LaCie ships the 500GB Big Disk Extreme Drive - reaches fastest FireWire 800 speed.

- 500GB of Storage through FireWire 800/400 - Sustained data transfer rate of up to 88MBytes/sec - Maximum data throughput on FireWire 800 - Ideal for Audio/Video editing

PORTLAND, OR (PRWEB) March 23, 2004 --LaCie, a leading producer of state-of-the-art storage devices, today announced that it started to ship the new LaCie Big Disk Extreme drive, with Dual Firewire® interface.

Utilizing the new OXFW912 from Oxford Semiconductor, the LaCie Big Disk Extreme drive is the first FireWire 800 hard drive to maximize transfer rates of up to 88MBytes/sec. This high-performance drive features built-in RAID 0 striping without the software configuration hassle. Coming in the distinctive LaCie d2 design, the Big Disk Extreme gives users 500GB of storage, 7200 rpm and an 8MB buffer. Available for the Mac or PC, this drive features two FireWire 800 ports and one FireWire 400 port, making it ideal for audio and video professionals dealing with DV and uncompressed SD video projects.

Finally, a reliable device for uncompressed video editing that isnt an expensive SCSI or Fibre channel array. With the release of the LaCie Big Disk Extreme, LaCie has created a storage solution that professional editors have been waiting for -- a plug and play FireWire 800 array. A single drive produces data rates at nearly 90MB/s, so I was able to replace all of my ATA RAID arrays with a single, portable solution." -Gary Adcock, Studio37, President and founder, Chicago Final Cut Pro Users Group

The LaCie Big Disk Extreme drive can achieve a transfer rate of up to 88MBytes/sec and maintain it, making it faster and larger than any external Ultra 320 SCSI hard drive and most IDE-to-SCSI RAID solutions currently available. More convenient and portable than RAID towers, the Big Disk is fan free for quiet operation. To conserve energy the Big Disk also features an automatic on/off feature.

True plug and play convenience, this drive is hot-pluggable for easy cross-platform file transfers without interruptions and data sharing. The LaCie Big Disk Extreme drive requires no drivers or software installation for Windows XP and Mac OS X users. With the ability to be placed horizontally on the desktop or configured in a standard 19-inch rack, the LaCie Big Disk Extreme drive gives users a convenient solution.

Availability
The LaCie Big Disk Extreme drive is available through LaCie authorized resellers, specialist stores and mail order partners, with a suggested retail price of $579. Drive ships with a FireWire 800 cable (9:9-pin), FireWire 400 cable (6:6-pin) and iLink cable (6:4-pin). Also included is a power supply and LaCie utilities (Silverkeeper and Silverlining). Mac OS X, Windows 2000 or Windows XP is required for FireWire 800 operation.