Devise is ok, lacks cooling system
This product is great in storage capacity, but it has a flaw, it warms up very easy afer a playing a movie and probably it either could spoil its content or ruin the whole devise since heat is harmful to every electronic devise. It needs a built in cooling system to cool it off so it can be in use for hours without any damage.

LaCie Hard Drive 500 GB works
So far so good. It works and the software included handles PC and Mac. Only concern is how warm the unit gets. Venting is beneath but it sits on short legs so for peace of mind I will raise it higher with bumpers or something and maybe keep a fan on it. I hope La Cie reads this and takes note of user concern. Even better: if they sent out taller legs (a stand off, to promote a better airflow).
Best purchase: an energy saver surge protector that turns everything off when my PC shuts down.

Sharp looking, surprisingly fast.
I spent a lot of time looking for reviews on external hard drives before buying this drive. The reason for that is that I'm archiving precious family videos and wanted to avoid the horror stories I read again and again about external hard drive failure.
Although this drive was one of the most inexpensive, it also seemed to have the largest number of positive reviews, so I purchased it.
It came quickly, looks beautiful, and worked right out of the box great!
It really surprised me by seeming to be faster than my other external drives which are firewire drives! (This drive being usb II I expected to be a bit slower.)
Another thing I like about the drive is it's the smallest external drive I have physically, and the case is perfectly rectangular instead of some space age shape. So, you can stack them on a bookshelf or closet neatly if you wind up archiving a lot of drives.
I have not owned it long enough to know long term reliability. It's about half full now with no problems.
As far as cons, I have two: The usb II cable that comes with it is laughably short. Just a few inches long! So unless you buy a longer cable, it has to sit RIGHT by the USB port and not set off to the side or on top of the computer. When a company cheaps out on a small item like a cable, I always wonder if they cheaped out other places. But maybe that's just me? Also, you'll want to reformat the drive when you get it if you plan to archive files larger than a couple gig each (which my family films are). The factory format does not allow the oversized files.
Otherwise, I'm DELIGHTED with the drive, it's looks, it's speed, it's price, and the mountain of positive reviews I found makes me feel a little more relaxed compared to other major brands whose reviews made me say "yikes!"

Excellent drive...for a year!!!!!
Used this drive for my music only. After one year, and it craps out with all my I-Tunes downloads and loaded music. Total POS and I'm getting an Omega drive as I write this.

great sleek and spacey storage, aside from running HOT..
(about the LaCie 500gb)

This drive is pretty awesome to begin with - great price, very sleek design, lots of space (labeled as 500gb, actual capacity 465gb, which is still pretty big, so it's acceptable). The only drawbacks are:

1. The lack of a power button, as others have said. It would be much more convenient if they had included it in the design somehow, like in the back where the power plugs in, as that end doesn't need to be as bare as the rest.

2. It runs VERY hot, not just warm, but *hot*. Granted, I do use my drives a lot as well, but usually my other older ones are only more than mildly warm at worst - I also have a AcomData 160gb bought in March2005 ( http://amazon.com/dp/B0000DK6CN/ ) and a Maxtor 200gb ( http://amazon.com/dp/B000CDXTXK/ ) bought in Dec2006 - while this one, the LaCie 500gb, gets so hot that when you want to "shut it off", it is difficult to grasp it in order to be able pull the plug. Note that my AcomData has a power button, and my Maxtor does not but handles well-enough without one, so that's why I figured when I bought the LaCie that even tho it has no power button, that it wouldn't really matter, lol. I did not count on it being too hot to touch.

3. Slightly noisy.. well, it was quite a bit noticeable during the first few weeks that I had it, I'm not sure if it's still a bother now, (or maybe I've just gotten used to it, lol) but eh. It tends to stand out more when it becomes busy, like transferring files, etc.

Again, wonderful product, just wish that it didn't overheat so much, other than that - love it! Will probably be buying a really small desk fan to aim at it in hopes of keeping it cooler and if that works, then I'll update this to let you all kno.

Good luck with YOUR purchase! ;D