LaCie Hub Now Shipping, Connects eSATA Drives via Thunderbolt

MacRumors · Apr 5, 2012, 04:06 PM

Announced at CES earlier this year, the LaCie's new Thunderbolt eSATA Hub is now shipping. The device allows external eSATA drives to be connected to Thunderbolt equipped Macs. The daisy-chainable hub includes two eSATA ports and retails for $199.

eSATA is a high performance drive connector used to connect external hard drives to your computer. eSATA has never been a standard option on Macs, but is a faster alternative to USB 2.0 and Firewire and is commonly found on high performance external drives and storage arrays.

For those who are have existing eSATA drives or are waiting for Thunderbolt drives to drop in price, this could be a good interim solution. The Hub isn't yet available for order on LaCie's website. We spoke to someone at LaCie's sales center who told us the first batch had sold out, but that more were to arrive in a few days. Interested parties can contact LaCie sales directly to place an order for one of these backordered units, and it'll ship out when LaCie receives them.

Article Link: LaCie Hub Now Shipping, Connects eSATA Drives via Thunderbolt

16shatzerj · 04:13 PM

Awesome (sarcastic)

JesterJJZ · Apr 5, 2012, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 16shatzerj

Awesome

Not for $200, or $250 if you need a cable...

icemanjc · Apr 5, 2012, 04:09 PM

I'd be interested if it wasn't so pricy...

charlieegan3 · Apr 5, 2012, 04:09 PM

so expensive, cool, but what a rip off.

Battlefield Fan · 04:20 PM

A sub $600 solution to finally daisy chain my thunderbolt and older mini display port monitors together!

srxtr · Apr 5, 2012, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MacRumors

For those who are have existing eSATA drives or are waiting for Thunderbolt drives to drop in price, this could be a good interim solution.

Good interim solution? For $200? Really?

WhoDaKat · Apr 5, 2012, 04:12 PM

Ugghhh. SATA II WTF? Its TB people, give us our speed! I've been screaming for a TB to eSATA connector since TB came out, and they deliver it with yesterday's tech.

Moonjumper · Apr 5, 2012, 04:14 PM

They talk about eSATA being faster than USB2, but isn't it slower than USB3? So the only advantage of doing it with Thunderbolt is daisy-chaining?

charlieegan3 · Apr 5, 2012, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 16shatzerj

Awesome (sarcastic)

changed you mind quickly on that one

goinskiing · Apr 5, 2012, 04:17 PM

Thunderbolt really is great IF there were more support and cheap solutions for it. Would have been so hard to use USB 3? Heck, a $20 TB to USB3 would be a treat and they would sell like hotcakes! None of this $200 HUB (cough adapter) business. So far, TB is just too expensive for wide adoption.

With all of that said, I LOVE my MacBook Air!

AndyKorth · Apr 5, 2012, 04:21 PM

Or for $5 you can get one of these. Complain about the speed if you want, but hey, for $5, you can't go wrong:

http://www.amazon.com/USB-to-eSATA-S.../dp/B002BC32OG

slembcke · Apr 5, 2012, 04:21 PM

Holy crap! $200 + a $50 cable? I'm not that desperate to plug something into my thunderbolt ports...

You can get a USB2 -> eSATA adapter for like $20.

barkomatic · Apr 5, 2012, 04:24 PM

To think I waited and waited for thunderbolt to be introduced on the Macbook pro because I thought I could use all these fast new peripherals. Little did I know how stupidly expensive they'd be and that for the entire life of my computer I'd never once use that port.

Ries · Apr 5, 2012, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moonjumper

They talk about eSATA being faster than USB2, but isn't it slower than USB3? So the only advantage of doing it with Thunderbolt is daisy-chaining?

Daisy-chaining an advantage? Anyone who lived through bnc daisy chained network, knows its a bag of hurt.

getz76 · Apr 5, 2012, 04:26 PM

eSATA at SATA II speeds? Really? Are we going backwards?

I do not even understand the target market for this? Thunderbolt is still Apple only, sans Mac Pro. Who has Thunderbolt and eSATA drives in usage? A small minority of MacBook Pro 17" users with ExpressCard adapters?

scarred · Apr 5, 2012, 04:31 PM

Thunderbolt continues to be a big disappointment. That is the one feature on my MacBook air that is going to waste. Too bad.

Dragado · Apr 5, 2012, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moonjumper

They talk about eSATA being faster than USB2, but isn't it slower than USB3? So the only advantage of doing it with Thunderbolt is daisy-chaining?

