Storage


Tech Tuesday: This Sleek, Well-Designed Hard Drive Raises Your Desktop Stock

January 20, 2015

By Laura Brauer

We recently put the wraps on a portable hard drive round-up for the February issue of Rangefinder, but we’re in love with another drive.

Although it’s small enough to be portable and comes with a soft carry bag, the LaCie Mirror drive is destined for the desktop. Unveiled at CES, the LaCie Mirror was created by Paris-based industrial designer Pauline Deltour. Covered in Corning Gorilla Glass, the Mirror is a sleek, reflective hard drive that’s functional as well as beautiful, especially when displayed on its gorgeous Makassar ebony wood stand.

Of course, if your desk looks anything like mine, even the most stunning drive (or tech gadget) won’t do much to organize the clutter. But when clients come to your studio, a neatly arranged desk and sleek piece of hardware like the Mirror will certainly make a good impression.

While you may need to use the bundled cleaning cloth to get rid of finger smudges on its shiny surface from time to time, Corning’s Gorilla Glass helps protect the surface from scratches so it holds up well to day-to-day use.

The bus-powered, 1TB drive features a USB 3.0 port, which is backwards compatible with USB 2.0. But you’ll want to take advantage of its USB 3.0’s interface transfer rates of up to 5GB/s (2.0 delivers up to 480MB/s).

The drive alone measures a slender 3.1 x 5 x 0.5 inches and weighs a mere 0.5 pounds. The stand is slightly larger at 3.1 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches but fit neatly on even crowded desks.

Mirror_UseCase_NoCord_PenOff

Bundled with a USB 3.0 cable, the wood stand, carrying pouch, cleaning cloth and quick install guide, the Mirror is equipped with LaCie Backup Assistant and Privat-Public password protraction software.

Priced at $280 (direct), the Mirror comes with a two year limited warranty.