Seagate Announces New Portable Hard Drive with Up to 5TB of Storage

Seagate has announced a pair of new LaCie line of mobile hard drives that represents what the company calls “the latest evolution of their ongoing HDD storage.

” With storage sizes of up to five terabytes, LaCie states that the LaCie Mobile Drive, and Mobile Drive Secure, are built to last with sturdy construction and a unique design aesthetic.

The drives are designed by long-time LaCie hardware designer Neil Poulton and are housed in sturdy recycled aluminum and post-consumer recycled plastic. They even come in a box that is crafted from recycled cardboard.

“While beautifully detailed, the casing is forward-looking with sustainable PCR materials,” Poulton continued.

“After almost 30 years of continual collaboration with LaCie, Mobile Drive reminds us of the thrill of launching a brand-new design. Sometimes you design something that’s just right!”

The drives are very compact, with up to 2TB dimensions of 4.657×3.358x.4094 inches *1183.×85.5×10.4mm) and have a weight of less than a half pound (.2kg). The 4TB and above models are slightly larger and weigh up to .881 pounds (.3kg).

Both models are capable of storing up to 165 hours of video, or over 500,000 high-resolution photos. The drives aren’t particularly fast, with read/write speeds of 130 MB/s through a USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 connection but are downwards compatible with USB 3.0.

They are compatible with MAC and PC desktops, as well as support iPad connections for offloading data. Though the speed specs aren’t going to work for 4K and above video editing, for use in on-location photography or use in archiving 1080p video for social media, they are more than up to the task.

The drives are packaged with LaCie’s Toolkit software, which provides a one-click backup utility, and a one-month subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud’s All Apps plan.

There’s also Seagate Secure hardware encryption built into the Mobile Drive Secure, which can lock the drive and prevent unwanted access should the drive become lost or stolen.

The drives also include a three-year limited warranty and three-year Data Recovery Services which protect against data loss and retrieval costs, bringing long-term peace of mind.

Both the LaCie Mobile Drive and Mobile Drive Secure will be shipping later in September with retail prices as follows – Mobile Drive: $75 (1TB), $100 (2TB), $145 (4TB), and $165 (5TB).

The Mobile Drive Secure: $100 (2TB), $145 (4TB), and $165 (5TB). However, according to Apple Insider, the drives are listed as exclusive to the Apple Store.

[source: LaCie]