Since their inception LaCie has been known for being the leader in many areas. Class leading aesthetics, incredible robustness, even being extremely conservative (and underselling) with their overall performance specifications. Put simply LaCie was and still is best known for their excellence in design and their conservative approach to product refreshes. Take for instance the LaCie Mobile Drive Secure 2TB that we will be looking at today. This is a series that represents have of the duality that is LaCie. To be precise, ranging in sizes from 2TB to 5TB and with asking prices of $100 to $165, this is a series that represents the ‘pretty’ versus the ‘rugged’ side of LaCie. What this means is that while not as durable as the ‘rugged’ editions this model has consistently been able to do what few can: blend elegance and security with frugality. Which pretty much sums up why modern buyers still buy 2.5-inch HDD based USB storage devices in 2024 (and beyond).
To be blunt. Sometimes you just plum need a lot of portable storage space, but can not justify NAND based models asking prices. Sometimes you just plum need a lot of highly storage space that can be stuck in a briefcase, camera bag, or ‘go bag’ for months (or years) at time without worrying about data degradation that goes hand in glove with NAND based options. Sometimes you just plum need a lot of highly portable storage space but also want hardware level encryption… without paying an arm and a leg for it. Sometimes you need all the above and need the device to not stick out like a sore thumb while on remote jobsites… or even just anywhere clients can see your setup.
With its combination of a single USB Type-C interface (for both power and data), external aluminum chassis, baked in hardware encryption and an asking price of only a hundred (USD or 130 in CanuckBucks) for the 2TB capacity option these are all scenarios that the LaCie Mobile Drive Secure were seemingly tailor made for… as it was and is designed around satisfying the requirements of these types of scenarios. With that said, with the asking price that is only twenty or so more than a plastic clad Western Digital or Seagate or Silicon Power… nothing says that it is just meant for those more professional orientated scenarios. With this in mind let’s dig in and see what makes the LaCie Mobile Drive Secure tick, and if it is as flexible as previous generations were (and still are).
