LaCie Starck 2 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive 301889KUA Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've got a macbook running OSX 10.6 and with Windows XP on a boot camp partition, so I was able to test the drive's software under both mac and Windows.

Physically this is a nice drive. The casing is solid metal and the drive is pretty heavy. I think it should work well as a "heat sink" but unfortunately there is no fan to reduce internal temperatures. The drive looks nice, but has a funky looking faceplate. The LED is a small orange light on the bottom left of the front panel. It isn't too bright, but is also easy to see.

The drive comes formatted into a small partition and is not usable without running the mac or windows setup utility on the drive itself. There is no software CD. You can bypass the built-in utility and partition/format it manually using the mac or windows utilities, but will need to download and install the software manually from the Lacie website.

I figured most users would test the drive under Windows, so I ran the setup utility under OSX. The utility allows you to setup the drive as a single mac partition or as a split mac/windows partition. Unfortunately, it only allows you to setup the windows partition as a 32 mb FAT32 partition. This is unusual in that most other external drives can be setup as a single FAt32 partition to use their full size. In fact, most drives come pre-formatted as a single FAT32 partition.

I setup the drive with the split partitions and it did a fine job of partitioning and formatting the drive with OSX and FAT32 partitions. It installs the manuals and software on the FAT32 partition, so they can be accessed from both OSX and Windows.

I ran the drive manager under OSX and, after installing all the required software, it reported that no compatible Lacie drive could be found. This means I cannot use the gimmicky "touch sensitive" front panel to start programs under OSX. So, while the drive is very functional as an external drive for a mac, it doesn't perform the gimmick function that separates it from other drives. Since the drive is more expensive than other 1TB drives, mac users would be better off going with a cheaper drive, unless they are enamored of the funky front-panel appearance.

I rebooted into Windows and ran the disk manager utility. This time it recognized the existence of the Lacie drive and allowed me to setup the programs to be run when I touch the front panel. There are two functions available, one by a short press of the front panel and the other by a long press. To run a particular program, you can simply drag the icon into the disk manager utility. I dragged Windows Explorer into the short-press functionality and it seems to work properly. However, I don't really see the value of this functionality. I usually keep my external drives out of reach, so touching the front panel is a pain. I can more quickly locate the programs I want to run on my desktop and can click the icon to run them quicker than I can reach down and touch the front panel, even with the drive located within easy reach. Also, the ability to assign only two functions limits the value of the "touch panel" capability.

So, while it works with Windows, it is still a gimmicky function that has a very limited usefulness. Since the drive is more expensive than other 1TB drives (such as the Western Digital Elements drive) most Windows users would also be better off going with a cheaper drive option. This isn't a bad drive, it just isn't anything special.

Additional notes:

1. The drive has a mini USB connector on the back so you cannot use standard USB cables.

2. I did finally get the disk manager software to work on the mac, but again, it is pretty useless for my purposes.

3. While I was able to uninstall the software on the Windows side, I cannot find out how to get rid of the parts it installed on the mac, except the main utility program in the Applications folder.

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Product Description:
Encased in sturdy aluminum, the LaCie Starck Desktop Hard Drive offer the most robust choices for consumer hard drives on the market. The durable exterior protects the hard drives from shock and overheating, making them thoroughly dependable. The LaCie Starck Desktop Hard Drive features a status LED in the form of Starck's signature symbol. The symbol glows orange or green to indicate different activity. The LaCie Starck Mobile Hard Drive offers a built-in USB cable, uniquely placed for convenient storing and data accessibility. Complementing Starck's design philosophy is a touch-sensitive surface to open any application with the touch of a finger. The LaCie Starck Hard Drives come standard with the versatile USB 2.0 interface. In addition, the range comes with one of the most comprehensive software bundles on the market including LaCie Backup Assistant and LaCie Desktop Manager for formatting, back up and customization.

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