LaCie Internet Space 1TB USB Hard Drive Review

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★★★★☆
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diablo944's review of LaCie Internet Space 1TB USB Hard Drive

“After issues with another manufacturers drive, the

★★★★☆

written by diablo944 on 29/08/2009

After issues with another manufacturers drive, the LaCie Internet Space 1TB USB Hard Drive is someting of a breath of fresh air. Connection is the same as any other network drive. Connect power, connect drive to router via the supplied network cable (cable is a little short for my liking but at least it is there) and fire it up.



I am getting ahead of myself though here. On first opening the box, the contents are packaged weel and slipping the drive out reveals an ice white box that wouldnt look out of place stood on a wii. To all intents and purposes it looks like a wii add on. The box is uncluttered and has no identifying marks, letters or anything else to say what it actually is. It should be said that the casing is probably one of the smallest on the market. As a result of this, the power supply is of the lead to a box and another lead from the box to the unit type. There is no room in the drive box or a power supply. Still, not an issue, both leads are a decent length.



I did my usual 5 minute rad of the instructions before I plugged it all in. On firing it up, you are instantly aware of how quiet the unit is. There are no fans in the box (drive cooling is taken care of by the passive cooling fins inside the box), so the only sound is the drive inside, and this is almost silent. Visually, the only thing to tell you the drive ison, is the blue led shining down from inside the front of the case onto the desktop. There are no frontal lights to indicate anything, this box is designed to look minimalist and classy, both of which it achieves.



The first (minor hurdle) was met when the software was loaded and required the serial number of the unit. The software tells you it is on the unit, it isnt. It is on the paper sleeve of the software cd. A minor irritation, but an irritation nonetheless.



Withing 5 inutes, the software installation was not only complete, but so was the hipserve setup for the online access of the drive. I was impressed at how fast the set up had been to this point.



It was at this point I found the drive works differently to some other network drives. I had expected to be able to access the drive from 'my computer', but in te case of the lacie, it is done from a start menu program (hipserve). Once the program is opened it acts the same as any other drive on your pc. Drag and drop, copy and paste, all work the same way.



The frontend setup is both easy and intuitive. No real issues of note. Sharing the files on the drive is a simple process, as is accessing it from elsewhere than home. All in all, the lacie is a good drive. Other users have aid it isnt the fastest in the world, but it streams HD quality files to the ps3 without issue, so I have no complaints.



There are a couple of options need setting (very simple) to enable the ps3 to see it as a network drive/media server, but these are simple tick box optios and are far from complicated.



About the only thing I would say about the lacie is that it does get hot. It is to be expected when you bear in mind the small enclosure and the fact that 4 sides of the box are solid plastic. The only ventilation is in the base and at the rear. Picking it up after it has been on for a while in the logical flat (as thats where the feet imply is normal)position is something I wouldnt advise as the base is very hot indeed. I now have mine on its side and the unit runs significantly cooler. Mildly warm rather than boil an egg comes to mind.



There are no options for setting limits on downloads with the lacie. so allowing a friend access can result in them hitting your broadband hard if they take a lot of data off the drive. But the lacie makes up for this lack of bells and whistles by being both user frendly and easy to use.



It does its job, and it does it quietly. For a drive you are likely to never switch off, this is a massive plus point. It's near silent running means you can have this by your tv and never even notice it is doing anything.



A very nice network drive.



  • Value For Money

  • Less than a Week

    Time External Device Owned

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Diablo944's Response to diablo944's Review

Written on: 21/07/2013

back for an update. 13 months after buying it the drive died. Totally. not even a flicker of life from it. Shame really, it seemed like such a good thing. Maybe that lack of a fan was a contribution as the thing did get very hot at times.

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