LaCie Launches Thunderbolt SATA III SSD 'Little Big Disk' with Up to 635MB/s Read

[Mundty]

Originally Posted by bedifferent

It's a shame, I don't know what it is about LaCie products that has shown time and again their quality is lacking. I recall they used the infamous cursed Seagate HDD's with the firmware locking users out, but it seems more than third party components. Having opened many old LaCie units to use the internal HDD's, I was unimpressed with the industrial design. Yes, the aluminum is nice, but overall it was cumbersome and the internal components seemed to be assembled by a high school tech class.

EDIT: just read LorenK's post, funny, we're on the same page

Question: if Apple's current implementation of "TB" (aka "Light Peak") uses copper instead of fiber optics to cut down on costs, why are cables and drives so expensive? I can't imagine the controllers are that pricey, unless patents for third party developers are driving the costs in which case Apple would be slowing adoption and shooting themselves in the foot. If I were Apple and wanted to play it smart, I would assist third party vendors in producing affordable drives to push "TB", otherwise it may become another "FW" variant when it can be so much more.

I've seen a lot of complaints about LaCie reliability. My friend started experiencing problems with his Rugged External HDD almost immediately after buying it. I like their design but I'm weary to actually buy one. It seems like all their HDD products are riddled with reliability issues.

[matteusclement]

Originally Posted by velocityg4

The maximum speed seems fairly unimpressive considering I can get a single 512GB SATA III SSD that can do 560MB/s. In RAID 0 this should be able to get to 1GB/s. This is thunderbolt after all, which is rated for 10Gb/s or 1.25 GB/s.

Heck with my two year old old 128GB SSD drives rated at 260MB/s each in RAID 0 I've gone past 500MB/s.

BOOM! good point.

[BornAgainMac]

I wish it was made of solid GOLD. Then I could justify it.

[HMI]

Originally Posted by LaCieTech

Have you seen the LaCie Rugged USB 3.0 Thunderbolt Series?
-TL, LaCie

Yes, and those seem the most promising. I picked one of those up, and they are actually really nice so far. As portable drives, though, they have limited storage. I find it odd that a portable drive is capable of doing what all of these desktop drives should already be doing and aren't. It just proves that there really is no reason why all the other TB drives don't include USB3.

Thanks for responding.

[rei101]

... the creative show off on the go?

Good I do not need Thunderbolt, nor retina and not even an iPhone. After 20 years I have learned my lesson well... what I learn and what I create is what matter and tools are as good as my knowledge.

[Mr. Retrofire]

Originally Posted by HMI

I find it odd that a portable drive is capable of doing what all of these desktop drives should already be doing and aren't. It just proves that there really is no reason why all the other TB drives don't include USB3.

It is not easy. Read this AnandTech Review:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6127/b...-thunderbolt/2

Originally Posted by AnandTech

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6127/b...-thunderbolt/2

So you’re probably wondering, well, how does the device switch between the MediaLogic USB 3.0 controller and the ASmedia controller? The answer is on the other side of the PCB.

Here on the back side of the PCB there’s both an ASmedia ASM1456 SATA 3.0, 2 to 1 multiplexer/switch, and an NXP LPC1114F (PDF) microcontroller with an up to 50 MHz ARM Cortex M0 at its core. This controller undoubtably contains the management and logic which tells the switch which SATA controller to choose between. There’s also something a little bit ironic about Intel having to recommend use of an ARM Cortex M0 controller for its platform for Apple and Buffalo - it seems like making a next generation Thunderbolt controller with a tiny controller or AP of its own onboard would make a lot of sense.

There’s a ton of integration here to do what seems like a simple task, but the end result is a drive which will connect and switch between USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt and handle the edge case where someone decides to connect both at the same time. The only real next level is for future Thunerbolt controllers to offer some onboard AP purely for devices like this with multiple I/O. Maybe we’ll get a third generation Thunderbolt SKU with SATA built in, that would seem logical.

