LaCie Expands 'Fuel' Wireless External Hard Drive for iOS/Mac Devices to 2TB

[MacRumors]

LaCie today announced a new version of its Fuel external hard drive, which now offers a total of 2TB of storage. First introduced in January during CES, the Fuel is a wireless hard drive designed to work with the iPad, the iPhone, and Mac computers.

It is able to wirelessly stream to any Apple device, serving as a portable storage unit for extensive media libraries. Like the original Fuel, the new expanded Fuel does not require an Internet connection, functioning instead as a Wi-Fi hotspot able to connect to five devices simultaneously. Media on the drive can be accessed via the Seagate Media app, and Dropbox integration is also supported.

With double the capacity than before, LaCie Fuel offers more storage than any 2.5" wireless hard drive on the market. It is the ideal cable-free, portable solution for movie buffs, photographers and others to gain 2TBs of on-the-go access and storage for iPad® or iPhone® and Mac®.

Back in February, MacRumors went hands-on with the original Fuel, giving a complete rundown on functionality of the hard drive and the Seagate Media app.

The 2TB LaCie Fuel can be preordered through the LaCie website for $249.99 and will begin shipping in April of 2014. The original 1TB LaCie Fuel can also be purchased from the website for $199.99.

Article Link: LaCie Expands 'Fuel' Wireless External Hard Drive for iOS/Mac Devices to 2TB

 

[gotluck]

I prefer hootoo tripmate plus any USB drive

 

[unobtainium]

Would this be faster/better than using a Time Capsule for the same purpose? And does it do Time Machine backups?

 

[unplugme71]

I rather enjoy my 4-bay RAID 10 via USB 3 to my Mac Mini for wireless file sharing with my iDevices and MBP. I guess if you want to be mobile, this may work, but I can just VPN into my home network and share my files over WebDAV just as easily.

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Would this be faster/better than using a Time Capsule for the same purpose? And does it do Time Machine backups?

1) I had a bad experience with every Lacie product I've purchased since 2008. I refuse to buy anything Lacie going further.

Depends. This is wireless. So you can carry it around with you. It has a battery so it makes it easier than a Time Capsule.

I'm sure it can do TM backups, but it's not really designed to do so.

I've seen it time after time that people store their actual data on the same drive as TM backs up to. This is so wrong!

 

[dragje]

nmlfme!

No more Lacie for me ever! After so many external drives crashed verses Western Digitals that never ever crashed.

 

[pdaholic]

I would love to hear everyone's thoughts on these hotspot drives. I've been wanting to get one for traveling. I'd like to have one for streaming movies from it to an idevice. Would be particularly nice if the host app didn't require conversion of the movie to an ios compatible format!

 

[Frizers]

If you connect to these via wifi, can you still connect to the Internet via 3G???

 

[mroffbeat]

nmlfme!

No more Lacie for me ever!

Same for me, add worsed driver support to it, after I got my synology all my lacies went straight to the trash can

 

[nutmac]

Bah, it is still limited to 802.11b/g/n. Does it at least support 5GHz band? Neither the website nor manual mentions it. And still ugly.

 

[vartanarsen]

Don't need this.. Just use iFile + Camera Connection kit+ sd cards (as many and as high capacity as you want).... No need for power ever....

 

[pdaholic]

Don't need this.. Just use iFile + Camera Connection kit+ sd cards (as many and as high capacity as you want).... No need for power ever....

To which ifile on the App Store are you referring? There are multiple ones with that name. Not jailbroken, right?

Edit: Just googled and it sounds like your app requires a jailbreak. No thanks!

 

[Digital Jive]

Lacie Fuel - Pretty Good!

I purchased one of these and it's pretty good. I connected it to my Mac, mounted the drive and dragged the entire iTunes folder into it one go. Once that was done I disconnected and rebooted it and it took a few minutes to index everything. On trips I plug it into the cigarette lighter on my car and the kids in the back have full access to everything though their iPad and iPod Touch. The DRM videos works fine as the iPad/iPod Touch as on the same Apple account as my Mac.

Anyway, this keeps the kids quiet and I've no problems with the unit... it does what it's supposed to do. The Seagate application is a little clunky but my kids figured it out. And the battery doesn't last as long as advertised but as I keep it plugged in that's not an issue.

 

[blueroom]

It's a repackaged Seagate Wireless Plus. You can't use it as a Time Machine drive it won't work.

The Seagate version has hacked firmware available that makes it more a simple LAMP server. Still very limited but handy if you need a WiFi hotspot and portable storage.

 

[pdaholic]

Just throwing this out there, but there's an app called "Remote Files" which works beautifully with my NAS (a Time Capsule). Doesn't require any conversion of video files to play, the app will convert them. Wondering if any of these hotspot drives will work with it?

 

[RightMACatU]

Looks like a very limited market and at $250US, no thanks.

 

[msugarpants]

Plex, anyone?

Why is no one mentioning PLEX? Although is sucks up your data, I do not need to store any movies on my phone ever. Nor do I need an external drive. I could see the need when camping or something (or where verizon cuts out...) And with Audiotap....i have all 135,000 songs at my fingertips where i can 'rate' them with stars and move them into existing playlists on my mac. Music never takes up space anymore. Still, 16 gigs aint enough for all my apps.

 

[jrswizzle]

I have an iPad mini that I prefer to store apps and photos on - no movies or TV shows if I can help it.

I've considered a drive like this for a while, but never pulled the trigger due to negative reviews.

Can someone help me (and others) out and tell us: What is the best way to store, carry and play a large movie/TV Show library on your iPad without needing data/internet or jailbreaking?

 

[SurferPup]

Western Digital My Passport

I like my wired external 2 Tb hard drive plugged into an iMac and using the Plex App on any iOS device to stream / AirPlay movies / TV shows at home and away. Technology should be and can be portable so this way one only needs to travel lightly with an iPhone, iPad, USB - Lightning cables, Lightning - HDMI adapter, HDMI cable, all in an iPad case. Can watch favourite video content anywhere in the world with broadband Internet access. Upgrade memory on iPad Air and many movies can be saved for when there is poor Internet.

 

[SurferPup]

Western Digital My Passport

I like my wired external 2 Tb hard drive plugged into an iMac and using the Plex App on any iOS device to stream / AirPlay movies / TV shows at home and away. Technology should be and can be portable so this way one only needs to travel lightly with an iPhone, iPad, USB - Lightning cables, Lightning - HDMI adapter, HDMI cable, all in an iPad case. Can watch favourite video content anywhere in the world with broadband Internet access. Upgrade memory on iPad Air and many movies can be saved for when there is poor Internet.

 

[clarest]

ice system

how long b4 these are 'embedded' into car ice systems... perfect for kids in the back with ipads...