In what appears to be a simultaneous move today, both G-Technology and Seagate have announced upgrades to their storage device lineups bringing capacities up to 10TB each. Seagate today has introduced a new lineup of hard drives titled the Guardian Series, while G-Technology has decided to move towards upgrading their current portfolio’s max capacity.
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Following its annual tradition, Seagate has announced a new collection of stylish, premium-priced drives in time for the 2016 CES, most now featuring USB-C and USB 3.1 connectors. Three of the drives carry Seagate’s LaCie branding; one is a handsome but Seagate-branded model.
The apparent flagship in the series is the LaCie Chromé ($1,100, shown above left), a 1TB SSD featuring a 10GB USB 3.1 interface with “up to 940MB/second speeds for intensive applications.” Described as “a trophy for tech connoisseurs,” Chromé is a Neil Poulton design that holds a boxy chrome SSD enclosure on an angle atop a circular pedestal. Additional models are discussed below…
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Earlier this year, I wrote several guides to boost the speeds of older Macs by swapping their internal hard drives for super-fast solid state drives (SSDs). As readers have confirmed, their older iMacs, MacBooks, and Mac Pros have seen dramatic improvements with new SSDs. But some people were left with a question: what should I do with my Mac’s old hard drive? Throw it away?
A great answer: put it in an external hard drive enclosure and keep using it! My latest How-To shows you how easy it is to reclaim your Mac’s old drive by installing it in a nice USB enclosure such as Akitio’s SK-3501U3 (shown here), which I chose because of its Mac-matching design, reasonable sub-$40 price, and compatibility. External enclosures are also ideal options if you want to choose a high-quality hard drive mechanism for yourself, rather than taking a risk on whatever might be hidden inside a fully-assembled external drive. I’ll explain that, and much more, below…
I feel old saying this, but having used computers since before external hard drives existed, I can say with certainty that buying a hard drive is easier today than it’s ever been before. For traditional drives, prices are low, options are numerous, and capacities are so high that your only choices are “enough space,” “more than enough space,” and “way more than enough space.” I could point you towards a gigantic 5-Terabyte $139 Seagate USB 3.0 hard drive right now and end this article without another paragraph. Since Apple doesn’t even sell a Mac with that much disk space, you could back up five (or more) computers to that drive without running out of room. Or you could store a decade worth of digital photos alongside a giant media library. For $139!
But buying an external hard drive isn’t necessarily that simple. There are a bunch of factors worth considering before making a purchase, including everything from reliability to portability, design, capacity, speed, and connectivity. Some hard drives are really cheap but have a higher chance of failing after a year or two of heavy use. So in this How-To, I’m going to discuss the big issues you need to consider, and guide you towards the best external hard drive for your needs…
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Seagate will discontinue its lineup of Thunderbolt storage products in favor of pushing Thunderbolt under its premium LaCie brand, 9to5Mac has learned.
A company spokesperson confirmed the move noting that the product life cycles for the company’s USM technology, which allowed integration of interfaces like Thunderbolt through adapters, is “coming to a conclusion.”
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Until last week, the list of companies making visually stunning external hard drives began and ended with one name: LaCie. Partnered with respected industrial designers including Philippe Starck, LaCie has released more drool-worthy accessories than any other company in the Mac space — and that’s saying something. Numerous design successes led to LaCie’s acquisition by hard drive manufacturer Seagate, and at the 2015 CES, their combination bore fruit: the LaCie brand now has another beautiful hard drive called Mirror ($280), and Seagate debuted a designer hard drive called Seven ($100) — the thinnest 500GB portable drive ever made.
Although they’re cosmetically different and arguably designed to suit different users’ needs, Mirror and Seven have a lot in common, so we’re looking at them together in this review. Read on for photos and our hands-on test results.
Seagate and its LaCie subsidiary have announced five new hard drives just ahead of this week’s 2015 CES, including two new iOS-compatible wireless models and three new Mac-only disks. All except one will be available in January from the company’s web sites.
For iOS, the 500GB Seagate Wireless ($130) is an economical and portable, battery-powered hard disk designed to compete with G-Technology’s G-Connect and Western Digital’s My Passport Wireless. Just under 4″ on each side and less than an inch thick, Seagate’s version is designed to look fun, with your choice of green, blue, gray, red, or white matte housings, and uses integrated Wi-Fi to connect with iOS devices and Macs for media playback as well as Android/Windows/Chrome. It runs for nine hours between charges and can connect to 3 devices simultaneously.
