More storage fun announced at CES, this time from LaCie with the arrival of the Hard Disk MAX.
I really like the design of a lot of LaCie’s products – there’s something very cool about a relatively staid product looking really well designed and the Neil Poulton-designed Hard Disk MAX is another stunner.
The product itself is pretty basic – a 2 drive USB hard disk with RAID 1 or RAID 0 redundancy. A USB port on the front for attaching another hard disk and a maximum storage capacity of 2TB.
But this is really all about the industrial design, isn’t it? Yours soon for $269.99
LaCie Announces Sleek Desktop Storage Device with MAX Capacity and Security
Today LaCie announced its Hard Disk MAX high capacity storage system for users who want advanced RAID features with consumer-level ease of use and style.
Designed exclusively for LaCie by award-winning industrial designer Neil Poulton, the Hard Disk MAX delivers 2 TB (terabytes) of ultra-reliable storage capacity in a stunning package that will satisfy high-performance requirements for the discriminating user.
The Hard Disk Max includes two large-capacity disk drives that can be set in either a RAID 0 or RAID 1 configuration with the simple flick of a switch on the back panel. RAID 0 stripes data across both disks for the fastest data retrieval response time, while RAID 1 mirrors data exactly on both disks for maximum data reliability.
“Our Hard Disk Max is the ideal mass-storage product for users looking for high performance and data protection,” said Lise Manteau, LaCie’s Consumer Hard Disk Drive Product Manager. “Its elegant design and ease of use, combined with its competitive price, will appeal to users who have ever-growing data storage requirements.”
Users can effortlessly configure the pair of high-speed 1 TB drives in the RAID setting of their choice. Included with the Hard Disk Max is the LaCie Setup Assistant for quick, easy and customizable formatting of the disk drives. The system also ships with Genie Backup Assistant for PC and Intego Backup Assistant for Mac.
The front USB 2.0 expansion port on the sleek, all-black polished-mirror enclosure can be used to link to another external drive for data backups. The multi-purposed blue LED stripe provides ambient light and changes to red to warn of potential problems.
The Hard Disk Max comes with the exclusive LaCie One Year Unlimited Online Backup service, which provides unlimited online backup for one full year after installation is a complete.
Availability
The LaCie Hard Disk MAX designed by Neil Poulton is available worldwide through the LaCie Online Store or LaCie Resellers at the suggested retail price starting at $269.99 USD. For more product information, visit www.lacie.com.
7. January 2009 at 4:31 pm
I’ve had nothing but grief with LaCie external drives, three died on me and I try to steer people away from LaCie external drives.
Granted they look great, but I’d be happier to have one that simply works.
7. January 2009 at 7:17 pm
@David Hewitt – You’re better off with external enclosures; they have the reliability of whatever manufacturer you’re happy with and can be upgraded
7. January 2009 at 7:22 pm
Oops forgetting the topic at hand. Looks very nice pity its only USB2; (particular with version 3 around the corner) eSATA or firewire as an additional connector might have been better.
7. January 2009 at 10:41 pm
I’m put off by the fact there is no e-Sata port. I wonder if it can be plugged into a Windows Home Server? I’d think the RAID 1,0 would conflict with the WHS storage technology.
6. March 2009 at 8:03 am
The front USB 2.0 expansion port on the sleek, all-black polished-mirror enclosure can be used to link to another external drive for data backups. The multi-purposed blue LED stripe provides ambient light and changes to red to warn of potential problems.