LaCie expands its Extreme line of external hard drives with the Bigger Disk Extreme: up to 1.6 terabytes of storage with the fastest speeds on the market, available worldwide summer 2004.

The Bigger Disk Extreme performs up to 50 percent faster than first-generation FireWire 800 drives*, pairing ultimate capacity and throughput to accommodate the editing needs of video and audio professionals.

"The Bigger Disk Extreme truly breaks barriers of both size and speed," says LaCie Senior Product Manager Olivier Mirloup. "With burst transfer rates reaching up to 85 megabytes per second and unrivaled 1.6 terabyte capacity, this drive is designed to support multi-stream audio and video editing in a variety of formats."

Professional Choice
The Bigger Disk Extreme includes all necessary cables for use with its FireWire 800/400 and iLink/DV ports, making it ideal for professionals working with audio, DV or SD video and video RAID projects on both Macintosh and Windows platforms.

Raid Performance and Ease of Use
A true plug-and-play device, the Bigger Disk Extreme has a built-in RAID 0 configuration that allows for instant high-speed data transfers of up to 85 MB/s and immediate large-scale backup without the need for complicated setup. Bigger Disk Extremes are hot-pluggable for file sharing among FireWire 800/400 and iLink/DV workstations. No drivers or software installation is required for those using Windows XP, Windows 2000, or Mac OS X operating systems.

Aluminum Alloy Design
Bigger Disk Extremes feature a stylish metallic design crafted from sturdy aluminum alloy for portability and protection, and are significantly smaller, quieter and much more affordable than RAID towers. A smart fan system, improved heat dissipation, and automatic on/off feature prolongs performance and drive reliability. The included drive stand provides stability and allows for upright desktop use to save valuable desk space, while an optional rack-mounting kit enables placement in standard 19-inch racks.

Availability
The Bigger Disk Extreme will be available summer 2004 through LaCie authorized resellers, specialist stores and mail order partners, with a suggested retail price of $1199 for the 1TB and $2199 for the 1.6TB drive. Drives ship with FireWire 800 cable (9:9-pin), FireWire 400 cable (6:6-pin) and iLink/DV cable (6:4-pin). Also included is a power supply and LaCie utilities SilverKeeper? for Mac OS 9.x and 10.x users and Silverlining for backup and drive management. Mac OS X, Windows 2000 or Windows XP is required for FireWire 800 operation. US warranty is one year; Europe is two years.