LaCie has a USB3 SSD on a stick

CES 2011: Not to mention USB3 cards for MacBooks

Lacie LogoLACIE IS DOING a USB3 flash drive that is really a SATA SSD in a small box. On top of that, they are re-doing their entire line to add USB3 support.

LaCie Logo

Big and flashy

The flash drive is called the Fastkey, and it is not svelte. That said, it is 120GB and has a full Indilinx SATA SSD controller coupled to a Symwave USB3 controller. This means it can spit out data at 260MBps, not the fastest in the world, but probably the fastest over a USB3 connection. To beat it, you would likely need a SATA3 SSD, and those are few and far between, not to mention expensive.

A few other products look interesting, the Wireless Space box is a single 3.5″ NAS drive with 802.11n and wired ethernet support. It is a very black rectangle with one blue light on the front. The step up from that is the 5big Backup Server, which is same thing except that it has five drives, no wireless, and is clad in aluminum with a big blue ‘eye’ spot. Basically, it is totally different.

Two other bits that LaCie has that I wasn’t expecting are a monitor and an express card. The monitor is the 324i a high end IPS panel 24″ wide color gamut calibratable monitor. It isn’t exactly cheap, it is more aimed at the professional market which explains the optional hood and colorimiter. It also has a more than average number of inputs, including component video, quite rare in this market.

Last up is an Express34 card, basically a PCIe laptop card for USB3 ports. The idea is that if you have one of the larger MacBooks, you can now add USB3. It works on PCs too, but any modern PC will soon have USB3 internally, the next generation Macs won’t be so lucky. Why do you need it? Think 120GB FastKeys.S|A

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Charlie Demerjian

Roving engine of chaos and snide remarks at SemiAccurate
Charlie Demerjian is the founder of Stone Arch Networking Services and SemiAccurate.com. SemiAccurate.com is a technology news site; addressing hardware design, software selection, customization, securing and maintenance, with over one million views per month. He is a technologist and analyst specializing in semiconductors, system and network architecture. As head writer of SemiAccurate.com, he regularly advises writers, analysts, and industry executives on technical matters and long lead industry trends. Charlie is also available through Guidepoint and Mosaic. FullyAccurate