Photo: LaCie

As fast data transfer becomes a growing concern, coupled with the increasing demand for more storage space, data storage manufacturers have had to come to terms with an interesting conundrum or two. The Lacie Rugged 500GB USB 3.0 external drive aims to solve these problems, while tackling an additional one – heavy use.

USB 3.0 is nearly here

The standout feature of this 500GB USB external drive is its USB 3.0 support running at 7200rpm and its super fast transfer speeds. In controlled tests, the drive’s transfer speeds exceeded 80mb/s on USB 3.0 and 29mb/s on USB 2.0. That’s a 1GB of data transferred in under 13 seconds, which is simply remarkable. The truth is the vast majority of computers do not support USB 3.0, so this remarkable speed boost will go unnoticed by most, but this is sure to change in the coming months.

Design

From a design build, as its name indicates, this Lacie 500GB USB external drive is meant to withstand the odd bump here and there. Lacie deliberately pitches the drive as being able to withstand much more damage than most, with a supposed 2m drop not having any affect on the drive at all. Furthermore, an immediately noticeable feature of the Lacie Rugged is the orange rubber buffer around it, which absorbs some of the shock of high drops, while also reducing the effects of long-term wear and tear.

As with anything that’s built to withstand shock, tear, and even bullets, we ill-advise actually putting the Lacie Rugged 500GB USB 3.0 drive through its paces just to see how it holds up. We did, however, accidentally drop the Lacie drive and were pleasantly surprised to find it did, as is true to its advertising, keep humming along.

Other considerations

Noise levels on this 500GB USB external drive were good, with the drive’s humming going unnoticed unless you listened for it. The drive never heated up beyond lukewarm even after hours of use, and performance degradation as you approach maximum capacity is unnoticeable.

The Lacie Rugged 500GB USB 3.0 drive is well worth it if spacious capacity, fast transfer speeds and the ability to withstand a rough and tumble life cycle are what you’re looking for in a USB external drive. Sure, it’s more expensive than other drives of similar capacity, but you’re paying for design quality and features other comparable drives simply do not have.