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Seagate Seven ($100) is a Mac-only alternative that promises to be the world’s thinnest portable hard drive. Made from 100% stainless steel, the enclosure is only 7mm thick and includes a USB 3.0 cable for connecting to a computer, giving up wireless in order to achieve its small size. In a break from traditionally boxy or rounded hard drives, Seven is actually slim enough to let you see the contours of the traditional hard disk mechanism inside. Three additional drives are discussed below…
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Today’s can’t miss deals:
Best Buy Black Friday Early Access for everyone: Pebble from $80, GoPro Hero3+ Silver bundle $250, Beats Studio $200, much more
Seagate 5TB Backup Plus USB 3.0 External Desktop Hard Drive: $130 shipped (Reg. $150)
RAVPower Element 10400mAh USB Power Bank $20 Prime shipped (Reg. $40)
The best Mac Black Friday deals that we’ve seen so far this week
Listen to the entire new AC/DC album “Rock or Bust” for free on iTunes a week before its release
Small States: JDS Labs makes powerful iPhone headphone amps, giveaway worth $279
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Daily Deals: Seagate 2TB $80 or WD 1.5TB USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive $60, more
Foscam FI9821W V2 HD Wireless Pan/Tilt IP Camera $73 shipped (orig. $160)
Olloclip for iPhone 6/Plus adds four advanced photo lenses to front and rear cameras
Target announces free shipping for all items through the holiday shopping season
SanDisk Connect Wireless iOS Flash Drive: 64GB for $68 (Reg. $100) and 32GB for $45 (Reg. $60)
Best Buy trade offer is the best way to jump from iPad 2 to iPad Air 2
Small States: Tinsel and Timber makes beautiful wooden homes for Apple TV and other accessories, multiple giveaways & 10% promo code
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Bowers & Wilkins Z2 AirPlay speaker w/ Lightning dock $100 shipped (orig. $400)
Seagate 2TB Expansion Portable USB 3.0 Hard Drive: $75 shipped (Reg. $110)
Power up: Lumsing 10400mAh Power Bank $19, Bolse Lightning (MFi)/Micro USB car charger $24
Belkin 20% off sitewide: Thunderbolt 2 Express Dock HD for Mac $240, WeMo LED starter set $80, much more
11-inch Apple MacBook Air 1.6GHz/4GB/128GB refurbished w/ 90-day warranty: $599 shipped
Small States: Carved wraps your phone w/ wood from sunken ships & skateboards, multiple giveaways
Sabrent 50W 5-port USB desktop charger $16 Prime shipped (Reg. $30) http://t.co/GSn9TqX6gI
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Seagate Backup Plus Slim 2TB USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive: $85 shipped (orig. $150)
MEElectronics Air-Fi Runaway AF32 Bluetooth Headphones: $40 shipped (orig. $100)
1Password app sale: iOS $9.99 (Reg. $19), Mac $34.99 (Reg. $50)
Target appears likely to reboot its $199 iPad mini sale later this month
Sketchbook painting and drawing apps for iPhone and iPad go free for the first time ever
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Available again! Download Notifyr for free and receive iOS notifications on your Mac (Reg. $4) http://t.co/JQ4TBfkapm pic.twitter.com/tfrWd7MOZ6
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Roku 1 streaming media player (refurb) $30 shipped (Reg. $49+ new) http://t.co/S5VvYXiUVa pic.twitter.com/25jX6XAMBQ
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Seagate Expansion external USB 3.0 hard drives: 5TB desktop $160 shipped (Reg. $200), 2TB portable $85 shipped (Reg. $140)
Displays: Dell 24-inch 1080p w/ HDMI $210 (Reg. $350), Acer 23-inch $120 (Reg. $200), more
Canon Laser imageCLASS Monochrome network printer, scanner, copier and fax $85 shipped (Reg. $199)
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EA offers up to 90% off 55+ of its most popular iOS titles
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Catch a $3 movie at AMC Theatres this summer http://t.co/JTcuJu3u7H pic.twitter.com/fCNjSGucrz
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Samsung EVO 1TB 2.5-inch SATA-3 SSD: $400 shipped (orig. $850) http://t.co/NPhUsnEQf5 pic.twitter.com/PiHKhAFs42
— 9to5Toys (@9to5toys) June 18, 2014
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Seagate announced today that it is expanding its Wireless Plus external hard drives to include both a larger storage capacity and a more affordable offering as well. Joining the 1TB Seagate Wireless Plus mobile external drive announced last year is a new 500GB drive creating a lower price point and a new 2TB drive doubling the storage capacity in the lineup…
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[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNCHYdtVlcM]
The LaCie 8big Rack Thunderbolt 2 is the company’s first Thunderbolt 2 rackmount storage solution. Compact and stylish, the LaCie 8big Rack features up to eight 6TB 7200RPM hard drives from Seagate, for an impressive 48TB in a mere 1U size. Delivering speeds of up to 1330MB/s*, it is the most powerful plug and play rackmount solution for 4K video editing.
