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mrwonkers

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 31, 2004
362
0
Cyberia
Has anyone had any real experience with with Lacies USB 3.0 Mac Expresscard solution? I am interested in knowing how well this works and what sort of real world read/write speeds to expect. Any info would be appreciated.
 
Also interested, though it seems there are no more available on the market at this time.
 
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Lindy Express card with LaCie driver works great

I am using the LaCie Rikiki USB 3.0 and it works great with the Lindy Premium Express USB 3.0 Card
http://www.lindy.de/expresscard-premium-usb-3/51506.html

and the LaCie driver
http://www.lacie.com/us/more/index.htm?id=10112

the driver works with any NEC 720200 based express card and I did not

want the LaCie card because I want to leave the card in the MacBook

and the LaCie card is to big for that.

The Lindy card sits perfectly flush in the MacBook and does not need any extra power to drive the Rikiki.


With XBench I get values around 80MB/s for 256k blocks at best.

The same drive on the usb 2.0 port gives my roughly 30MB/s for 256k blocks at best.
 
I thought it was required to use external power as the MBPs do not put out enough power on the ExpressCard slot to run USB 3.0...

I am using the LaCie Rikiki USB 3.0 and it works great with the Lindy Premium Express USB 3.0 Card
http://www.lindy.de/expresscard-premium-usb-3/51506.html

and the LaCie driver
http://www.lacie.com/us/more/index.htm?id=10112

the driver works with any NEC 720200 based express card and I did not

want the LaCie card because I want to leave the card in the MacBook

and the LaCie card is to big for that.

The Lindy card sits perfectly flush in the MacBook and does not need any extra power to drive the Rikiki.


With XBench I get values around 80MB/s for 256k blocks at best.

The same drive on the usb 2.0 port gives my roughly 30MB/s for 256k blocks at best.
 
USB 3.0 Power

I am running my Rikiki fine without any additional power on the MBP first Gen unibody,

I was looking at this card too http://cgi.ebay.com.au/1-port-USB3-...ccessories&hash=item230bb8b0bf#ht_4801wt_1141

which is much cheaper, but when I spotted the power inlet I figured it needs power from the other USB port as pictured in one of the photos.

So I went for the Lindy since it does not have a power inlet.

I also did more testing with Blackmagic Disk Test and it looks like it achives 3-4 times faster speeds.
 
I am running my Rikiki fine without any additional power on the MBP first Gen unibody,

I was looking at this card too http://cgi.ebay.com.au/1-port-USB3-...ccessories&hash=item230bb8b0bf#ht_4801wt_1141

which is much cheaper, but when I spotted the power inlet I figured it needs power from the other USB port as pictured in one of the photos.

So I went for the Lindy since it does not have a power inlet.

I also did more testing with Blackmagic Disk Test and it looks like it achives 3-4 times faster speeds.

Couple of questions: I don't see it offered on the US site; did you buy it through the German site? Also, 3-4 times faster than what?
 
Hi,

Does the Lindy card work on the mid 2009 17 Macbook pro?

Regards.

Mine is the first gen UniBody 15 inch,

I'd assume it would work on any later models.

The lindy uses the same drivers then the LaCie card so maybe check if the LaCie card would work on your model then the Lindy should too.
 
Couple of questions: I don't see it offered on the US site; did you buy it through the German site? Also, 3-4 times faster than what?

The Rikiki is available in the states, the Lindy card seems to be only available on the German site, I ordered it from a german online shop.
http://www.terrashop.de/Zubehoer/ExpressCard-Premium-USB-30--EAN-4002888515061/art/03051506A/

Its also available at Amazon Germany
http://www.amazon.de/dp/B004761LC4/ref=pe_70311_22892721_pe_vfe_t1
 
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Thanks for the tips! I went ahead with the Taiwanese model you linked to listing on ebay. It will use one of my two usb ports for power, but at $30 (vs about $85 for the Lindy) it's worth a try. Will report back with results.
 
Mine is the first gen UniBody 15 inch,

I'd assume it would work on any later models.

