LaCie Rugged

5TB died too soon - immediately after warranty period – I have owned both the 4TB and the 5TB versions of this drive. The 4TB lasted 4-5 years, which I find acceptable. The 5TB died exactly 1 month after the warranty expired, which I find completely unacceptable. This is not really a "rugged" drive.

Incredibly annoying! – This hard drive (as tough as it is) disconnects CONSTANTLY! Move the cable a tiny bit and it disconnects, knock your laptop, it disconnects. Beyond annoying. I have lost a number of items because the hard drive has disconnected mid-save. I would stay away if you want to stay sane.

Unsuitable for Use in a Warm Climate – When saving files to the LaCie Rugged 1TB Hard Disk Drive (HDD) the top of the case becomes very hot after saving between 83GB and 84GB of files and the HDD then misbehaves, corrupting the HDD in the process. The HDD can be reformatted after it cools down but I have not been able to save more that 83GB to 84GB of files at a time before the HDD becomes corrupted. This drive appears to have inadequate cooling and the rubberised orange bump strip on the outside of the case probably insulates the HDD inside. The LaCie Rugged HDD does not appear to be suitable for use in a warm climate. I have only used this HDD a handful of times in the 5 years that I have owned it and expected a much longer life from a product that is advertised as being Rugged.