USB 3.0 Seagate Backup Plus

2Turbo · Jun 29, 2012, 11:34 PM

Anyone know if external drives like seagates backup plus will work correctly with USB 3.0 on the new Air?

2Turbo · Jun 30, 2012, 10:00 AM

Does anyone here use USB 3.0 HDD's on the new MBA? Whats your experience been like?

AcesHigh87 · Jun 30, 2012, 10:02 AM

I don't have a computer with USB 3.0 or know anyone with a mac that has one. However my PC owning friend has 2-3 USB 3.0 drives and they perform well. The speed is excellent; way better than USB 2.0 and even quite a bit better than Firewire 800.

hfg · Jun 30, 2012, 10:53 AM

I just received a Seagate "Expansion" 1TB portable USB 3 drive to use with my new MacBook Air.

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Expans...+expansion+1tb

I used it last night to do a Time Machine backup (after formatting it for OS X) and it was quite fast. Watching "Activity Monitor" it seemed to run at 70-80 MBs most of the time. Occasionally it would slow down to 30-40 MBs probably when writing many small files, or when my system was busy doing something else.

-howard

trondah · Jun 30, 2012, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2Turbo

Does anyone here use USB 3.0 HDD's on the new MBA? Whats your experience been like?

I have a Goflex 2.5" with USB3, and it's fast as hell compared to USB2. Glad I upgraded from my 2011 MBA

2Turbo · Jun 30, 2012, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trondah

I have a Goflex 2.5" with USB3, and it's fast as hell compared to USB2. Glad I upgraded from my 2011 MBA

Thanks man. Do you think it would cause problems or overheating to leave mine plugged in all the time at my desk?

jgc · Jun 30, 2012, 02:13 PM

How can you read what your transfer speed is? On my PC it just shows up, but not on my Mac.

Jb07 · Jun 30, 2012, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2Turbo

Thanks man. Do you think it would cause problems or overheating to leave mine plugged in all the time at my desk?

Do you mean leaving it plugged in to an outlet or your computer? If it's plugged into the outlet it won't be spinning because it isn't working. If you leave it plugged into your computer it will decrease the life of the HD because it is constantly spinning.

KPOM · Jun 30, 2012, 03:28 PM

I purchased a USB 3.0 enclosure from NewEgg and created my own backup drive using a hybrid HDD. I get transfer speeds of about 80MB/s. With an SSD I get about twice that. It works well.

2Turbo · Jun 30, 2012, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jb07

Do you mean leaving it plugged in to an outlet or your computer? If it's plugged into the outlet it won't be spinning because it isn't working. If you leave it plugged into your computer it will decrease the life of the HD because it is constantly spinning.

I mean leaving it plugged into the USB port. It runs on USB power so will be drawing all power from the Air (not wall socket).

I don't see how decrease in life span is any different than internal HDDs? The whole point is theres not enough room when you're used to 1TB in MBP.

KPOM · Jun 30, 2012, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2Turbo

I mean leaving it plugged into the USB port. It runs on USB power so will be drawing all power from the Air (not wall socket).

I don't see how decrease in life span is any different than internal HDDs? The whole point is theres not enough room when you're used to 1TB in MBP.

When you close the lid, the HDD will power down. However, because something is plugged into the USB port, the MacBook Air won't drop into "deep sleep" if you unplug it, meaning it will draw a bit more power while asleep than otherwise.

AcesHigh87 · Jun 30, 2012, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jgc

How can you read what your transfer speed is? On my PC it just shows up, but not on my Mac.

Black Magic Speed Test (mac app store) is the easiest solution. Let’s you test the kinds of speeds your drives are capable of.

2Turbo · Jun 30, 2012, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KPOM

When you close the lid, the HDD will power down. However, because something is plugged into the USB port, the MacBook Air won't drop into "deep sleep" if you unplug it, meaning it will draw a bit more power while asleep than otherwise.

Ok, I could just eject and unplug before sleeping to avoid this.

DarwinOSX · Dec 27, 2012, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AcesHigh87

The speed is excellent; way better than USB 2.0 and even quite a bit better than Firewire 800.

Real world, not theoretical, FW 800 is about even in speed. Which is saying a lot since FW 800 has been around for many years.

Jun 29, 2012, 11:34 PM	#1
2Turbo macrumors regular Join Date: Feb 2011	USB 3.0 Seagate Backup Plus Anyone know if external drives like seagates backup plus will work correctly with USB 3.0 on the new Air?
	0

Jun 30, 2012, 10:02 AM	#3
AcesHigh87 macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: New Brunswick, Canada	I don't have a computer with USB 3.0 or know anyone with a mac that has one. However my PC owning friend has 2-3 USB 3.0 drives and they perform well. The speed is excellent; way better than USB 2.0 and even quite a bit better than Firewire 800. __________________ 21.5" iMac (Mid 2011), 2.8GHz i7, 20GB of RAM, 1TB HDD \| 13" macbook white (Early 2008), 2.4 GHz C2D, 2GB RAM, 60GB G-Skill SSD \| 16GB iPod nano (7th Gen)
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Jun 30, 2012, 10:00 AM	#2
2Turbo Thread Starter macrumors regular Join Date: Feb 2011	Does anyone here use USB 3.0 HDD's on the new MBA? Whats your experience been like?
	0

Jun 30, 2012, 10:53 AM	#4
hfg macrumors 68000 Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Cedar Rapids, IA.	I just received a Seagate "Expansion" 1TB portable USB 3 drive to use with my new MacBook Air. http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Expans...+expansion+1tb I used it last night to do a Time Machine backup (after formatting it for OS X) and it was quite fast. Watching "Activity Monitor" it seemed to run at 70-80 MBs most of the time. Occasionally it would slow down to 30-40 MBs probably when writing many small files, or when my system was busy doing something else. -howard
	1

Jun 30, 2012, 02:13 PM	#7
jgc macrumors regular Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Canada	How can you read what your transfer speed is? On my PC it just shows up, but not on my Mac.
	0

Jun 30, 2012, 03:28 PM	#9
KPOM macrumors 604 Join Date: Oct 2010	I purchased a USB 3.0 enclosure from NewEgg and created my own backup drive using a hybrid HDD. I get transfer speeds of about 80MB/s. With an SSD I get about twice that. It works well.
	1