Product Reviews

If you absolutely positively have to own the coolest looking pieces of kit then the LaCie FireWire Mobile Hard Drive is certainly for you. Designed by FA Porsche, it is a simple, clean slab measuring 3in x 5in which houses a 3.5in 80Gb drive. LaCie also makes a 40Gb and 20Gb FireWire version, and all three capacities are available in USB 2.0

Not only is the LaCie FireWire mobile hard drive diminutively proportioned, it weighs just 200g, so it adds little weight to a portable setup. And if you're using it on the move, the four rubber feet on its base will stop it sliding around. An engraved LaCie logo and the all-important statement 'design by FA Porsche' grace the side of the drive. An orange light at the front glows reassuringly when the power is on and blinks red when in use. The drive is bus powered so there's no need for an extra power source.

FireWire ports are on the rear of the hard

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disk so the activity light is facing you. This arrangement may mean you lose sight of the FA Porsche logo but at least the unit keeps its good looks unfettered by cables.

Missing from the line-up is a FireWire 800 version that would have made the LaCie FireWire mobile hard drive even more appealing. The two FireWire 400 ports are useful but one FireWire 800 and one FireWire 400 port would have been a more flexible option.

The supplied software is a simple utility for Mac OS X users called SilverKeeper, an easy-to-use backup tool. Backups can be scheduled or run manually and various options such as exclusions can be set. Mac OS 9 users have SilverLining Pro and Time Drive to keep them happy.

Balance transfer

The drive uses a 4200rpm mechanism in all models, and 4200rpm is more than fast enough for most data transfers but video streaming is out of the question and large music or photo collections will take longer to copy.

In our tests the LaCie drive performed well enough. An average sustained data rate of 25Mb/sec was recorded, which is more than respectable. However, portability is the key with this drive, so performance shouldn't be at the top of your list of requirements.

The LaCie FireWire mobile hard drive is certainly not just a pretty face. The £214 price tag will give you a 80Gb hard drive that's truly portable. This may be a little expensive, but the drive is attractively built and will look good attached to your PowerBook when on the move.