This is only the beginning. We'll see 2nd generation Thunderbolt cables in 2013 and better Thunderbolt controllers in certain enclosures.

[CalebHiggs]

I really wish they would make this stuff affordable not for the spoiled rich people or Steven Spielberg. Do they not realize the average joe wants to transfer 50 GB in less than 2 minutes?? Serioulsy 1k for a storage drive???!!!

[CalebHiggs]

Originally Posted by krravi

How is the above a better investment than the Lacie?

Plus absolutely no plastic whatsoever on the lacie. Its built like a tank with Aluminium which is good for heat dissipation.

Yea but LaCie is notorious for hard drive crashes and firmware lockouts.

[philipma1957]

Originally Posted by CalebHiggs

I really wish they would make this stuff affordable not for the spoiled rich people or Steven Spielberg. Do they not realize the average joe wants to transfer 50 GB in less than 2 minutes?? Serioulsy 1k for a storage drive???!!!

I do not have anything to do with macmall other then I have purchased from them. So if you think thunderbolt cost too much

pleaseeee go here;


http://www.macmall.com/p/LaCie-Hard-...32~pdp.hhbeafj

300 buy the 26 dollar warranty and 326 for 4tb.

drives replace easy.

want a small version

http://www.macmall.com/p/LaCie-Hard-...14~pdp.hcjeaji


209 with 2.5 inch drives

I am tired of people saying it is too costly.

here is the full choice of gear.


http://www.macmall.com/s?rch&q=lacie...ludeImage=true

[gansmedia]

Originally Posted by appleguy123

So expensive... I really just want something to plug into Thunderbolt that I don't have to pay upwards of $1000 for.

I just went with this and replaced the drive with a SSD. you can find them around the web for $190.
http://www.buffalotech.com/products/...on-thunderbolt

I had a SanDisk Extreme SSD 240 GB SATA 6.0 Gb laying around, pretty solid drive.

I am getting speeds of 255mb write, 369 read.

Nice little portable fast thunderbolt drive. for pretty cheap.

[hamkor04]

Originally Posted by appleguy123

So expensive... I really just want something to plug into Thunderbolt that I don't have to pay upwards of $1000 for.

it's ridiculously expensive, you can get 4x250GB SSD for about $500? so another $500 for the case and cable. no hold on, they have "design" process too

[Vidivici]

Originally Posted by gansmedia

I just went with this and replaced the drive with a SSD. you can find them around the web for $190.
http://www.buffalotech.com/products/...on-thunderbolt

I had a SanDisk Extreme SSD 240 GB SATA 6.0 Gb laying around, pretty solid drive.

I am getting speeds of 255mb write, 369 read.

Nice little portable fast thunderbolt drive. for pretty cheap.

Or this one (TB cable included)

http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?id=10599

[petrucci666]

Why not just get one of these badboys?

http://www.amazon.com/BUFFALO-MiniSt.../dp/B008D4X9VC

[MadDawg2020]

Too bad 'creative pro's on the go' CANNOT use this professional drive on a Mac Pro(fessional) computer!

Seriously!!! When is Apple going to realize that Thundercr@p will FAIL because PROFESSIONALS cannot use it on their systems!

Regular consumers are not going to shell out $1000+ for one of these to copy their mp3's and jpegs when hundreds of other options exist for 1/10th the price!

This device is designed and intended for professionals who depend on speed and reliability and need vast storage for projects.
So WHY!? has Apple not released a Mac PRO computer that can use these devices!

We can skip the rainbow colored cases and having everything pushed in the iCloud, just build a Pro tower with Thunderbolt/USB 3!

