LaCie d2 External Hard Drives Upgraded With Thunderbolt Ports

MacRumors · Dec 4, 2012, 01:24 PM

LaCie's popular d2 series of hard drives have been upgraded with Thunderbolt, in addition to the existing USB 3.0 ports. There is a 3TB model for $299 and a 4TB unit for $399, both coming with 3-year warranties.

LaCie promises top performance from the drives, though they are hampered a bit by the legacy hard drives inside. Solid state drives are needed to achieve the highest transfer speeds. That said, for those needing maximum storage, these drives should do the trick.

Quote:

Deadlines rule our world. When digital storage is critical for your project, it had better be as fast and reliable as you are. In every office setting, it has to connect to any computer, deliver more than enough speed for the most demanding applications, and be completely reliable. Enter the LaCie d2 USB 3.0 Thunderbolt Series.

The drives are available from LaCie's online store.

Article Link: LaCie d2 External Hard Drives Upgraded With Thunderbolt Ports

thuchu1 · Dec 4, 2012, 01:28 PM

It's great to finally see Thunderbolt trickling down to consumer price levels. Not a steal, but for a quality, well-designed product it's not too bad at all.

The Bulge · Dec 4, 2012, 01:30 PM

Wait don't sayt it. Cable's not included?

dlastmango · Dec 4, 2012, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Bulge

What don't sayt it. Cable's not included?

the cable IS INCLUDED!!!

Box Content:
LaCie d2 USB 3.0 Thunderbolt Series
* USB 3.0 cable (USB 2.0 compatible)
* Thunderbolt cable
* Drive stand for upright use
* Rubber feet for horizontal use
* External power supply
* Quick Install Guide
* CD with User Manual and software

The Bulge · Dec 4, 2012, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dlastmango

the cable is included!!!

Box content:
Lacie d2 usb 3.0 thunderbolt series
* usb 3.0 cable (usb 2.0 compatible)
* thunderbolt cable
* drive stand for upright use
* rubber feet for horizontal use
* external power supply
* quick install guide
* cd with user manual and software

omg

Johnny Vegas · Dec 4, 2012, 01:33 PM

Not a bad price considering the $50 thunderbolt cable is included. However, I'm skeptical of the 180 MB/s speeds... And is too much to ask for two thunderbolt ports for those of us that need to daisy chain?

nuckinfutz · Dec 4, 2012, 01:37 PM

Thunderbolt pricing is improving.

As the article mentions, spinning drives cannot keep up but Thunderbolt does open the option doing a RAID across external drives and not being bus limited.

nutmac · Dec 4, 2012, 01:43 PM

Even considering the inclusion of Thunderbolt cable, the drive is at least $100 overpriced. The fact is made worse considering USB 3.0 offers more than plenty speed for hard disks. Macs with USB 2.0 (but without FireWire) may benefit from this drive, but even still, I rather spring $29 for Thunderbolt to FireWire adapter and be done with it.

The Bulge · Dec 4, 2012, 01:56 PM

Still i wonder if this is a normal Thunderbolt cable or some sort of proprietary connector on one end and normal Thunderbolt on the other?

iVoid · Dec 4, 2012, 01:56 PM

And another worthless thunderbolt device with only ONE TB port.

Sorry, I need to daisy chain my TB devices, Lacie.

nuckinfutz · Dec 4, 2012, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iVoid

And another worthless thunderbolt device with only ONE TB port.

Sorry, I need to daisy chain my TB devices, Lacie.

Damn. Not a wise decision. It could be a limitation of the cheaper TB chipset.

Penn Jennings · Dec 4, 2012, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johnny Vegas

Not a bad price considering the $50 thunderbolt cable is included. However, I'm skeptical of the 180 MB/s speeds... And is too much to ask for two thunderbolt ports for those of us that need to daisy chain?

Maybe if you only write for.. half a second :-)

The price is improving. However USB 3.0 HDDs are going for under $150 and have over 100MB per second throughput. Thunderbolt is hard to justify unless you have a MBA, 2011 MBP or 2011 iMac. Thunderbolt for a external RAID or SSD makes sense, but for HDD.. not so much if you can swing USB 3.0.

I'd pick one up though if it gets close to $200... since I have a 2011 MBP

EDIT:
Wait! 1 Thunderbolt port, I'd pass. I'm not doing the monitor/drive swap thing

That makes me sad.

The photo shows 3 stacked, USB 3.0 I guess. Thunderbolt is turning out to a sad joke for most consumers.