Doing eSATA over thunderbolt is a great idea when the computer doesn't have an eSATA port... I don't really think people make hubs for speed generally.

neroroxxx · Apr 5, 2012, 04:35 PM

too bad they didn't add a pair of firewire ports as well, that would have made it worth it to me.

Viking23 · Apr 5, 2012, 04:38 PM

In the UK this is £169 which is at least £30 ($45) overpriced. So won't be buying until the price drops.

fruitycups · Apr 5, 2012, 04:50 PM

too expensive. usb 3.0 needs to die

Pakaku · Apr 5, 2012, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndyKorth

Or for $5 you can get one of these. Complain about the speed if you want, but hey, for $5, you can't go wrong:

http://www.amazon.com/USB-to-eSATA-S.../dp/B002BC32OG

And complain about the speed, I shall!

Antares · Apr 5, 2012, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neroroxxx

too bad they didn't add a pair of firewire ports as well, that would have made it worth it to me.

Agreed. I would not mind a hub at this price if it had eSATA (eSATA 2?) plus Firewire...and USB3 for an extra plus. That would definitely be worthwhile. But not a $200 hub with just two eSATA ports and nothing else but aThunderbolt port, which is a given.

Domalais · Apr 5, 2012, 05:01 PM

The pricing on this doesn't make sense.

Why would I pay that much to get ****ed by Apple? I can get ****ed for a lot less than $250.

thetoad30 · Apr 5, 2012, 05:02 PM

I'm going to echo most people in here and say that TB is going to die if it doesn't start getting some peripherals soon.

What I can see is TB being licensed to provide external PCIe, which I believe the industry is starting to adopt as the standard bus.

PCIe SATA is a new standard being explored, and PCIe is a high-speed serial interface much like TB and USB.

It only makes sense to have one bus interconnect in the PC. The CPUs are already integrating PCIe lanes, and can do so for far less power than an external chip for another bus.

TB is a great idea that can transfer many protocols over it. I think that if TB could use/license a USB connector, then backwards compatibility can be maintained. This would have made implementation far quicker, in my opinion. Of course, licensing may be the problem. Who knows.

Apr 5, 2012, 04:06 PM	#1
MacRumors macrumors bot Join Date: Apr 2001	LaCie Hub Now Shipping, Connects eSATA Drives via Thunderbolt Announced at CES earlier this year, the LaCie's new Thunderbolt eSATA Hub is now shipping. The device allows external eSATA drives to be connected to Thunderbolt equipped Macs. The daisy-chainable hub includes two eSATA ports and retails for $199. eSATA is a high performance drive connector used to connect external hard drives to your computer. eSATA has never been a standard option on Macs, but is a faster alternative to USB 2.0 and Firewire and is commonly found on high performance external drives and storage arrays. For those who are have existing eSATA drives or are waiting for Thunderbolt drives to drop in price, this could be a good interim solution. The Hub isn't yet available for order on LaCie's website. We spoke to someone at LaCie's sales center who told us the first batch had sold out, but that more were to arrive in a few days. Interested parties can contact LaCie sales directly to place an order for one of these backordered units, and it'll ship out when LaCie receives them. Article Link: LaCie Hub Now Shipping, Connects eSATA Drives via Thunderbolt
	2

Apr 5, 2012, 04:07 PM	#2
16shatzerj macrumors newbie Join Date: Mar 2012	Awesome (sarcastic) Last edited by 16shatzerj; Apr 5, 2012 at 04:13 PM.
	-9

Apr 5, 2012, 04:10 PM	#6
Battlefield Fan macrumors 6502a Join Date: Mar 2008	A sub $600 solution to finally daisy chain my thunderbolt and older mini display port monitors together! __________________ 15" Macbook Pro Hi-Res, 2.3 GHz i7 QC, 16GB RAM, 480 GB OWC Mercury Extreme Pro 6G Xbench score: 426; 27" TB ACD; 27" MDP ACD; Black iPhone 5 64GB; White iPad 3 32GB LTE Last edited by Battlefield Fan; Apr 5, 2012 at 04:20 PM.
	3

Apr 5, 2012, 04:14 PM	#9
Moonjumper macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Lincoln, UK	They talk about eSATA being faster than USB2, but isn't it slower than USB3? So the only advantage of doing it with Thunderbolt is daisy-chaining? __________________ ShootStorm - universal neo-retro iOS shoot-em-up action ShootStorm Survival - free single-life version
	0

