LaCie Little Big Disk NoIsE

[eron]

I bought a 2TB LaCie Little Big Disk.
It has a loud fan noise, and a high pitch whine.
Listen to it here.

I returned it to LaCie, and they sent a replacement when they found that the noise level is the same with 3 other units. They said the replacement is new, but I couldn't attach the stand without tightening the screws at the bottom. The noise level is also either the same, or higher.

LaCie said they cannot provide any further assistance.

I know some have disconnected the fan, but I don't want to void warranty, and I'm not sure if doing that will stop the whining noise either.

 

[g4cube]

The noise is typical. Small casing + tiny fan = fan noise.

Disconnect?

LaCie placed the fan inside for a reason, I guess. If it weren't necessary they could have eliminated it and also save some cost.

I guess the noise level is subjective. Mine have the same noise, but my laptop is also much noisier than the LaCie when encoding videos. To me, the fan noise is tolerable, and sounds no different than what you demonstrated in your audio file.

If you want quiet, stick with some of the FireWire or USB portable drives. If you want performance, you get the noisy fan.

If quietness and performance are desired, consider the 2big. Exceptionally quiet and faster, too!

I have a collection of Thunderbolt drives and accessories from each of the manufacturers offering them. There are quirks with the others, too that can be annoying to some. WD sticks slow drives inside their chassis. The G-Tech is slower than the 2big; the Seagate offers only single drive performance; the El Gato SSD is quite expensive for the lackluster performance offered (but it is quiet )