Best-Designed External Desktop Drives

External desktop hard drives used to be whiny, butt-ugly things that took up precious desk space. One of the very first ones had a plain beige casing that made it look exactly like a plain beige PC. Talk about no-frills design. Today, though, external hard drives are looking better than they ever have. They're also much faster and much more reliable.

I define good design as a marriage of form and function. Not only does a drive have to look good, it has to perform well, too. Lots of drives these days come in nice enclosures that are similar to those of LaCie's drives, but they don't have the track record and reputation for reliability that LaCie drives do. One reviewer on Amazon, who claimed to be a US military guy stationed in Iraq, said that LaCie drives seemed to take the abuse of the desert climate better than other brands.

If you're like me, then here are three of the best-designed external desktop drives currently available. And what do you know? They're all from LaCie.

1. LaCie d2 Hard Drive Extreme with Triple Interface

This little thing still has traces of a regular hard drive in its design, but it's the sleekest one in its class. The entire d2 line was designed by Neil Poulton, which is why this hard drive matches LaCie's d2 external CD and DVD burners. Like them, the d2 Hard Drive Extreme has a matte white-silver exterior and a blue LED light on one side that blinks to show activity. Its ability to stand upright or be mounted on a rack is a definite plus for anyone who needs to conserve desk space. You also won't have to worry about compatibility issues; the triple interface lets you connect to any computer that has USB 2.0, Firewire 400, or Firewire 800. If you're running Mac OS X or Windows XP/2000, you won't even need to install any drivers. It runs at 7200 rpm with an 8MB cache, so you can be assured of snappy performance. A "smart" fan keeps the system cool, with settings that automatically vary depending on temperature. The drive is also roomy enough for most people, coming in capacities of 160, 250, 300, and 500GB. With specs like these, it's not hard to see why the d2 Hard Drive Extreme has a loyal following among digital professionals.

2. LaCie mini Hard Drive & Hub

Ah, the mini. No other external hard drive has been more tailor-made for a Mac than this baby. Designed to stack perfectly underneath your Mac Mini, it has a four-corner crown on the top that keeps the Mac raised just a little bit above the drive to allow cooling airflow between the two machines. There's no mention of an internal fan, which is why this drive is so quiet. I'd be a bit concerned about heat build-up, though, because the drive may need more than a small airflow space to keep cool in a tropical country like the Philippines.

Nevertheless, the LaCie mini drive is a nifty little thing. It functions as both an external hard drive and a desktop hub, a feature I find really useful. The hub allows you to connect all your hardware peripherals at once instead of rationing the limited ports at the back of the Mac Mini. It sports a dual interface, so you can connect it to your Mac via Firewire 400 or USB 2.0. As with the d2 line, you don't need drivers if you're running Mac OS X or Windows XP/2000. Rpm is also 7200 with an 8MB cache. Storage capacity choices are generous; you can choose from either 250, 300, or 500GB.

LaCie also makes a mini Hard Drive, which looks exactly like the one previously mentioned. The only difference is that it functions solely as a hard drive. You can stack multiple LaCie mini drives underneath your Mac Mini and LaCie mini hub to make a little Mini tower of your own.

3. LaCie Hard Drive (Design by F.A. Porsche)

This hard drive is a bit too plain-looking for my taste. It resembles a plain brushed-steel box that takes up quite a bit of desk space, since it can't stand upright like the d2 drive. You also don't have the luxury of having more than one interface in the drive; you either have to choose one with USB 2.0, or one with Firewire 400. The Firewire model comes in capacities of 80, 160, and 250GB, while the USB model comes in only 160 and 250GB. Nevertheless, the LaCie Porsche drive makes the cut for its clean lines and elegant simplicity. Lots of other people seem to like it, too; it's a top seller on Amazon. Its performance is at par with other LaCie drives, with speeds of 7200 rpm and a maximum sustained transfer rate of 41 MB/s on the Firewire model (34 MB/s on the USB one). If you're a fan of the Porsche style, then this may be the drive for you.