AcesHigh87 · 02:05 PM

Good to finally see Thunderbolt prices dropping. Maybe by the next time I'm in the market for a new drive I'll actually be able to afford TB. For now FW800 is fast enough for my editing and USB 2.0 is good enough for backups.

Edit: Unfortunately I also only just noticed the one thunderbolt port. Some of us need that second monitor and don't want to spend $1000 for the apple thunderbolt display. Daisy chain is a key.

Lancer · 02:16 PM

I guess like any Mac you're paying for more than the basic specs, you pay for quality given the fact you can get USB3 drives from WD and Seagate at a fraction of the price and it will do just as good a job.

ETA - I'm looking at getting a 1.5Tb Seagate GoFlex with USB3 for less than $80AU to backup my 1Tb Fusion iMac when it gets here.

nuckinfutz · Dec 4, 2012, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nutmac

Even considering the inclusion of Thunderbolt cable, the drive is at least $100 overpriced. The fact is made worse considering USB 3.0 offers more than plenty speed for hard disks. Macs with USB 2.0 (but without FireWire) may benefit from this drive, but even still, I rather spring $29 for Thunderbolt to FireWire adapter and be done with it.

I'm not sure there are many $199 drives that are going to deliver the metal chassis, kensington lock, software and more that the D2 lineup has.

Sure you can buy a cheap plastic drive at Best Buy but the D2 lineup has been pretty solid for Lacie over the years.

Lancer · 02:16 PM

...

nuckinfutz · Dec 4, 2012, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lancer

I guess like any Mac you're paying for more than the basic specs, you pay for quality given the fact you can get USB3 drives from WD and Seagate at a fraction of the price and it will do just as good a job.

Yes you can but you are also getting what you pay for. TB doesn't require the CPU utilization that USB does.

There are many things you can do in life but efficiency is going to vary depending on the needs of the individual.

wgnoyes · Dec 4, 2012, 02:07 PM

Kind of funny seeing hard drives referred to now as "legacy" devices.

Penn Jennings · Dec 4, 2012, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nuckinfutz

Yes you can but you are also getting what you pay for. TB doesn't require the CPU utilization that USB does.

There are many things you can do in life but efficiency is going to vary depending on the needs of the individual.

I have a 2012 Mac mini server (dual core i5) that drives a USB 3.0 drive at 80 MB per second as a Time Machine Drive via ethernet and 2 GB virtualbox VM and the CPU doesn't come above 25%. I'd guess that driving 100 MB per second on a quad core i7 would use less than 10% CPU via USB 3.0. Thats pretty much a non issue and not worth paying a 100% markup for.

The promise of thunderbolt was 1 cable that could connect to multiple devices and push data as fast the devices can handle it. Thunderbolt does do that but the premium is outrageous, the cost is 2 - 3 times USB 3.0. For the vast majority of people, USB 3.0 makes thunderbolt a non starter. That is the problem. (Again, all my opinion)

chuckles:) · Dec 4, 2012, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wgnoyes

Kind of funny seeing hard drives referred to now as "legacy" devices.

They are. Linus Torvalds predicts they'll be going the way of the tape drive shortly.

termite · Dec 4, 2012, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nutmac

I rather spring $29 for Thunderbolt to FireWire adapter and be done with it.

FireWire 800 gets you somewhere around 80-90MB/s, which is far slower than this drive.

The Bulge · Dec 4, 2012, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chuckles:)

They are. Linus Torvalds predicts they'll be going the way of the tape drive shortly.

Not in his lifetime.

nuckinfutz · Dec 4, 2012, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Penn Jennings

The promise of thunderbolt was 1 cable that could connect to multiple devices and push data as fast the devices can handle it. Thunderbolt does do that but the premium is outrageous, the cost is 2 - 3 times USB 3.0. For the vast majority of people, USB 3.0 makes thunderbolt a non starter. That is the problem. (Again, all my opinion)

Yes that's the point really. There's too much crapping up of Thunderbolt threads from people that clearly don't need it. You're happy with USB 3.0 that's great but for a video editor or other vertical markets the added price is inconsequential.

termite · Dec 4, 2012, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Bulge

Not in his lifetime.

Yes, flash memory will overtake hard drives. Here's why: flash memory roughly follows Moore's Law. Disk drives don't. So while disk density is increasing, flash density is increasing *much* faster. Follow the math, and you will realize that at some point within ten years, flash will be cheaper, larger, and faster than spinning rust.

wonderspark · Dec 4, 2012, 02:51 PM

Well, considering I recently picked up a 4TB USB 3.0 external HDD (WD My Book) for $199, which is probably pretty close to the speed of the LaCie, I'd say it's NOT worth double the price.

