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Tailored for professional use, it should come as no surprise that LaCie products are priced at a premium. And while the Rugged SSD’s asking price is justified, the short cables are not. While the drive looked nice on my desk with the cables being so short, this limited my ability to position the SSD comfortably when using my laptop on my lap or in a cramped area. Overall, this made using the drive a bit annoying and even caused it to be somewhat difficult to plug in at times with a limited range of motion. The same goes for when using on a desktop. In this reviewer’s mind, the cables need to be longer, preferably around 18 inches.
Buit even with that minor annoyance, LaCie’s Rugged SSD was always fast and responsive. With it, there's no need to spend time waiting on data -- you can spend more time actually working. LaCie’s Rugged SSD is fast, consistent, and has almost everything you could ask for from a high-end, 10 Gbps portable SSD.
SanDisk’s Extreme Pro is a better value per dollar if you only need consistent file transfer performance, but it has some drawbacks with the lower price. SanDisk’s Extreme Pro is only IP55 rated and its 128-bit encryption implementation is software-based. Using it is clunky and slow, especially with large files. Instead of a poor encryption experience, LaCie’s AES 256-bit full drive, hardware-accelerated encryption provides an smooth-to-use security, with access to the SSD’s full performance. This makes using encryption almost transparent, especially when actively working with large datasets.
If you are looking to save a few bucks, Samsung T7’s Touch offers more convenience with its built-in fingerprint scanner, but due to its DRAMless architecture, it can't keep up with the Rugged SSD. It is fast in light use, but not after being hammered constantly. Crucial’s X8 gives it a run for its money in light use too, but once you start hammering it, performance can degrade even more severely. The same goes for the Lexar SL100 Pro and Adata’s SE800, but only the Adata is a viable alternative for those looking for a weatherproof portable SSD for travel. It just can’t keep up in sustained workloads as the LaCie can. And, in terms of physical endurance, the LaCie Rugged SSD is one of the toughest SSDs out.
It is so tough and the company believes in its reliability so much that offering 5-years of warranty wasn’t enough for LaCie. Backing the Rugged SSD with 5-years of data rescue recovery service puts company support over the edge. No other company out is backing their devices with support like LaCie. If you are in search of a new 10Gbps portable SSD for professional use, LaCie’s Rugged SSD is a top pick, especially if bright orange is your favorite color. And, if it isn’t maybe the soon to be reviewed, blacked-out Thunderbolt 3 powered Rugged SSD Pro will pique your interest, next.
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