Many people nowadays are turning to laptops for their main systems, not only due to the power that is now available in these mobile machines, but also because it offers a very versatile set-up. Not having to look after two systems is very nice and the ability to connect your laptop up to an external display, gives you the best of both worlds.
Storage whilst on the move is very handy, but when your laptop comes with maybe only 60Gb of internal storage, the only option is to either get a larger hard drive fitted, which is often expensive, or invest in an external device. This is where the Lacie MobileDrive comes into play, because it offers you 80Gb or 100Gb (as reviewed here) of external storage in a very neat package. This unit is very nicely styled, sleek curves to the front and no protruding feet to catch on things. It is small enough to easily fit into a large coat pocket or a normal bag pocket alongside your laptop. It does not feel cheap either, despite its’ very competitive price tag.
Their is one green power/activity light on the top of the hard drive casing and the back sports a single USB2 connection and a port for the (optional) power supply. A very important note here, is that the MobileDrive worked perfectly with both a MacBook and older 12-inch PowerBook G4, happily drawing power from a single USB2 port, so no need to carry around a bulky power supply. If you do need more power, then the supplied powershare cable allows you to draw power from a second USB port. This is in contrast to a previous encounter I had with a SmartDisk Firelite drive that needed an external power supply to jump into action.
All the cables, a quick start guide and a utility CD is supplied in the box, with straight plug’n’play use for most systems (Windows 98SE & ME require drivers). In use the drive performed very well indeed, with a 270Mb file copying across in 16 seconds and a 1Gb file in just 68 seconds. All this with silent operation with no noticeable vibrations coming from the unit. There are a lot of mobile hard drives available on the market nowadays, but the Lacie MobileDrive wins my vote for styling, it’s silent operations and the user friendly smooth sleek lines to the casing. Not forgetting the all important performance which is the icing on the cake.
To download a printabel PDF version of the review click here.
Product supplied by Lacie UK
Contact: sales.uk@lacie.com
Retail price: £99.00
Link to product.
Link to product datasheet.