LaCie 301138U Ethernet Disk Mini 500 GB Ethernet/USB 2.0 Network Attached Storage Hard Drive

Editorial Reviews

LaCie's 500GB Ethernet Disk hard drive makes it easier to manage storage - with or without a network. Use it as a simple, cost-effective data server with your office or home network. It's fully accessible from any wired network - sharing files between Windows, Mac and Linux devices. User-friendly Wizard Install and web page administration make network set-up and configuration accessible to anyone. The USB port makes it a snap to store & share photos on your portable device or digital camera. You can even use it as your home multimedia server - it's great for streaming digital media files on TV, through a UPnP AV-compatible digital media player. Network protocols - SMB (Windows/Linux), AFP (Mac), FTP, HTTP, UPnP, Apple Bonjour Interface - 1 Gigabit Ethernet 10/100/1000, 1 Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Smart fan Includes LaCie IP Configurator (for mapping drives on a network) & Backup tool Operating Systems - Windows 98SE, Me, 2000, XP and Vista; Mac OS 9.2.x, 10.2.x or higher; Linux 2.4 or higher Dimensions(WxHxD) - 1.7 x 6.3 x 6.8 (44 x 160 x 173 mm) Weight - 3.3 lbs. (1.5 Kg)

Amazon.com Product Description:
The LaCie 301138U Ethernet Disk Mini 500 GB Ethernet/USB 2.0 External Hard Drive works with and without a network, either as a cost-effective data server for your home or office, or as personal storage.

The LaCie 301138U Ethernet Disk Mini 500 GB Ethernet/USB 2.0 External Hard Drive: Features built-in Gigabit Ethernet for blazing fast network storage. Has 500 GB of storage space for digital media and other files. Allows for streaming of digital media files via a uPnP player. Disk rotation speed of 7200 rpm and at least a 16 MB cache for fast performance.

The stylish aluminum case looks at home in your home or office. View larger.

The drive features an elegant design with USB 2.0 and Ethernet ports. View larger.

Fast Access From Everyone on the Network
Featuring a built-in GigaBit Ethernet, the Mini lets Windows, Mac, and Linux users across your network share files quickly and seamlessly. In your home, you can share all your vacation and travel experiences with the rest of your family by simply dragging and dropping files into the drive. With 500 GB of space, you can store up to 35 hours of DV video or 135,000 or over half a million photos.

The drive also features a USB port which can be used either for direct connection to a computer, or when networked, to connect another external drive which will then also show up as a networked drive.

Stream Your Videos and Music
The Ethernet Disk Mini can also function as a home multimedia server, letting you stream digital media files to your TV and audio system via your UPnP AV-compatible digital media player.

Easy-to-Use Software Included
User-friendly installation and a Web-based administration interface makes network configuration and set-up easy. The drive also includes 1-click Backup Software, letting you easily protect the important files on your computer.

Elegant Design by Neil Poulton
The elegant, silver case, designed by internationally acclaimed designer Neil Poulton, will enhance the aesthetics of your desk or workstation. To keep background noise to a minimum, the drive features a smart-fan design that powers on only when needed.

The LaCie Ethernet Disk Mini Home Edition features a rotational speed of 7200 rpm, a cache of at least 8 MB, and a 400 MHz processor with 64 MB of RAM. The drive measures 1.7 x 6.3 x 6.8 inches (WxHxD) and is backed by LaCie's 3-year warranty.

About LaCie
Established in France in 1989, LaCie is a leading manufacturer of computer peripherals for Windows, Apple and Linux users. With offices and plants in the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia, Europe, Singapore and Hong Kong, LaCie develops and manufactures external storage solutions and color monitors that help professionals and everyday people easily manage their digital lives. LaCie has differentiated its products through original designs and leading-edge technology.

What's in the Box
LaCie 301138U Ethernet Disk Mini, Ethernet cable, USB 2.0 cable, external power supply, drive stand for upright use, LaCie Utilities CD-ROM with user manual, and quick install guide.

Customer Reviews

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Average Customer Review




Good device, bad website, and incompatible with Vista, December 1, 2008
By N. Dane
1) GOOD: This product works just fine with Windows XP. My XP-based computers can see the device on the network with no problems. Getting files to and from the device is easy - just hook it up to the network (such as a wireless router), follow the instructions for setup, and you're done. Also, the unit is very quiet and takes up very little room.

2) BAD: All configurations for the device are done on a crappy website with slow functionality. The interface is bland, it's not user-friendly, and almost looks like it's meant for a computer guru in some places. They put this site together to get the job done with no regard for the ease of use - but, hey, it does get the job done.

3) UGLY: This product does NOT work with Vista. I have Vista Ultimate 64-bit...perhaps a different version of Vista will work. Tech support seems to think that Vista Ultimate 64-bit should work, however, as they have offered two different solutions, but I've had no luck after spending many hours on this. It should be noted that there are many other brands of NAS devices that don't work with Vista...it's not just this one. Try a Google search of "Vista NAS" or something to that effect. There are several forums that offer the same one or two solutions that may work for some people. I've also tried accessing the unit purely through the USB cable, but the drivers don't work. With the high prevalence of Vista users, NAS manufacturers and supporting services need to wake up and focus on making compatibility happen now. I'm returning this product.



OK Product, but network only connection is slow, November 30, 2008
By J. Han (San Jose, CA USA)
This external drive has some decent features. The underlying FS is XFS powered by an embedded Linux OS on ARM. Supports CIFS, FTP, HTTP, and Bonjour protocols. And external USB drive connection is possible for future expansion.

The key issue is that it is very slow for transfers. I saw only 200kB/s when trying to backup a standard drive image with many small files. Large file transfers went faster at 2-5 MB/s; however, there is apparently a large delay for small file creation.



Lacie Network Storage, November 29, 2008
By Stephen P. Clark (Florida)
This makes a great network storage unit. I use it as a server for storing various large files, and for a complete backup for my two computers. It works great on both the wired and wireless portions of my network. It was priced better than the networkable units I saw at the chain stores.



Horribly slow, November 19, 2008
By Dmitry Fedorov (Santa Barbara, CA, USA)
After testing the device i noticed that most brands do not show actual transfer speed and only spec upper boundary using network or usb2 theoretical limitations. That is a LIE! This device gives you at most 4MB/s no matter what network you use!!! The internal CPU/Board are simply not fast enough!!!

The existing USB port is another lie, since it does not function as a regular usb drive but create a network over usb2, having the same internal board limitation.

Everything else works fine, only it's quite unusable, I get 10X higher speed on my 5 year old usb2 drive...



so far, so good!, November 4, 2008
By Marilyn Ostrow (Scottsdale, AZ USA)
Installed easily for this intermediate user (plug and play in Vista). Have had it for 6 weeks, and so far, transfers and backups have gone smoothly via my wireless LAN, and at a decent speed.