When a popular external hard drive manufacturer decides to combine with the superpower brand that is Porsche, you are expecting something spectacular. They have created the Lacie Porsche Design P 9230 2TB external hard drive, which is the result of years of team-work between both companies in every department - aesthetics, performance and technology. The results should be unbelievable... But have they succeeded? Read on to find out.
Design and Build
The minimalist design looks like it came straight out of the Porsche designer's notepad, with its sturdy metal exterior that is completely brushed to give a stunning black streaky-effect. It has a single white LED in the shape of a straight line which resembles the racing tracks, and a truly stylish statement by the designers. The LED is not just any LED light either, it has special light qualities that leave an impressive refractive effect on any surface that is nearby. The drive is quite simply: The most beautiful external hard drive ever made, and we do not say that lightly. The USB 3.0 port is also very sturdy and seems like it can withheld constant plugging in and out of the cable for a very long time. It is so stylish you almost want to lick it.
Inside the box
Inside your beautiful LaCie Porsche Design p 9230 2TB box you will find the following:
1x LaCie Porsche Design P'9230 hard drive
1x USB 3.0 cable (compatible with USB 2.0)
1x Complete software suite which includes LaCie Private-Public, Backup Assistant, and Wuala.
1x Installation Guide
2-year warranty.
Included software
Very often we find ourselves cursing the hard drive manufacturers for pre-installing mediocre software with our precious 2tb external hard drives. Fortunately this is not the case with the LaCie Porsche Design P 9230 2TB external hard drive, which comes with the complete LaCie software suite. Let's look at them all.
Starting with Wuala - This is the highlight software with the drive, LaCie's Wuala is LaCie's cloud storage system. This hard drive comes with 10GB of LaCie's Wuala cloud storage for absolutely free. The best thing about this particular system, which makes it superior to competitors such as Dropbox, because only you have access to it and all your files are securely encrypted prior to uploading them to the cloud.
Next on the list is Backup Assistant - This is a truly capable backup software that will allow you to easily manage either your entire drive, a particular folder, or specific file backups. It also has the capability to backup everything in one go or do so in an 'Incremental' process, whereas it slowly backups different folders from your computer until it has everything.
And last but not least is Private-Public - This is a very handy piece of software that comes pre-installed on your LaCie Porsche Design p 9230 2TB drive. It allows you to protect and secure your files very easily by using sophisticated encryption and passwords. So you never have to worry about it falling into the wrong hands again.
Overall very good software that we recommend you use and do not delete.
Performance and Connectivity
This is a USB 3.0 external hard drive and has the name "Porsche" in it, so you can safely assume that the speeds are likely to be Usain Bolt fast. You will be able to transfer a 2GB in under 20 seconds -impressive, eh? The sheer power and speed of Porsche mixed with the technology and design prowess of LaCie is a true dream team.
Size and weight
The LaCie Porsche Design P 9230 is a 3.5 inch hard drive and the exact dimensions are (Width x Depth x Height) - 4.7 x 7.5 x 1.5 in / 120 x 190 x 38 mm and weighs exactly 1KG / 37 oz. Pretty standard for a 3.5 inch drive and makes it completely portable.
Price
Despite having one of the most attractive hard drive designs we have ever seen, the price remains very competitive and is actually cheaper than some of the competition. Online shops are currently the best place to buy it from, and at the time of writing this review, it is around 20% off throughout the internet, so go check them out.
Conclusion
Pros
- Best design we have ever seen on a 2TB external hard drive
- USB 3.0 = Blazing speeds
- Very well built usb port, no worries of it ever breaking.
- Great software pre-installed with advanced and usually expensive features
- Supremely silent
- Has an eco-mode which will save you over 40% of energy when the drive is not specifically in use
- Is associated to Porsche!
Cons
-The USB 3.0 provided is a special version of the cable. Not great if you happen to lose it.
In conclusion, the LaCie Porsche Deisgn P 9230 2TB external hard drive is the ultimate combination of majestic performance and unbeatable design. The minimalist design is sheer art and every owner will be proud to have it on their desk, showing off the epic refractive light and Porsche brand name. The price is competitive and well-set, especially when purchasing online and the software included works great. We struggled to find faults with it, as there are none, the only thing we could think of is that the USB 3.0 cable provided is a special one, which means that if you lose it, you will have to get a replacement from eBay as standard USB 2.0 cables will not fit.
