Hands On Review of the LaCie FastKey USB 3.0 SSD

Back in November we announced the LaCie FastKey USB 3.0 SSD, and I said then I wanted one – and now I managed to get my hands on one so it’s time for the UWHS hands-on review.

Tiny Size, Serious Technology

The LaCie FastKey isn’t just another USB key—it’s a real mobile SSD. It’s one of the speediest, most robust choices on the market for portable data storage. Featuring a solid-state drive and DRAM cache, it also offers up to 120GB of capacity.

USB 3.0: Up to 10x Faster than USB 2.0

With the FastKey’s USB 3.0 interface, you can store and transfer your files faster than ever before, no matter how large they are. USB 3.0 represents an enormous speed increase from USB 2.0, and best of all, since it’s backward compatible with USB 2.0 and USB 1.1, there’s never any worry about connectivity.

Speed, Strength, and Security

AES 256-bit encryption is included in the FastKey, along with LaCie’s Private-Public software, which allows you to create a private partition on your key. This way, it’s simple to keep private data and public data separate—letting you use your FastKey any time, anywhere.

• Lightning-fast speed up to 260MB/s
• The best technology in a tiny size: USB 3.0 SSD with DRAM cache
• Ultra-secure AES 256-bit encryption
• Stylish and sturdy metal casing

They come in 30GB ($149.99), 60GB ($249.99) or 120GB ($474.99), but as you can see, they are not cheap!

For this review i was lucky enough to get hold of the 120GB version!

Specifications

What’s In The Box?

The packaging contains the FastKey and a key chain – nothing more. But then what more would you need?

Here are some close up shots of the FastKey that I took.

And to give you an idea of the size, here is the FastKey next to my iPhone 4.

Using the FastKey

Once I plugged the FastKey into Windows, I could see a small partition called LaCie.

Upon opening the drive there was a single application, Start.exe there, so I double-clicked it.