Now featuring Thunderbolt 2 technology, hardware RAID 5 and industry–leading capacity, the new LaCie 5big is nearly two times faster — delivering speeds of up to 1050MB/s*. Thanks to Seagate’s new 6TB 7200RPM hard drives, it boasts a 20% capacity increase, which makes it the most compact 30TB storage device on the market. With these advances, the new LaCie 5big gives video professionals huge capacity and ample bandwidth for improving 4K workflows — right on the desktop.
view full press release
The new LaCie 2big boasts a host of features including Thunderbolt 2 technology, hardware RAID and a new industrial design. Speeds of up to 420MB/s* along with two 6TB 7200RPM hard drives from Seagate make the new LaCie 2big the fastest, highest capacity dual–bay external storage solution on the market. It features USB 3.0 for compatibility with nearly any computer. Plus, its all–new industrial design sets a new standard for versatility and reliability.
The new LaCie 8big Rack, 5big and 2big join the Little Big Disk (shipping since February 2014) to create the most comprehensive Thunderbolt 2 storage range on the market. LaCie will demonstrate these products at the NAB Show in Las Vegas from April 7–10, 2014. Customers attending the show are encouraged to stop by the LaCie booth (SL9927) to see first hand how these products excel in 4K workflows. For an exclusive sneak peek of these demonstrations, watch this video filmed earlier today: www.lacie.com/nab2014
The LaCie 8big Rack, 5big and 2big, featuring Thunderbolt 2, will be available this quarter through the LaCie online store and LaCie resellers. Pricing will be announced when the product is available for purchase.
LaCie professional products are protected by a three-year limited warranty. The warranty includes complimentary web–based resources, expert in–house technical support and worldwide repair and/or replacement coverage. Warranty extension and Advance Care Option can also be purchased. For details, visit www.lacie.com/warranties.
LaCie, the premium brand from Seagate Technology (NASDAQ: STX), designs world–class external storage products for Apple®, Linux and PC users. LaCie differentiates itself with sleek design and unmatched technical performance. Find out more at www.lacie.com.
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USB 3.0 External Hard Drives: Seagate Expansion 4TB Desktop $125 (Reg. $170), Toshiba Canvio Basics 2TB Portable $95 (Reg. $150)
Daily Deals: Polaroid 1080p Waterproof Camera $90, Logitech Universal Remote Control $80, Craig BT Speaker $18, more
You can still score a FREE HD copy of the hit Tom Hanks movie ‘Big’ (up to $15 savings) http://t.co/gd2thRjDBm pic.twitter.com/bqUVJREqnK
— 9to5Toys (@9to5toys) March 18, 2014
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goHastings 31% off thousands of used games, Blu-rays/DVDs, books, CDs: GTA V, 21 Jump Street, Argo, Dark Knight, more http://t.co/WS0W2ApP3D
— 9to5Toys (@9to5toys) October 30, 2013
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SOLD OUT Apple iPad full-size/iPad mini polyurethane and leather Smart Covers from $15, Smart Case $23, more
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3M portable wireless projector w/ Roku streaming stick: $170 shipped (Reg. $300) http://t.co/U3skmzX2pO
— 9to5Toys (@9to5toys) October 17, 2013
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Today, we have updates on Apple and Samsung’s ongoing court woes. A report from Bloomberg noted U.S. District Judge Lucy H. Koh in the San Jose, California case rejected Apple’s most recent request for a United States sales ban on 26 Samsung devices. According to the report, Koh said the decision was based on the fact that the “case involves lost sales—not a lost ability to be a viable market participant.”
“Samsung may have cut into Apple’s customer base somewhat, but there is no suggestion that Samsung will wipe out Apple’s customer base, or force Apple out of the business of making smartphones,” Koh said. “The present case involves lost sales — not a lost ability to be a viable market participant.”