Apr 5, 2012, 04:17 PM	#11
goinskiing macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Meridian, ID	Thunderbolt really is great IF there were more support and cheap solutions for it. Would have been so hard to use USB 3? Heck, a $20 TB to USB3 would be a treat and they would sell like hotcakes! None of this $200 HUB (cough adapter) business. So far, TB is just too expensive for wide adoption. With all of that said, I LOVE my MacBook Air! __________________ 2012 15" rMBP 2.3GHz 256GB w/8GB; 27" iMac, 2.8GHz i5, 16GB, C300 SSD 128GB+1TB; 32GB Verizon iPhone 5; TV2
	1

Apr 5, 2012, 04:09 PM	#4
icemanjc macrumors newbie Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Michigan	I'd be interested if it wasn't so pricy...
	4

Apr 5, 2012, 04:09 PM	#5
charlieegan3 macrumors 68020 Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: U.K	so expensive, cool, but what a rip off.
	1

Apr 5, 2012, 04:12 PM	#8
WhoDaKat macrumors regular Join Date: May 2006	Ugghhh. SATA II WTF? Its TB people, give us our speed! I've been screaming for a TB to eSATA connector since TB came out, and they deliver it with yesterday's tech.
	3

Apr 5, 2012, 04:21 PM	#12
AndyKorth macrumors newbie Join Date: Dec 2008	Or for $5 you can get one of these. Complain about the speed if you want, but hey, for $5, you can't go wrong: http://www.amazon.com/USB-to-eSATA-S.../dp/B002BC32OG
	-3

Apr 5, 2012, 04:21 PM	#13
slembcke macrumors newbie Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Minnesota	Holy crap! $200 + a $50 cable? I'm not that desperate to plug something into my thunderbolt ports... You can get a USB2 -> eSATA adapter for like $20.
	0

Apr 5, 2012, 04:24 PM	#14
barkomatic macrumors 68030 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Manhattan	To think I waited and waited for thunderbolt to be introduced on the Macbook pro because I thought I could use all these fast new peripherals. Little did I know how stupidly expensive they'd be and that for the entire life of my computer I'd never once use that port.
	10

Apr 5, 2012, 04:26 PM	#16
getz76 macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Hell, AL	eSATA at SATA II speeds? Really? Are we going backwards? I do not even understand the target market for this? Thunderbolt is still Apple only, sans Mac Pro. Who has Thunderbolt and eSATA drives in usage? A small minority of MacBook Pro 17" users with ExpressCard adapters?
	5

Apr 5, 2012, 04:31 PM	#17
scarred macrumors 6502 Join Date: Jul 2011	Thunderbolt continues to be a big disappointment. That is the one feature on my MacBook air that is going to waste. Too bad.
	6

Apr 5, 2012, 04:35 PM	#19
neroroxxx macrumors newbie Join Date: Sep 2010	too bad they didn't add a pair of firewire ports as well, that would have made it worth it to me.
	2

Apr 5, 2012, 04:38 PM	#20
Viking23 macrumors member Join Date: Mar 2012	In the UK this is £169 which is at least £30 ($45) overpriced. So won't be buying until the price drops.
	1

Apr 5, 2012, 04:50 PM	#21
fruitycups macrumors 6502 Join Date: Jun 2011	too expensive. usb 3.0 needs to die
	0

Apr 5, 2012, 05:01 PM	#24
Domalais macrumors newbie Join Date: Jun 2011	The pricing on this doesn't make sense. Why would I pay that much to get **ed by Apple? I can get **ed for a lot less than $250.
	6

Apr 5, 2012, 05:02 PM	#25
thetoad30 macrumors regular Join Date: Jun 2010	I'm going to echo most people in here and say that TB is going to die if it doesn't start getting some peripherals soon. What I can see is TB being licensed to provide external PCIe, which I believe the industry is starting to adopt as the standard bus. PCIe SATA is a new standard being explored, and PCIe is a high-speed serial interface much like TB and USB. It only makes sense to have one bus interconnect in the PC. The CPUs are already integrating PCIe lanes, and can do so for far less power than an external chip for another bus. TB is a great idea that can transfer many protocols over it. I think that if TB could use/license a USB connector, then backwards compatibility can be maintained. This would have made implementation far quicker, in my opinion. Of course, licensing may be the problem. Who knows.
	1

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