Platter spinner LaCie has now updated its external hard drive offer with the introduction of the new, 500GB Rugged drive. Based on a design by Neil Poulton, the new product features a Hitachi Travelstar 5K500 2.5-inch internal drive encased in a scratch-resistant aluminum shell and a shock-resistant rubber bumper which enables it to not break even if dropped from a height of 90cm.

"The Rugged Hard Disk is one of LaCie’s most popular products and has been so for a number of years," said Nolwenn Rozen, LaCie Mobile Product Manager. "We recently upgraded capacity to 320GB, and now with recent innovations, we are able to increase it again. With all LaCie products, we will continue to push the envelope on capacity as technology permits."

LaCie's 500GB drive works at 5,400 rpm, boasts 8MB of buffer memory and comes in two versions, one with only a USB 2.0 connection interface and one that includes both USB 2.0 and FireWire 800 and 400. The first model costs $339.99 while the latter has a price tag of $399.99. Unfortunately, neither is in stock at LaCie's store.