Need feedback on LaCie Drives

I returned mine last time they went on sale. Very cheap construction and I think there was issues with usb power supply.

No fan(s) for cooling, usb only... but they look nice, mac friendly.
I don't like them (and yes I've owned a Porsche model)

It was the Porsche series?

I have a Lacie "design by Porche" external drive that has seen daily service for over 2 years now, hasn't let me down yet.

jb.

I found a Amazon link to the same product with a lot of customer reviews. All are really positive; Amazon.com: LaCie 500 GB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive, Design by F.A. Porsche (301103U): Electronics

But boy I wish I could get it for 119.00 too in Canada!!

Avoid them... cheap construction, sometimes lower quality drives, short warranty.

John Clay said:

Avoid them... cheap construction, sometimes lower quality drives, short warranty.

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Do you have an alternative to LaCie drives then?

Any comments on g-drive from g-technology?

dataarea said:

Do you have an alternative to LaCie drives then?

Any comments on g-drive from g-technology?

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Sure.

Both Seagate and Western Digital offer quality drives at decent prices. If you're in Toronto or Kitchener, Carbon Computing has an in-store brand called Elephant Storage, which uses Seagate drives, and is often less expensive than LaCie.

dataarea said:

Do you have an alternative to LaCie drives then?

Any comments on g-drive from g-technology?

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I like G-Drives and use many of them. They have great after-sales service also.
If you need a less expensive alternate contact MacDoc about his boxes and hard drives. He used to have some that looked like the OWC mercury elite drives.
Also some of the bigger hard drive manufactures have their own drives (I don't know how realible they are but I'm trying out a OneTouch III Turbo - I'll report back in a year... )

dataarea said:

Do you have an alternative to LaCie drives then?

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I still like MacAlly cases with Seagate drives. Easy to install. Firewire & USB II. Runs plenty cool without a fan unless you will be transferring data continuously. Plus you get the full warranty on the drive.

Be sure to set the drive as Master not Slave.

eMacMan said:

I still like MacAlly cases with Seagate drives. Easy to install. Firewire & USB II. Runs plenty cool without a fan unless you will be transferring data continuously. Plus you get the full warranty on the drive.

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Agreed 100%!!! Although recently I've opted for the PHR 100 AF model - Firewire only and a little cheaper.
USB bytes the big one!

There's also the WD MyBook at Costco for $199 ( I think slightly less in store).
It's a bit more pricey, but it also comes with Firewire.

I actually just purchased one of those 500 GB Lacie Drives today, great deal. This will be my second "Porsche" drive, I've had my first one for over a year now without issues.

ArtistSeries said:

No fan(s) for cooling, usb only... but they look nice, mac friendly.
I don't like them (and yes I've owned a Porsche model)

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The current Porsche design drives have actually been updated, now including a fan. The only complaint I have is the earlier Porsche drives had an additional USB port, or additional FW port for the FW drives. Offering the ability to piggy-back other devices or drives.

Yes, I went against the general consensus and bought it today as well. It was $139 at Infonec. Got the last one. I couldn't pass up a 500gb harddrive for that price.

Impression: so far so good. One of the prettiest, MBP friendly designs I have seen. Much smaller then I thought. LaCie backup software including Silverkeeper is pretty easy to use and seems to work well. Cons, large external power supply (although common in external drives). I would of preferred Firewire 800 but you can't ask for everything @ 139 bucks.

Of course, if this drive fails in the next year I'll be cursing it. Oh well, at least I will be able to remove the WD 500gb Caviar that's in it and get another enclosure.

thirdeyevision said:

The current Porsche design drives have actually been updated, now including a fan. The only complaint I have is the earlier Porsche drives had an additional USB port, or additional FW port for the FW drives. Offering the ability to piggy-back other devices or drives.

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Thanks for the update - I'll remember that.

No first hand experience owning one because I always hear negative things about LaCie.

Two weeks ago I bought a Seagate Barracuda 500Gb HD for $230 and through it inside a Vantech enclosure ($50).

Works well so far and the price was good.

anyone know of any FW 400/800 and USB2.0 hard drive enclosures?

Deep Blue said:

Two weeks ago I bought a Seagate Barracuda 500Gb HD for $230 and through it inside a Vantech enclosure ($50).

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I was also looking for a Vantec enclosure (nst-350uf)

This bring me another question: is it possible to boot from any FW external drive? (intel imac). Any chipset to avoid?