Version: 2008
  • On TechRepublic: Windows 7: Slower to boot than Vista?
advertisementPC makeover with Best Buy $1,199.99
advertisement
Click Here

LaCie Rugged All-Terrain Hard Drive USB 2.0 120GB
Reviewed by
Dong Van Ngo
on 08/14/2006
front side back
front side back

See all products in the LaCie Rugged All-Terrain Hard Drive series
See all LaCie Ltd. products

CNET Editors' ChoiceAug 06

Price:

$74.99

Compare prices:

eBay $74.99

Compare prices from 1 store

Add to my list Product summary

The good: The rubber bumper and the scratch-protected aluminum case keep your LaCie Rugged All-Terrain drive looking good and working hard. It's fast and quiet and comes with backup software.

The bad: LaCie's telephone support line is not toll-free.

The bottom line: LaCie's Rugged All-Terrain portable hard drive is an all-around winner: it's fast, it's durable, and it boasts multiple connection options. This belongs in your laptop bag.

Read full review
See all prices

Compare this external hard drive to:

CNET editors' review

CNET Editors' ChoiceAug 06
  • CNET editors' rating: 4.0 stars Excellent
    Detailed editors' rating
      Setup and ease of use : 9.0
      Features : 9.0
      Performance : 9.0
      Service and support : 6.0
      Overall score: 8.3 (4.0 stars)
  • Reviewed by:
    Dong Van Ngo
  • Edited by:
    Felisa Yang
  • Reviewed on: 08/14/2006
The LaCie Rugged All-Terrain external hard drive is housed in a very hot-looking, eye-catching, bright-orange rubber bumper that protects the device from shocks. Apart from the colorful bumper and the scratch-protected aluminum shell, the drive boasts a no-frills, straight-to-the-point design. LaCie states the maximum drop height to be 35 inches while in non-operating mode. (It recommends not dropping the drive while it's operating.) We pushed it off a desk (about 30 inches high) a couple of times: it survived the fall and worked just fine, and the rubber bumper prevented the edges from denting, too. There are two versions of the Rugged All-Terrain drive: USB 2.0 only and triple interface, which includes USB 2.0, FireWire 400, and FireWire 800. All of these interfaces are bus powered, meaning you don't need a separate AC adapter for the drive. If your USB bus doesn't provide enough power, you can attach a second USB cable (provided) to the power port on the drive. You'll need two free USB ports to do this. We tested the drive with FireWire only. And the results matched the drive's physical appearance: straightforward and hot.

  • Drive type: Portable hard drive
  • Capacity: USB 2.0 only: 80GB, 120GB (5,400rpm); triple interface: 80GB, 100GB, and 120GB (5,400rpm; 7,200rpm for 100GB version)
  • Capacity of test unit: 100GB (triple interface version)
  • Cache: 8MB
  • Dimension: 3.5 by 1 by 5.7 inches (WxHxD); 8.8 ounces
  • Notable design features: Backup button, rubber bumper, scratch-resistant aluminum case
  • Connection options: FireWire 800 (9-pin) port; FireWire 400 (6-pin) port; mini USB 2.0 port
  • OSs supported: Mac OS 10.x and Mac OS 9.x; Windows 98 SE/Me/2000
  • Software included (on CD): LaCie 1-Click backup software; Silverkeeper backup software (for Macs only); Silverlining
  • Any additional features: Comes with all necessary cables
  • Service/support: One-year warranty; phone support Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT (toll call); Web site support: FAQs, manuals, drivers, online help-request form; hardcopy quick-install guide; LaCie Utilities CD-ROM with user manual.

We were very impressed with the performance of the LaCie Rugged All-Terrain Hard Drive. It was among the fastest external hard drives we've tested, including products with faster drives and larger caches. Using the FireWire 400 interface, the drive took less than 10.5 minutes to write our 10GB test folder of mixed file types and slightly more than 9 minutes to read back the same folder. In comparison, it wrote the data just a little slower than the LaCie Little Big Disk, which has twice the cache. On the other hand, the Rugged All-Terrain drive is a few seconds faster than the Little Big Disk when reading. The LaCie Rugged All-Terrain drive is the first drive we've tested with the FireWire 800 interface, and and what a speed improvement it is over FireWire 400: 8.6 minutes to write and 7.6 minutes to read our test folder.