As noted by The Verge, a second post-trial order delivered by Koh yesterday denied Samsung’s request for a new trial on the claims of jury misconduct. Koh claimed that juror Velvin Hogan disclosed his previous involvement with Seagate during the jury selection process, giving Samsung’s lawyers more than enough time to discover the litigation. From the court filing:
Samsung has waived its claim for an evidentiary hearing and a new trial based on Mr. Hogan’s alleged dishonesty during voir dire. Prior to the verdict, Samsung could have discovered Mr. Hogan’s litigation with Seagate, had Samsung acted with reasonable diligence based on information Samsung acquired through voir dire, namely that Mr. Hogan stated during voir dire that he had worked for Seagate.
Samsung vs. Apple cases abroad are also making news today: FossPatents reported today that Samsung has dropped all requests for sales bans against Apple in Europe related to standard-essential patents. However, as pointed out in the report, Samsung will still attempt to win monetary compensation in its cases against Apple, but will no longer request courts to enforce bans on Apple products. FossPatents speculated on Samsung’s decision:
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Following the $1 billion verdict in the Samsung vs. Apple case, Samsung has been attempting to get the courts to investigate juror Velvin Hogan. It claimed Hogan “concealed information” about his past history with Seagate, a company Samsung is now a shareholder in. CNET reported Federal District Judge Lucy Koh will consider Samsung’s claims in a hearing set for Dec. 6. At the heart of the allegations is whether Hogan disclosed that his former employee Seagate had previously sued him:
As part of her inquiry, Koh said she will require Apple to disclose what information the company’s lawyers knew about the jury foreman…Samsung argued that jury foreman Velvin Hogan didn’t disclose during jury selection that he had been sued by Seagate, his former employer. Samsung pointed out in court papers that Seagate and Samsung have a “substantial strategic relationship.” The litigation with Seagate led Hogan to file for personal bankruptcy in 1993. Samsung maintains Hogan should have informed the court about the case.
The Register reported today that Apple called Samsung’s argument a “convoluted theory,” adding it was Samsung responsibilities to interview jurors members during jury selection:
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Seagate announced its plans to buy LaCie, a Paris-based maker of various data storage products that are popular among Mac users, this morning. LaCie makes various products aimed at Mac users including a couple Thunderbolt enabled solutions that we showed you recently. Seagate will buy the 64.5-percent of the company currently held by CEO Philippe Spruch—and the rest in cash upon completion of that transaction (via Forbes):
Seagate Technology plc the worldwide leader in hard disk drives and storage solutions, and LaCie S.A. a leading manufacturer of consumer storage products, today announced an exclusive agreement with the intent for Seagate to acquire a controlling interest in LaCie.The transaction would combine two highly complementary product and technology portfolios, adding LaCie’s line of premium branded consumer storage solutions, network-attached storage solutions and software offerings to Seagate’s array of mainstream consumer storage products.
SEAGATE AND LACIE ANNOUNCE EXCLUSIVE AGREEMENT WITH INTENT FOR SEAGATE TO ACQUIRE CONTROLLING INTEREST IN LACIE
May 23, 2012
Seagate has Offered to Purchase LaCie CEO’s 64.5% Ownership Position;
Seagate to Subsequently Commence Tender Offer for Remaining Outstanding Shares
Expands Seagate’s Product Line and Capabilities in the Growing Consumer Storage Market
CUPERTINO, CA and PARIS, FRANCE – May 23, 2012 – Seagate Technology plc (NASDAQ: STX) the worldwide leader in hard disk drives and storage solutions, and LaCie S.A. (Euronext: LAC), a leading manufacturer of consumer storage products, today announced an exclusive agreement with the intent for Seagate to acquire a controlling interest in LaCie. Seagate has offered to purchase from Philippe Spruch, LaCie’s chairman and CEO, and his affiliate, all of their shares, representing 64.5% of the outstanding shares of LaCie. Following receipt of governmental approvals and the close of this transaction, Seagate would commence an all-cash simplified tender offer (followed as the case may be by a squeeze-out procedure) to acquire the remaining outstanding shares in accordance with the General Regulation of the French Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF).
