, using the equipment 10 hours a day, but for a couple of hours a day 4-5 days a week it's been great.

Good luck!

I've had no problems with my 80Gb Firewire drive -- I'm buying two more today to use as backup devices. Flawless operation -- no complaints whatsoever. Fast, small footprint, looks good... nice little drive.

I bought two of these, they both failed. I sent them in under warrantee. They were returned to me "reconditioned" - and still with the same problem.

This product was just as I expected it to be. It was easy to set up, and it works exactly like I thought it would. All in all, I believe it was worth the price I paid for it. It works fine, and is very useful for backing up data on my iMac. The fast firewire interface allows me to transfer data to and from this product with great ease and speed. That same speed also makes it a breeze to review files stored on this drive. All in all, I believe this product is a great buy, especially for people who need a fast, reliable drive for backing up their data.

I bought this drive over 3 months ago. It is fast, silent and reliable. But the most demanding test for me is portability. I pack it in my bag every morning and night, move it between my office, home office, client presentations, not to mention plane... Read more > trips and weekend trips. I give it a genuine endurance test. The G drive is small and light enough to carry everyday, and best of all, sturdy. No failings, no glitches. Just fast, silent, reliable performance. One of those purchases you never regret.

I use the desktop hard drive as a back-up for my Apple system. It works dependably and fast. I'm very happy with its performance. Since I use it as a back-up device I do not leave it connected to my computer. It is easy to connect when I need it and disconnect when I'm done.

I've owned a LaCie firewire for about a year now and I've never had any major problems with it. If you improperly eject a firewire you can have issues though-- but many firewire will do the same. I blame the previous comments on the iMac not jus the LaCie drive. I work with many people who talk pooly of the iMacs and all their bugs. I have had a few instances when I improperly ejected the drive and it didn't show up on my desktop-- but I slapped it around (literally), restarted my computer and waited a few hours and everything was OK. But yeah its not the greatest drive- looks pretty slick though.