I like LaCie, and I have two of their older FW800/eSATA models, but I don't like them *that* much.

Dec 4, 2012, 01:28 PM	#2
thuchu1 macrumors regular Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Auburn Hills, MI	It's great to finally see Thunderbolt trickling down to consumer price levels. Not a steal, but for a quality, well-designed product it's not too bad at all. __________________ MacBook Pro 15" 2.2GHz i7, 16GB RAM, 128 SSD Optibay / 750GB HDD \| iPhone 5 16GB \| iPad 3 Wi-fi 64GB
	3

Dec 4, 2012, 01:33 PM	#6
Johnny Vegas macrumors newbie Join Date: Jul 2011	Not a bad price considering the $50 thunderbolt cable is included. However, I'm skeptical of the 180 MB/s speeds... And is too much to ask for two thunderbolt ports for those of us that need to daisy chain? __________________ Does anybody even read signatures?
	2

Dec 4, 2012, 01:59 PM	#13
AcesHigh87 macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: New Brunswick, Canada	Good to finally see Thunderbolt prices dropping. Maybe by the next time I'm in the market for a new drive I'll actually be able to afford TB. For now FW800 is fast enough for my editing and USB 2.0 is good enough for backups. Edit: Unfortunately I also only just noticed the one thunderbolt port. Some of us need that second monitor and don't want to spend $1000 for the apple thunderbolt display. Daisy chain is a key. __________________ 21.5" iMac (Mid 2011), 2.8GHz i7, 20GB of RAM, 1TB HDD \| 13" macbook white (Early 2008), 2.4 GHz C2D, 2GB RAM, 60GB G-Skill SSD \| 16GB iPod nano (7th Gen) Last edited by AcesHigh87; Dec 4, 2012 at 02:05 PM.
	1

Dec 4, 2012, 02:03 PM	#14
Lancer macrumors 65816 Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Australia	I guess like any Mac you're paying for more than the basic specs, you pay for quality given the fact you can get USB3 drives from WD and Seagate at a fraction of the price and it will do just as good a job. ETA - I'm looking at getting a 1.5Tb Seagate GoFlex with USB3 for less than $80AU to backup my 1Tb Fusion iMac when it gets here. Last edited by Lancer; Dec 4, 2012 at 02:16 PM.
	0

Dec 4, 2012, 02:05 PM	#16
Lancer macrumors 65816 Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Australia	... Last edited by Lancer; Dec 4, 2012 at 02:16 PM.
	0

Dec 4, 2012, 01:30 PM	#3
The Bulge Banned Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Up your ass.	Wait don't sayt it. Cable's not included?
	1

Dec 4, 2012, 01:37 PM	#7
nuckinfutz macrumors 603 Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Middle Earth	Thunderbolt pricing is improving. As the article mentions, spinning drives cannot keep up but Thunderbolt does open the option doing a RAID across external drives and not being bus limited.
	1

Dec 4, 2012, 01:43 PM	#8
nutmac macrumors 68000 Join Date: Mar 2004	Even considering the inclusion of Thunderbolt cable, the drive is at least $100 overpriced. The fact is made worse considering USB 3.0 offers more than plenty speed for hard disks. Macs with USB 2.0 (but without FireWire) may benefit from this drive, but even still, I rather spring $29 for Thunderbolt to FireWire adapter and be done with it.
	1

Dec 4, 2012, 01:56 PM	#9
The Bulge Banned Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Up your ass.	Still i wonder if this is a normal Thunderbolt cable or some sort of proprietary connector on one end and normal Thunderbolt on the other?
	2

Dec 4, 2012, 01:56 PM	#10
iVoid macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jan 2007	And another worthless thunderbolt device with only ONE TB port. Sorry, I need to daisy chain my TB devices, Lacie.
	5

Dec 4, 2012, 02:07 PM	#18
wgnoyes macrumors regular Join Date: Jul 2011	Kind of funny seeing hard drives referred to now as "legacy" devices.
	2

Dec 4, 2012, 02:51 PM	#25
wonderspark macrumors 68020 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Denver, CO	Well, considering I recently picked up a 4TB USB 3.0 external HDD (WD My Book) for $199, which is probably pretty close to the speed of the LaCie, I'd say it's NOT worth double the price. I like LaCie, and I have two of their older FW800/eSATA models, but I don't like them that much. __________________ Wait a second... So you're telling me anything that happens in the sky is legal, and there's a giant crime-blimp flying around this place? I don't know how I missed that.
	0

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