What’s the difference between the Rugged Mini, Secure and USB-C?

LaCie has three similar external hard disk drives. So, what are the main differences between the Mini, Secure and USB-C?

You can find out in this comparison guide for the LaCie portable HDDs.

Quick Summary

When compared to the Mini and USB-C models, the LaCie Rugged Secure is the only one to offer AES-256 hardware encryption.

The LaCie Rugged Secure and LaCie Rugged USB-C are also the only two external storage drives in this comparison to support USB Type-C ports right out of the box in addition to coming with 2 years’ worth of Rescue Data Recovery Services.

The three external HDDs have the same crush, drop and rain resistances.

So, if you want the most secured hard drive, then we recommend getting the LaCie Rugged Secure All-Terrain Encrypted Storage Drive. Otherwise, the LaCie Rugged USB-C Portable Drive is the more affordable model if you are planning to connecting an external HDD to an USB Type-C port.

If you are only planning an USB Type-A port, then the LaCie Rugged Mini Mobile Drive is the most affordable of these three options.

Rugged Mini vs. Rugged Secure vs. Rugged USB-C Comparison Chart

You can take a look at Seeking Tech’s comparison table for the Rugged hard disk drives below.

Capacity Option and Model Numbers

You can check out the capacity options, as well as the model numbers, below:

LaCie Rugged Mini Mobile Drive:

• 1 TB: LAC301558
• 2 TB: LAC9000298
• 4 TB: LAC9000633
• 5 TB: STJJ5000400

LaCie Rugged Secure All-Terrain Encrypted Storage Drive:

• 2 TB: STFR2000403

LaCiIe Rugged USB-C Portable Drive:

• 1 TB: STFR1000800
• 2 TB: STFR2000800
• 4 TB: STFR4000800
• 5 TB: STFR5000800

What’s in the Box

You can also check out the content included inside each box for all three products below:

LaCie Rugged Mini:

• LaCie Rugged Mini drive
• USB 3.0 cable (USB 2.0 compatible)
• Quick Install Guide

LaCie Rugged Secure:

• LaCie Rugged Secure drive
• USB-C (USB 3.1 5Gb/s) cable
• USB-C to USB-A cable
• Quick Install Guide

LaCie Rugged USB-C:

• LaCie Rugged USB-C drive
• USB-C (USB 3.1 5Gb/s) cable
• USB-C to USB-A cable
• Quick Install Guide

Weight

When it comes to weight, the LaCie Rugged Secure and LaCiIe Rugged USB-C are lighter than the LaCie Rugged Mini at 1 TB and 2 TB capacities.

The LaCie Rugged Mini and LaCiIe Rugged USB-C weigh the same at 4 TB and 5 TB capacities.

You can take a look at the weight specifications below:

• 1 TB and 2 TB LaCie Rugged Mini Mobile Drive: 0.661 lb or 0.3 kg
• 4 TB and 5 TB LaCie Rugged Mini Mobile Drive: 0.881 lb or 0.4 kg

• 2 TB LaCie Rugged Secure All-Terrain Encrypted Storage Drive: 0.220 lb or 0.1 kg

• 1 TB and 2 TB LaCiIe Rugged USB-C Portable Drive: 0.220 lb or 0.1 kg
• 4 TB and 5 TB LaCiIe Rugged USB-C Portable Drive: 0.881 lb or 0.4 kg

Dimensions

The three external storage drives in this versus showdown are pretty close in terms of physical size when you compare the same capacity options.

You can find the measurements below:

1 TB and 2 TB LaCie Rugged Mini Mobile Drive:

• Length: 5.310 in or 135.0 mm
• Width: 3.385 in or 86.0 mm
• Height: 0.748 in or 19.0 mm

4 TB and 5 TB LaCie Rugged Mini Mobile Drive:

• Length: 5.310 in or 135.0 mm
• Width: 3.385 in or 86.0 mm
• Height: 1.023 in or 26.0 mm

2 TB LaCie Rugged Secure All-Terrain Encrypted Storage Drive:

• Length: 5.319 in or 135.1 mm
• Width: 3.386 in or 86.0 mm
• Height: 0.736 in or 18.7 mm

1 TB and 2 TB LaCiIe Rugged USB-C Portable Drive:

• Length: 5.318 in or 135.1 mm
• Width: 3.385 in or 86.0 mm
• Height: 0.736 in or 18.7 mm

4 TB and 5 TB LaCiIe Rugged USB-C Portable Drive:

• Length: 5.318 in or 135.1 mm
• Width: 3.385 in or 86.0 mm
• Height: 1.024 in or 26.0 mm

System Requirements

You can find the system requirements for each of the three portable HDDs below:

LaCie Rugged Mini Mobile Drive:

• USB 3.0 or USB 2.0 port
• Windows 7, Windows 8 or Mac OS X 10.5 and later
• Minimum 600 MB recommended free disk space

LaCie Rugged Secure All-Terrain Encrypted Storage Drive:

• USB-C, USB 3.0 or USB 2.0 port
• Windows 7 and later
• Mac OS X 10.10 and later
• Minimum 600 MB recommended free disk space

LaCiIe Rugged USB-C Portable Drive:

• USB-C, USB 3.0 or USB 2.0 port
• Windows 7 and later or Mac OS X 10.9 and later
• Minimum 600 MB recommended free disk space

Transfer Speeds

In terms of transfer speeds, the Mini, Secure and USB-C models all have a maximum speed of up to 130 MB per second.

Hardware Encryption

The LaCie Rugged Secure All-Terrain Encrypted Storage Drive is the only product of the three to support hardware encryption as it uses AES-256 to keep data stored on the hard disk drive secured.

Rescue Data Recovery Services

The LaCie Rugged Secure All-Terrain Encrypted Storage Drive and LaCiIe Rugged USB-C Portable Drive are the only two products in this comparison guide to come with Lacie Rescue Data Recovery Services as the coverage will last for 2 years.

Software

All three of the external storage drives are compatible with the LaCie Toolkit Software Suite, a software you can use to perform backups and other functions.

Resistances

The Mini, Secure and USB-C offer the following resistances:

• 4-ft (or 1.2m) Drop Resistance
• 1-Ton Car Crush Resistance
• Rain Resistance

Warranty

The LaCie Rugged Mini Mobile Drive, LaCie Rugged Secure All-Terrain Encrypted Storage Drive and LaCie Rugged USB-C Portable Drive each comes with a 2-year limited warranty.

Resources:

• https://www.lacie.com/www-content/datasheets/pdfs/rugged-usb-cDS1911-7-2008US-en_US.pdf
• https://www.lacie.com/www-content/datasheets/pdfs/rugged-miniDS1871-5-2005US-en_US.pdf
• https://www.lacie.com/www-content/datasheets/pdfs/rugged-secureDS1963-2-1804US-en_US.pdf