Seagate has offered Mr. Spruch and his affiliate €4.05 per share in cash, minus a potential adjustment depending on the cash and debt position of LaCie at closing. This price may be increased by a possible price supplement of 3% in the event that the threshold of 95% of the shares and voting rights of LaCie would be reached by Sparrow within 6 months following closing, resulting in a maximum potential price per LaCie share of €4.17. Without the price supplement, the offer currently values LaCie at an approximate €146 million, or $186 million total equity value, including acquired net cash of approximately €49 million, or $65 million, as of March 31, 2012. The €4.05 per share price represents a premium of 29% to LaCie’s average closing stock price over the 30 trading days ended May 22, 2012.
Ricol Lasteyrie & Associés was appointed today as independent expert by the board of directors of LaCie, to deliver a fairness opinion on the price that would be offered in the context of the tender offer, including in the perspective of a potential squeeze-out procedure.
The transaction would combine two highly complementary product and technology portfolios, adding LaCie’s line of premium branded consumer storage solutions, network-attached storage solutions and software offerings to Seagate’s array of mainstream consumer storage products. The combination would accelerate Seagate’s growth strategy in the expanding consumer storage market, particularly in Europe and Japan, and add strong engineering and software development capabilities, as well as relationships with several key retailers.
The transaction is expected to be neutral to Seagate’s fiscal 2013 earnings per share.
Following the close of the sale of his shares to Seagate, Mr. Spruch would join Seagate and lead the company’s consumer storage products organization. Reporting to him would be Patrick Connolly, who currently serves as vice president and general manager of Seagate’s retail group, as well as Pierre van der Elst, who currently serves as deputy general manager of LaCie. The financial terms of the new position of Mr Spruch are not determined as of today and would therefore be described subsequently, including in the tender offer documentation.
“Seagate has a strong commitment to the growing consumer storage market and bringing the most dynamic products to market. LaCie has built an exceptional consumer brand by delivering exciting and innovative high-end products for many years. This transaction would bring a highly complementary set of capabilities to Seagate, significantly expand our consumer product offerings, add a premium-branded direct-attached storage line, strengthen our network-attached storage business line and enhance our capabilities in software development,” said Steve Luczo, Seagate chairman, president and CEO. “We are also excited that Philippe, who is a true visionary and leader in the consumer storage business, would join Seagate to run our consumer storage products organization.”
“With the proliferation of devices and content being shared and stored today, consumer demand for high-quality branded storage solutions continues to grow,” said Philippe Spruch, LaCie’s chairman and CEO. “We are excited about the potential for this combination to benefit customers and employees by creating significant scale and opening up new markets. We look forward to making the resources of a much larger company available to our customers around the world.”
LaCie will initiate the information and consultation process required by its employee representative council in relation to the contemplated transaction, in accordance with French law. Upon completion of this process, Seagate and Mr. Spruch would execute a definitive share purchase agreement and finalize the purchase of the controlling interest held by Mr. Spruch and his affiliate. This share purchase transaction is expected to close in the third calendar quarter of 2012 pending completion of the relevant governmental reviews. Seagate would then commence a tender offer for the remaining outstanding shares of LaCie (followed as the case may be by a squeeze-out procedure), subject to a clearance decision from the AMF. The tender offer is expected to be completed in the third calendar quarter of 2012.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approval in the United States (antitrust filing), France (approval of foreign investments by the Ministry of Finance) and other jurisdictions (antitrust filing in Germany) and to other customary closing conditions.
Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC served as financial advisor and Allen & Overy LLP served as legal advisor to Seagate in connection with the transaction. De Pardieu Brocas Maffei A.A.R.P.I served as legal advisor to LaCie.
We already took a look at Hitachi’s G-Technology’s Thunderbolt solutions at CES in January but today they are finally available to the public. The Thunderbolt version features two Thunderbolt ports, rather than the eSATA, FireWire, and USB ports found on the regular version of the G-RAID. As for the hard drives inside, there are two SATA 3Gb/s Hitachi Deskstar hard drives, which can be configured in a 4TB, 6TB, or 8TB setup, each running at 7200RPM. All three versions of the drive are priced at $700, $850, and $1,000 respectively. You can see more technical specs below, as laid out by AnandTech.
With two Thunderbolt ports, these drives can be daisy-chained together to build-out the ultimate storage solution. Currently, the G-Technology competes against four other companies in the space: LaCie, Promise, Western Digital, and Seagate. The G-Raid is the only drive that features 8TB of storage, however.
We compared the drive during this year’s CES with a few others:
