Peripheral and accessory maker LaCie has been establishing itself as a vendor of boutique-like computer peripherals designed to appeal to creative professionals and others among us who value industrial design and appearance along with specs and features. (Witness the Golden Disk the company announced last week.) Now, LaCie has turned its attention to the portable storage market, unveiling new mobile external hard drives and a mobile LightScribe-enabled DVD writer from noted industrial designer Sam Hecht.
First up, the new LaCie Little Disk line will sport capacities from 30 to 250 GB using 1.8-inch and 2.5-inch hard drives, and offering USB 2.0 connectivity, or, in a 2.5-inch version, both USB 2.0 and FireWire connectivity. The drives sport a high-gloss shine, a removable interface cover for protecting ports and giving the whole drive a sleek profile. The Little Disk also sports an integrated, extractable USB cable—pop off the port cover, pull out the cable, and you’re ready to go. The 2.5-inch combo version also includes a one-click backup and synchronization feature. The drives are available now, but the pricing is a bit vague (the numbers are xxx‘d out in LaCie’s press release). However, the smaller capacity 2.5-inch versions should start at $89.99, with the 30 GB 1.8-inch versions starting at $99.99.
LaCie also has a Portable DVD±RW DVD writer with LightScribe designed by Sam Hecht. The drive will be available in both USB 2.0 and FireWire versions; both are completely powered off the bus. The FireWire unit ships with Toast 8 Titanium for Mac OS X, while the USB 2.0 version ships with Easy Media Creator Suite 9 for Windows,. With LightScribe discs, the unit can even produce inscribed labels. The design features no feet, no switches, and no distractions: just a simple shell with clean lines and nothing complicated. The drive is available now, with the USB 2.0 version running $99.99 and the FireWire version going for $149.99.