[mazz0]

Originally Posted by LaCieTech

hi, if you haven't already spoken with our support staff then please give us a call or send us a ticket. This kind of behavior isn't normal and we can help figure out whats causing it and either resolve the problem or get you a new drive. ~mn, LaCie

Are you sure it's not normal behaviour (the error when you leave it downloading a lot of files), sounds like a software problem to me, I figured maybe it just hasn't been tested much as a target for iTunes downloads on OS X. I do have a ticket open (101933071) but they want to speak to me by phone, and I'm never at home while the support department is open

You're right, I should open a ticket about the crash, that sounds potentially hardware doesn't it? Done

[mawyatt]

Originally Posted by philipma1957

I do not have anything to do with macmall other then I have purchased from them. So if you think thunderbolt cost too much

pleaseeee go here;


http://www.macmall.com/p/LaCie-Hard-...32~pdp.hhbeafj

300 buy the 26 dollar warranty and 326 for 4tb.

drives replace easy.

want a small version

http://www.macmall.com/p/LaCie-Hard-...14~pdp.hcjeaji


209 with 2.5 inch drives

I am tired of people saying it is too costly.

here is the full choice of gear.


http://www.macmall.com/s?rch&q=lacie...ludeImage=true

I just ordered the Lacie 4TB Thunderbolt Drive and TB cable from MacMall. Rec'd the drive in 3 days using free UPS, however the cable is backordered. I can't evaluate the drive until the cable arrives....really wish Lacie would include cable. The Lacie has dual 2TB 7200rpm Barracuda drives...nice!! The screws to remove the drives is slightly mauled but since this is a refurb maybe that's normal. Lacie ships 4 different power cables for different world AC power sources.

Anyway if this Lacie drive works well (I did some research and decided to give it a try) I'll probably order another.

[philipma1957]

Originally Posted by mawyatt

I just ordered the Lacie 4TB Thunderbolt Drive and TB cable from MacMall. Rec'd the drive in 3 days using free UPS, however the cable is backordered. I can't evaluate the drive until the cable arrives....really wish Lacie would include cable. The Lacie has dual 2TB 7200rpm Barracuda drives...nice!! The screws to remove the drives is slightly mauled but since this is a refurb maybe that's normal. Lacie ships 4 different power cables for different world AC power sources.

Anyway if this Lacie drive works well (I did some research and decided to give it a try) I'll probably order another.

hope it is good for you. I have been fully satisfied with my lacie little big disks. I have 3 of them all modded with my own ssds.

[megalaser]

You people are so off topic, how about sticking to talking about the product mentioned in the thread title and I don't mean moaning about the price of it.

[ix400]

Does anyone know which disks lacie uses for the new sata 3 version of the little big disk? Still the intel ssds?

Cheers, Chris

[IGregory]

Originally Posted by chrisa

this is targeted at people who are maybe editing video. So the 1tb version costs $1,000. My question is, "what did it cost you to shoot 1tb of footage?"

so now you have 1tb drive filled with video. Even if the drive cost $1,000 that is "nothing" compared to the cost of the data on the drive. So it is affordable to people who have a real use for this. It is not meant to be used by people for web surfing and email.

Exactly!

[TeeeCeee]

Originally Posted by ix400

Does anyone know which disks lacie uses for the new sata 3 version of the little big disk? Still the intel ssds?

Cheers, Chris

Lacie uses Micron RealSSD C400 for their Rugged TB / USB3 SSD,




Don't know whether its the same for LBD.

TC

[yusukeaoki]

1 SSD TB drive or I can buy a MBA with that price...

[ix400]

Thanks for the info. I think the micron drives are quite okay.

I'm using FCP X quite a lot on my Retina Mac Book. It's equipped with a 512GB Apple SSD. However, I need a bit more disk space now. I think 1TB would be sufficient for the next 2-3 years.

Not sure If I should buy the new Little Big 1TB SSD or the 'small' Pegasus R4 with 4TB. Speed wise both should be comparably fast, but I think the LaCie is a bit louder because of the tiny fan. So far I couldn't find a review for the new little big disk.

Not sure which one I should buy...

Chris

[BRyken]

Originally Posted by appleguy123

So expensive... I really just want something to plug into Thunderbolt that I don't have to pay upwards of $1000 for.

I think it'll be another few years before this happens at least significant external storage.