2.5" sata HDD enclosure with USB 3 & Thunderbolt

[SmItLeR]

Hey all,

I've search thoroughly, through thick and thin, the contents of this forum and many others on the webz, and i cant seem to scratch this itch.

I'm chasing a 2.5" external hard drive enclosure (for SSD sata drives like the Samsung 850) that has USB3 & Thunderbolt ports.

The problem is that I've come across one:
http://www.g-technology.com/products/g-drive-mobile-thunderbolt-1-tb-portable-hard-drive
But I dont require the hard drive.

Are there any out there available to purchase without the included hard drive?

Kind regards,
Brad Cooper

 

[ColdCase]

Buffalo and LaCie also make them, but I haven't seen a bare enclosure. You could use a 2.5 to 3.5 adapter in something like a OWC Mercury Elite Pro Dual 0GB USB 3.0 & Thunderbolt, not real portable however

 

[thedeske]

The Firmtek dLite & U3 are great enclosures for USB3. For single drives, Thunderbolt doesn't offer much advantage unless you plan on booting an external SSD for the OS and want to turn on Trim.

 

[ColdCase]

The Firmtek dLite & U3 are great enclosures for USB3. For single drives, Thunderbolt doesn't offer much advantage unless you plan on booting an external SSD for the OS and want to turn on Trim.

There's more to it than RAW data transfer rates. USB3 is a drive interface bandaid. It does not support full command sets, let alone trim support. There are lots of sleep, disconnects other enclosure firmware problems reported on the net. USB3 is a poor substitute for Thunderbolt, but it does OK for less demanding consumer type portable applications (as long as you don't put a couple drives on a hub). USB2 was much more reliable, so don't be thinking your USB2 experience will transcribe to USB3.