We were completely happy with the drive's performance and design. It's very fast, quiet, and rugged.

Most helpful user reviews

Submit your review

Log in or create an account to submit your review for:

LaCie Rugged All-Terrain Hard Drive USB 2.0 120GB

 ORLog in with your Facebook account
1. Rate this product:
(Mouse over the stars to rate this product and click to set your rating.)
2. One-line summary:(Summarize your review in one line. 10 characters minimum; required.)
0 of 55 characters
3. Pros:(Tell us what you like about this product. 10 characters minimum; required.)
0 of 250 characters
4. Cons:(Tell us what you don't like about this product. 10 characters minimum; required.)
0 of 250 characters
Bottom-line summary:(Explain to us in detail why you like or dislike the product, focusing your comments on the product's features and functionality, and your experience using the product. This field is optional.)
0 of 5000 characters

The posting of advertisements, profanity, or personal attacks are prohibited.
Click here to review our site terms of use.

Submit

Compare prices for LaCie Rugged All-Terrain Hard Drive USB 2.0 120GB

Price: $74.99
eBay $74.99
Compare prices from 1 store
advertisement

Recent user reviews

Submit your review

Log in or create an account to submit your review for:

LaCie Rugged All-Terrain Hard Drive USB 2.0 120GB

 ORLog in with your Facebook account
1. Rate this product:
(Mouse over the stars to rate this product and click to set your rating.)
2. One-line summary:(Summarize your review in one line. 10 characters minimum; required.)
0 of 55 characters
3. Pros:(Tell us what you like about this product. 10 characters minimum; required.)
0 of 250 characters
4. Cons:(Tell us what you don't like about this product. 10 characters minimum; required.)
0 of 250 characters
Bottom-line summary:(Explain to us in detail why you like or dislike the product, focusing your comments on the product's features and functionality, and your experience using the product. This field is optional.)
0 of 5000 characters

The posting of advertisements, profanity, or personal attacks are prohibited.
Click here to review our site terms of use.

Submit

Special sponsor stores

advertisement

Reviews from around the WebPowered by alaTest

  • alaTest.com

    Summary: alaTest collected and analyzed 267 reviews of LaCie Little Big Disk Quadra from international magazines and websites and compared these to 88648 reviews for other Hard Drives. Experts rate this product 72/100 and users 70/100. The amount of rated reviews for this product is too low to calculate a reliable alaScore™.

    Read full review

  • macworld.co.uk

    Editors' rating: 80

    Summary: LaCie's Little Big Disk Quadra is a portable, bus-powered hard drive featuring two 250GB mechanisms striped in a RAID 0 configuration.

    Read full review

  • laptopmag.com

    Editors' rating: 80

    Summary: Its slick design may pique the interest of potential buyers, but the LaCie Hard Disk is more than just eye candy. This affordable $229 drive, which is backed by a two-year warranty, offers speedy performance (over USB and eSATA) for anyone looking to ...

    Read full review

  • pcmag.com

    Editors' rating: 70

    Summary: The LaCie Little Big Disk Quadra is a portable solution with a lot of space for a decent chunk of change. If you're a professional Mac user, go get one.

    Read full review

  • digitaltrends.com

    Editors' rating: 75

    Read full review

  • goodgearguide.com.au

    Editors' rating: 75

    Summary: The LaCie Hard Disk Design by Neil Poulton (1TB) is an enticing piece of hardware; whether you know who Neil Poulton is or not. Artfully sculptured and bursting with memory, it will satisfy every type of user, from PC plebs to computer connoisseurs.

    Read full review

LaCie Rugged All-Terrain Hard Drive USB 2.0 120GB

Explore more on cnet

More on this product

review

user reviews

specifications

compare

shop

Before you buy
Editors' top storage
See all hard-drive reviews
See all burner reviews
More on hard drives & burners
Storage forum
Reviews & advice
Site map
Editorial policies
Meet the editors
How we test
Forums
Internet speed test
Popular topics
Apple iPhone
Apple iPod
Cell phones
Dell
GPS
LCD TV
CNET sites
CNET Site map
CNET TV
Downloads
News
Reviews
Shopper.com
More information
Newsletters
CNET Mobile
Customer Help Center
RSS
CNET Widgets
About CNET
sponsored