Any USB 3.0 Cards Coming Soon?

[mac666er]

Did you get it when it first came out, or much later?

I ask, as most of their initial releases mean the product is only in a Beta state. So users become product testers.

Assuming they finally get it straightened out, waiting can eliminate problems. But it's ultimately a gamble IMO, as products released like that may not be fixable (no amount of firmware or driver work can fix it if it's a bad design).

NOT something I consider acceptable with RAID products.

Single disk enclosures would be less critical (such as the USB 3.0 unit that started this thread), but still annoying as the user may end up paying return shipping and restocking fees for a bad product = NO fault of the user.

Hmmmm interesting all the bad vibe against CalDigit. I bought a second hand HDPro (demo unit) 12 months or so before the HDPro2 was announced, so I guess it was not that "new", as in, it had been in the wild with users for at least a year I would think, if not more. I was between this and an ATTO high end card with an external enclosure and buying the drives myself since I heard bad things about other vendors, but not CalDigit. Ultimately, the fact I found it discounted, the RAID is external and bootable under Mac OS X! and the PCI-E bridge idea seemed worth giving it a try.

I use my RAID for editing HD 1080p video and RED. Which I realize, most people in these forums will never do.

No hiccups, built like a tank, delivered as promised. I did install a partition of MAC OS X on it and boots without any issues and is really fast. Now with SSD drives, this is not as attractive as before I think. However, one of the drives was not recognized by the RAID 5 every now and then (I thought being a demo unit, it was from use). Still being under warranty, CalDigit replaced the main RAID enclosure, no questions asked. No problems since. I am a happy camper. So much so, that I did look at their HDPro2 upgrades, but since I bought mine as a demo unit it had a substantial discount, I don't think the HDPro 2's are that attractive for what they are, at least when bought at MSR-Prices.

Anyway wanted to share, maybe I'm just a good apple in a whole bad barrel.

I will concede, however, they have been promising the hubs for connecting HDPros for quite sometime now (we are talking years here). It seems they did fell through with that promise.

I think if anyone is looking to buy a serious RAID they have two choices, spend professionally on it 3k or 4k and have professional support with whatever brand they choose, or get a pro-card, enterprise drives and a decent enclosure. I have heard only negative things on the low-end RAID market so far.

As for USB3, I would be willing to pay top $$ for a PCI card that delivers 2 usb3 ports, 2 6GB/s eSata/SAS ports and 1 lightpeak port when it comes. And the eSata port has to be bootable on the Mac Pro (either under Windows or under Mac).

Hey, I can dream!

 

[nanofrog]

Hmmmm interesting all the bad vibe against CalDigit. I bought a second hand HDPro (demo unit) 12 months or so before the HDPro2 was announced, so I guess it was not that "new", as in, it had been in the wild with users for at least a year I would think, if not more. I was between this and an ATTO high end card with an external enclosure and buying the drives myself since I heard bad things about other vendors, but not CalDigit. Ultimately, the fact I found it discounted, the RAID is external and bootable under Mac OS X! and the PCI-E bridge idea seemed worth giving it a try.

I use my RAID for editing HD 1080p video and RED. Which I realize, most people in these forums will never do.

No hiccups, built like a tank, delivered as promised. I did install a partition of MAC OS X on it and boots without any issues and is really fast. Now with SSD drives, this is not as attractive as before I think. However, one of the drives was not recognized by the RAID 5 every now and then (I thought being a demo unit, it was from use). Still being under warranty, CalDigit replaced the main RAID enclosure, no questions asked. No problems since. I am a happy camper. So much so, that I did look at their HDPro2 upgrades, but since I bought mine as a demo unit it had a substantial discount, I don't think the HDPro 2's are that attractive for what they are, at least when bought at MSR-Prices.

Anyway wanted to share, maybe I'm just a good apple in a whole bad barrel.

I will concede, however, they have been promising the hubs for connecting HDPros for quite sometime now (we are talking years here). It seems they did fell through with that promise.

I think if anyone is looking to buy a serious RAID they have two choices, spend professionally on it 3k or 4k and have professional support with whatever brand they choose, or get a pro-card, enterprise drives and a decent enclosure. I have heard only negative things on the low-end RAID market so far.

As for USB3, I would be willing to pay top $$ for a PCI card that delivers 2 usb3 ports, 2 6GB/s eSata/SAS ports and 1 lightpeak port when it comes. And the eSata port has to be bootable on the Mac Pro (either under Windows or under Mac).

Hey, I can dream!

The fact you got it late helped immensely IMO, as they'd finally worked out any kinks that occured when it initially shipped.

But the unfulfilled promises are a big deal to me, even if it doesn't necessarily affect me. I see it as an indication of the type of support you can expect, as evidenced by the previous posts.

Glad it's worked out for you, but given my experience with their products, I won't try them again.