The lindy uses the same drivers then the LaCie card so maybe check if the LaCie card would work on your model then the Lindy should too.

Hi,

I was asking about the mid 2009 17inch, because that model is known to have problems with the express card slot, mainly with esata cards.
If you check the OWC site, you can see that support for the esata cards was removed from the mid 2009 mbp.
Also, there are some topics here regarding this question, so I really looking forward for some confirmation of either the Lindy or the Lacie working with the mid 2009.

Cheers!
 
The Rikiki is available in the states, the Lindy card seems to be only available on the German site, I ordered it from a german online shop.
http://www.terrashop.de/Zubehoer/ExpressCard-Premium-USB-30--EAN-4002888515061/art/03051506A/

Its also available at Amazon Germany
http://www.amazon.de/dp/B004761LC4/ref=pe_70311_22892721_pe_vfe_t1

Is there a way to purchase the Lindy USB 3.0 ExpressCard in the states? I attempted to order it from the Lindy.de site and Amazon.de site, to no avail.

Thanks! :)
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
Is there a way to purchase the Lindy USB 3.0 ExpressCard in the states? I attempted to order it from the Lindy.de site and Amazon.de site, to no avail.

Thanks! :)

I was told by Lindy US that even if you order through the German site, the order defers to the US site (about $85 plus $10 shipping)—couple of weeks delivery. I may yet go that route, but am waiting to find how the alternate card works.

It was pointed out in earlier post that there's a German vendor—the terrashop link—other than the manufacturer that offers the card, so you could bypass Lyndy altogether.
 
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I got the shentek card from Taiwan, mentioned above, via ebay and it's a no go (PC only, but thought I could install it via Parallels/W7).

Meanwhile, with the latest Lacie driver (updated for MacOS 10.6.6), I've been able to mount the drive with the LaCie card, but it keeps ejecting itself after a short while, despite having external power.

I'm pretty much ready to give up on USB 3.0 for the time being and go back to Firewire 800. I'm not going to go with the Lindy, since $85 is too much to risk not knowing whether it will work with the Lacie Rugged drive... Oh well.
 
How does USB 3.0 compare to FireWire 800 in terms of external hard drive access (read and write speeds)?

I have zero experience with USB 3.0 on anything.

I would like to know.
Thanks.
 
Im just about to upgrade from 15" 2010 to new
2011 17" model- really want the USB 3 in the express card
I've found the lacie expresscard 34 for 43GBP
(67USD)

So might give it a go. - I have the go flex
Extn USB 1TB for storage- u have the USB3 cable

This better work lol

Didn't for me. (Hope they've fixed the issues for you.) I have the late 2010 17" and had to return the LaCie card twice; even after getting a connection, it would disconnect after a few minutes, activity or no. The FW 800 is fast enough for me for now, though I'd hoped to get the USB3 going...doesn't look like it's a sure venue for long-term anyway.
 
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A few things to note about the Lacie USB 3.0 adapter and MacBookPro.

First, and most inexplicably, the Lacie USB 3.0 card ONLY works with Lacie USB 3.0 drives - no other drive will work with it. Lacie apparently is not familiar with the term "UNIVERSAL".

Second, if you do use the Lacie 3.0 drives with the Lacie card you need to shut off Spotlight indexing for that drive. Mine would disconnect a few minutes after being mounted for no obvious reason. After some digging, I found out that it was related to Spotlight. I added an exception for that drive and now it works great.

In spite of the drawbacks, the drive is wicked fast - about 3-4 x's that of a USB 2.0 drive.
 
Second, if you do use the Lacie 3.0 drives with the Lacie card you need to shut off Spotlight indexing for that drive. Mine would disconnect a few minutes after being mounted for no obvious reason. After some digging, I found out that it was related to Spotlight. I added an exception for that drive and now it works great.

Boy, I wish someone would let LaCie know about this. From November through at least mid January—the time I'd been in communication with them about this issue—they were utterly clueless.
 
I bought the lindy card for my 2011 17". I tried using it with the lacie drivers and I am getting kernel panics left right and centre. Does anyone have any ideas?
 
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