LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt USB 3 0 2TB External Hard Drive Portable HDD STEV2000400

This will be my second lacie rugged drive and it works perfectly. I'm very happy with how the drive has held up over time, the rubber case has protected the drive well, and the thunderbolt cable is still in excellent shape after 5+ years of use. The drive speed is adequate to edit up to 4k video and run editing software from the drive itself. Will purchase another when needed! Read more

Only had for a few days, but these are just great drives. I went with this drive because I had used them on set a few times as backup drives, and I was amazed by how fast they were. After my portable Segates filled up, I decided it was time for something faster, that didn't disconnect while I was offloading photos/video or during an edit session. While I am primarily a Mac user, I always format new drives to ExFat so they can be used on PC devices as well. Naturally, having the option to use a USB 3 cable if needed is great. Unless I have some major issues in the future, I would definitely recommend this drive for media professionals and beyond. Read more

I should have read the directions- maybe. It may have addressed the formatting. But right now I have visual issues and can't read the print. Anyway, it was plug and play and I have used earlier model versions over the past 12 years so was comfortable with it. Earlier models gave me a choice of Mac OS or Windows and this box description said this model did both. HOWEVER, some caveats. I connected via Thunderbolt, went to the SETUP file and it gave me the choice of Window-Mac share or just Mac. It also gave me the choice of single or partition. I selected the partition and set up 2/3rds for Win-Mac Sharing (FAT32) and a third for Mac only. After formatting (easy, easy, only seconds) a screen popped up offering to backup to Time Machine. I said yes and it started backup to the Mac only partition. (I should have known that is what it would do!) At that point I realized that between my 3 Mac computers, I may need more than 500GB for backups and I likely would not need the 1400GB for the Shared files (my husband is Windows and I am the one managing all our house records). Files don't take up as much space as backups. But I could not stop the back up and going back into the SETUP file only said "DONE"- it gave me no option to re-partition it differently. So while I type this, I am letting it finish the back up to Time Machine and will then try using Disk Utility later today. I should be able to erase/restore and then repartition it with more space dedicated to my Mac computer back ups. I also use iDrive (online) so its not that big a deal- I am not too worried about losing files, just the speed/convenience of accessing them locally. I plan to have the FAT32 partition available as a file share option over our LAN. I would leave it connected to my Mac Mini which would act as a server and the files that I work with on other computers would actually accessible from the LaCie while it is connected to the MM. Or I could disconnect and use it as a safeguard option by not keeping it online- I would just connect it periodically to sync files and have the MM be the accessible drive for the other home computers. Haven't quite decided yet. There is something reassuring to know that potential hackers could not hold our files hostage. I probably should give this a 5 star as my other 2 LaCie Rugged Drives are still going strong- one at 12 years and one at 7 years. Its just that I turned the 750 GB one over to hubby for his Windows and the other older model has even less GB and I needed TB storage. Hoping this product lasts a long time like my others. I did have another LaCie product, a real external dedicated hard drive but our frequent brownouts/blackouts knocked out the drive despite it being on a surge protector. LaCie wanted $1400 to recover the disk (I declined). They said it was likely due to the stress of the drive spinning on/off so much when the power was turning on/off repeatedly. Gee, was I glad I had multiple backups! Read more

I had a problem with USB version 3.0 cables falling out of the receptacle on the drive side and finally got tired of it. I got this drive with a Thunderbolt connector and not a single problem since. I like the fact that the other side of the short Thunderbolt cable is attached somewhere under the bumper case for all practical purposes permanently and the cable folds neatly into the groove around the side of the case. The connector fits well into the compartment in the bumper case and the cover goes over it. It's all soft rubber but all works well. The cover not too flimsy to be irritating while placing it over the connector compartment and stays in place. You get a spare cover as well in case you lose it because I don't see how you could wear it out. I didn't conduct and speed tests but I didn't notice much difference for what I'm using it for between internal drive and this drive. 2-3x the price of a USB 3.0 but for me eliminating the frustration and wasted time fiddling with velcro tapes to make the USB 3.0 connector connect it was worth it. Read more

My son, a professional videographer and photographer, uses LaCie exclusively for his large quantities of digital storage. On his recommendation, I gave it a try and will never go back to any other brand. I am also a professional photographer with a need for large data storage and have found this hard drive to be very quick, very reliable and very portable! Read more

This is exactly what I wanted (and needed) for organizing & storing my photos & videos while traveling. Whenever I return from a shoot, I download everything to my RAID and cloud storage, and am quickly ready for my next trip. This seems to be super-solid (I haven't dropped it... yet), with really burly bumpers. Its storage is massive. I also love the attached Thunderbolt cord that stores conveniently along the side of the drive (you can't lose it!). I now never travel with out it. Read more

I own three of these and they are workhorses. I label them by date and keep all original RAW through PSD output files on them. They get backed up and placed into storage. It's the PERFECT solution for SSD Mac owners who need to be able to store ton's of files. It's a smidge on the fat side but I can fit two plus my mac and tethering cables for the Hasselblad and Fuji all in a slimmer Thule Laptop shoulder bag. These are bombproof and the Thundebolt connection is awesome. Love the built-in cables too! Read more