INTRODUCTION

   As storage capacity needs increase at work and/or at home naturally so do our portable storage needs and although manufacturers have yet to close the gap between 2.5" and 3.5" external drives (highest capacity 2.5" portable drive currently is 4TB whereas the highest capacity 3.5" desktop has hit 10TB) even 1TB models seem to do ok in catering to the needs of most consumers today. However not everyone has the same demands and/or needs so since 1TB of storage space may not be quite sufficient most manufacturers also offer their portable hard drive models in several different capacities all the way up to 2/3/4TB. Unfortunately there aren't really that many 4TB models currently available in the market to choose from and so today instead we decided to take a look at the 2TB model of the Lacie Porsche Design Mobile Drive.

   LaCie, the premium brand of Seagate technology, designs world-class storage solutions for photographers, videographers, audio professionals, and other power users. With leading technology, performance, quality, and customer support, LaCie helps you realize your creative vision. We differentiate ourselves with a focus on design, unmatched technical performance, and long-term reliability. Since 1992, we have collaborated with visionary designers to bring you cutting-edge products. From Ziba Design to Porsche Design GmbH, as well as Karim Rashid, Ora-IIto, and Philippe Starck, a who’s-who list of prominent designers have made their mark on our products. The talent of these designers ensures that you are not just getting a way to store your files — you are buying a product where design and technology merge to result in complete usability. For the past 15 years, we have also had a close partnership with Scottish designer Neil Poulton, who designs all of our professional products, including our award-winning Rugged™, d2, 2big, 5big, and 8big Rack storage solutions. At LaCie, we protect your life’s work. And we expand what’s possible.

   The Porsche Design Mobile Drive (currently available in 500GB/1TB/2TB capacities) is the very first portable hard drive by LaCie to ever reach our lab so we were somewhat impressed to see that although it's yet another USB 3.0 (5Gb/s) compatible one it uses a type-C connector instead of the usual one we find with such drives. The end result may not be any different in terms of performance but type-C connectors are much harder to remove than regular USB 3.0 ones and thus are considered more reliable and durable. As for housing material as expected from a premium company such as LaCie they used aluminum which is not only lightweight (193g for the 2TB model) but also helps keep the drive inside cooler compared to plastic enclosures. Speaking of drive inside the 10mm thick enclosure of the 2TB Porsche Design Mobile Drive sits a 7mm thick Seagate ST2000LM007 2.5" SATA III HDD that features a rotational speed of 5400RPM and 128MB of cache. LaCie also bundles backup and data security software with the Porsche Design Mobile Hard Disk Drive, covers it with a 2 year warranty and has also intergrated an power-save feature (eco mode) which you have total control over via the LaCie desktop manager.