LaCie Starck Mobile review (500GB)

Every so often, a company will get so caught up designing a new product that it loses sight of its basic utility. Unfortunately, such is the case with LaCie's new 320GB Mobile Hard Drive. LaCie enlisted the help of French product designer Philippe Starck to help bring about a new kind of external hard drive made out of 2 millimeters of sleek aluminum that unfortunately weighs twice as much as the competition. The $100 drive performed well in our speed transfer tests, but the user experience is once again flawed by a strange cable storage system and a bulky USB 2.0 plug. Fashionistas and design geeks will no doubt fall in love with the LaCie Starck Mobile Hard Drive, but utilitarian techies and cost-conscious consumers will be happier with the Fujitsu HandyDrive, which provides increased storage space for less money in a much lighter casing.

Design and features
LaCie's history with high-fashion, low-function consumer products are consistently hit or miss here at CNET. While products like the LaCie IamaKey USB flash drive and the classic Triple-Interface Rugged All-Terrain Hard Drive received excellent reviews, other products, including this Starck Mobile Hard Drive, join the ranks of LaCie's poor-sounding USB speakers and other products that are mostly style without any substance.

Still, there's no denying the time and effort put into designing such a beautiful product. The 2.5-inch hard drive is wrapped in 2 millimeters of polished aluminum that protects it from hits, drops, and spills, while also preventing the drive from overheating. It also has an integrated USB cable that unfolds from one side so you'll never have to worry about bringing an extra cord on the run again. The inlaid logo and regal gray finish exude class and style, but the fun comes to a halt when you actually use the drive.

The first fumble is the weight of the drive, which weighs a massive 355 grams--more than twice the size of the 175-gram Fujitsu HandyDrive. First and foremost, this device is geared toward frequent travelers who deserve a sleek, functional, and portable solution for extra storage. We'll assume that they already have enough weight in their carry-on without having to lug around almost a pound of extra aluminum. LaCie will surely argue that the aluminum is there to encase the drive in 2 millimeters of extra protection from the elements, but to that we offer the Hitachi SimpleTough portable drive that can withstand a 10-foot drop and 1 ton of pressure and still doesn't weigh as much as the LaCie.

Like the Hitachi SimpleTough, the LaCie also includes a USB 2.0 cable that folds right into the top of the drive. We appreciate the convenience of a built-in cord, and the end of the plug itself has an extra-thick piece that helps keep it snug inside, but the extra bulk is so obstructive to other cables in neighboring USB ports that we had to unplug and rearrange the back of our test computer in order to accommodate the faulty design. This oversight is further proof of LaCie's misdirected focus on aesthetics rather than usability.