Thanks to PR Galleria , I had this opportunity to check out this Nov 2018 manufactured LaCie 2TB Rugged USB-C All Terrain external storage drive. Now every photographer I know uses external storage drives in one way or another so having one that is rugged & reliable is important.
In my past work life , I used to be responsible for the magnetic media & read-write thin film heads which are the key components that record information in Hard Disk Drives (HDD) so I am extremely familiar with this medium and how sensitive the hard disk drives can be to shock from mis-handling.
As a photographer that travels the world & to destinations that could have harsh environments , having a reliable & rugged Hard Disk Drive for backing up images in the field and for daily use is extremely important. I had been using this rugged external drive from Transcend (StorJet 2TB)for backing up my travel images since 2016 so having a new alternative is great.
I have used the LaCie 2TB Rugged drive for close to about 2 weeks now , so I am going to share my experience so far & what I like about this drive & compare a little with my existing Transcend Storjet , oh and just in case you did not know , the LaCie uses a Seagate HDD.
Introducing the ALL TERRAIN LaCie Rugged 2TB USB-C
I really like the rugged look especially the eye catching bright orange silicone protecting the silver chassis of the LaCie. Yeah , I know looks are not important but hey it's nice to get curious glances from others when I use the drive while having my Latte at Starbucks or Teh-O-Kosong at the food courts.
Specifications wise (on paper) , the LaCie should survive a 4 to 6 feet fall.
It is both WINDOWS & MAC compatible of course.
Shock , dust & Rain resistance for all-terrain use (make sure you have that orange silicone protection on though)
Most importantly , the LaCie is bus powered i.e you don't need that nasty additional power cord.
The LaCie is of course a breeze to install and has all the features that is expected from a product like this from automatic backup to warranty upgrades.
I am not going to bore you with all that jargon on transfer rates and so on , instead I am going to share with you my real world usage experience when I transfer huge amount of data to the LaCie.
Before I do that let me just introduce you to my 13 inch mid-2014 Macbook pro which is my workhorse when I am out in the field during my photography travels. It has a 2.6GHz Dual Core I5 processor with USB 3.0 slots. So all the upcoming data which i am sharing will be with the LACIE interfacing with my Macbook.
REAL WORLD Experience Commentary
1. Starts up consistently between 7 to 8 seconds when powered up by the MacBook's USB slot
2. Ejects in less then 2 seconds consistently
3. Copied 122 GB of images from my Macbook to LaCie in under 18 minutes. Now that's not as fast as SSDs but that's fast for HDDs , trust me.
4. Comparing to my Transcend StorJet 2TB , copying 5GB of images from Macbook (& vice versa)
- StorJet 2TB : 132 to 135 seconds (3 tries)
- LaCie Rugged 2TB : 51 to 52 seconds (3 tries) using the same USB slot for both
5. The LacIe of course goes to "sleep" when not accessed but "wakes up" in a speedy 1 to 3 seconds
6. Warm after more then 3 hours of continuous use when I am post processing images stored on the LaCie.
So far I really do like the LaCie's speed and overall response when compared to my existing HDD storage devices including my rugged Transcend. Time saved is precious and gives me a much more enjoyable experience.
Closing Remarks
Great experience after 2 weeks , no hiccups whatsoever. The LaCie is fast (for a HDD) , attractive and definitely much more robust then the standard portable HDDs where care must be taken when transporting & during handling.
Definitely much faster then my existing drive which is in the same class of rugged drives as the LaCie.
The overall size with the cool Orange Silicone protection is not that much larger then my slim Seagate 2TB Backup Plus HDD which is my alternative (2nd) backup but this HDD does not get to go to my field trips though.
A very nice experience so far and I will be bringing the LaCie out to the field for a week of winter wildlife photography in Nagano , Japan in mid-Feb. I will again update my experiences with the LaCie after the Nagano trip.
Till the next blog then , take care ! ..... Andrew.