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Ten... Portable USB 3.0 HDDs

SuperSpeed pocket drives tested

LaCie Rikiki 3.0

RH Numbers

Among the more expensive models of this roundup, the Rikki's aluminium enclosure looks good and, overall, is noticeably thicker than the Iomega unit by about 4mm. On the disk itself, you’ll find installers for Genie Backup (Windows) and Intego Backup (Mac OS X) along with a utility to get you started with the Wuala on-line backup service. Once you sign up for Wuala, your LaCie serial number gets you a 1-year 10GB subscription at no additional cost.

It appears that the cost premium on this drive goes to something you could buy separately, if required. At least it comes with a two-year warranty and reads/writes at near enough 100MB/s if you have the 1TB drive.

LaCie Rikki

Reg Rating 75%
Price £90 (500GB), £110 (750GB), £140 (1TB)
More info LaCie

LaCie Rugged 3.0

RH Numbers

This is an old favourite of mine that has been on the market about a year now. It’s a similar approach to the IoSafe drive, but meant more to survive the toils of everyday life rather than extreme situations. Still, these drives are certified shockproof to the US Department of Defence MIL-STD 810F specification – MIL-STD 810F Method 516.5: Shock, to be precise.

Unfortunately, it’s still a fair bit more expensive than the conventional drives, but you do get a better GB/£ ratio than the IoSafe and it’s much more portable. Surprisingly, it is also faster than the IoSafe, achieving 109MB/s reads and 104MB/s writes. This is a worthy alternative if your daily commute does not take you through a warzone. Incidentally, LaCie has just announced the Rugged Mini, a USB 3.0 drive that shaves off around £40 from all the prices below, but doesn't have FireWire interface option.

LaCie Rugged

Reg Rating 75%
Price £130 (500GB), £140 (500GB-7200RPM), £190 (1TB)
More info LaCie

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