I'll throw my 2 cents in the hat:

Check out the miniG from Transintl:
http://transintl.com/store/category....egory=2597#top

I have used all the configurations; but own the 4 drive version (2TB) on FW 800 with Macbook Pro/ Mac Pro

Firstly, Sorry to dig up an old thread!

For years now I have been using Lacie's exclusively. I've got six and have never had a problem. Until yesterday...

My 250GB Triple Interface wouldn't mount. The drive seemed to be powering up (i.e. the lights went on and the hard drive made it's normal noise), but the computer just couldn't detect it. As it's over two years old it's no longer under warranty. As it had some important stuff on it, I decided just to open it up and put the hard drive in another casing. That worked fine and I got all my data off. Then I did some testing to work out what the problem was...

The pin connection between the power circuit board and the firewire/USB circuit board was dodgy. All the soldering had started to detach itself, and it simply wasn't making a connection. After softly trying to fix it, the whole thing fell off. I believe the problem is that the weight of the power cord makes the circuit board lever up, putting pressure on the pin connection, and over time the pressure gets too much.

It seems to me like a really bad design. I'm not sure if the newer drives have the same circuits inside.

Anyway, I'm still a fan of Lacie (they have served me well over the years), but I need a new hard drive enclosure for my "new" Seagate drive. Any suggestions?

Also, looking inside the Lacie, it's really not that special. Is there any specific reason why Lacie is supposedly so much better than the rest? It's just a Seagate drive with an obviously badly designed firewire circuit board.

Looking around the Internet there seems to be LOTS of cases where the Lacie powers up but you can't access it via a computer. Everyone seems to presume it's the circuit board. I would suggest the circuit board is fine, it's just the connection between the power circuit board and the firewire/USB circuit board. If I was any good at soldering there tiny circuit boards, I could probably fix it!

Anyone else had similar problems?

Chris!

I ended up buying a cheap AUD$50.00 Welland Sun Bright 3.5" HDD Enclosure.

Works fine. I'm now wondering, apart from the hard exterior, what's the difference between a Lacie and a cheap enclosure? The insides look exactly the same! The reason I originally bought Lacie's was because people told me the circuit board inside them was the best - but that was the thing that broke!

I'm very confused...

Chris!

According to pretty much all the pro's over at LAFCPUG, Lacie are to be avoided like the plague. They have a very bad reputation amongst video editors, though to be fair that's probably because so many people are using them. I have one and it has performed well so far.

If i had the money i'd be looking at the likes of G-tech and Caldigit.

These things look interesting too:

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/on-the-go