LaCie Rugged SSD Pro Review: External Thunderbolt/USB Storage for the Adventurer
By Adam Noyes
The LaCie Rugged SSD Pro is a great portable solution for film makers on the go who need reliable and sturdy storage for their data. Macworld.com recently posted a great review of this drive, we’re going to take a look at some of the finer points of this article.
An IP67 rating means creators in the wild can utilize this super fast, high-end storage without the attending worries.
For many users, an IP67-rated ruggedized portable SSD will be a rather expensive piece of storage overkill. However, for the adventurous few, the peace of mind LaCie’s Rugged SSD Pro will bring when you’re out in the world might well be worth the extra expense.
The grippy, silicon covering of the Rugged SSD Pro makes it one of my favorite external drives. That it’s very fast and can be used via Thunderbolt 3 or USB doesn’t hurt, either.
Design and specs
The LaCie Rugged SSD Pro is available in 1TB ($400) and 2TB ($700) capacities, the same prices as Samsung’s X5. We tested the less capacious unit. The drive measures 3.85-inches by 2.55-inches, and around 0.7-inches thick. Inside is a Seagate (LaCie’s parent company) FireCuda 510, four-lane, PCIe/NVMe SSD.
The single Type-C port is located on one of the longer edges and supports both USB 3.1 and Thunderbolt 3. USB 3.x Gen2 10GBps would be nice, but the cross-platform compatibility is a boon. The competing Samsung X5 is Thunderbolt-only, which hampers is ability to use the drive on non-Mac computers. (You’l need to format in exFAT to access the drive on both platforms, or use compatibility drivers such as those available from Paragon Software.)
macworld.com