Except you did play with it and came to the same conclusions that virtually every review would have told you.
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I'm sad to say its going back...
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Except you did play with it and came to the same conclusions that virtually every review would have told you.
It was the "Ultra Portable" version, which was an overstatement on Seagate's part. It was also very expensive. $140 for the 1TB USB 2.0 drive (so I could use it with my PC), $100 for the TB adapter, and $50 for the TB cable. So $290 for 1TB.
On the TB adapter I didn't notice the sound, but it is huge and it does look like there is a fan in there. Mine's probably broke because it got very hot. I am not sure about the technology and why it would get hot, but it sucked the life out of my MBA battery, which fully charged lasted about 2 hours with the drive connected. Not worth it in my opinion. For under $200 I got a USB 3.0 WD Passport TWO TERABYTE drive, while half as fast holds twice as much.
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So you are saying I should just accept what other reviewers say because they have no personal biases, and not try things out on my own?
No thank you.
I may have missed it, but doesn't the thunderbolt to firewire adapter Apple just released work with the 2011 MBA as well?
Sorry but a hijack and possibly stupid question:
I have a 500gb Iomega cheap USB drive on my 2011 for backup/storage.....will it work quicker now that I hook it to my 3.0 USB on my new 2012?
I have a 500gb Iomega cheap USB drive on my 2011 for backup/storage.....will it work quicker now that I hook it to my 3.0 USB on my new 2012?
At the end of the day, what I said originally here proved to be true. You didnt have buy it to come to the conclusion you did. You saw, experienced and agreed with virtually all the "bias" reviewers out there. I think that's a pretty good indicator of their impartialness.
Ooooh, great catch! It was announced but its not in the store yet. So how much faster than USB 2.0 can I expect this to be? Or, in other words, how much slower than USB 3.0 or a straight Thunderbolt connection to an external drive?
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Ummmmm, no. It may have been coincidence.
Yes, I did have to buy it and experience it for myself. Why are you having such a difficult time wrapping your head around such a simple concept?
I just bought a kayak. Do you think I would have plopped $2,000 just by reading a review? Heck no! I looked at them, touched them, rented one, took classes, and THEN I decided.
Another example - movie reviews. Do you know how many bad reviews The Expendables got? And do you think that would deter me from going to see it for myself???
Reviewers have biases. Some even have agendas. Some like Macs, some like PCs, some are old fashioned, some like new stuff. Sure, you can read reviews and get other people's opinions, but nothing, NOTHING will substitute your OWN judgement and your OWN experiences.
Nothing my friend.
Ooooh, great catch! It was announced but its not in the store yet. So how much faster than USB 2.0 can I expect this to be? Or, in other words, how much slower than USB 3.0 or a straight Thunderbolt connection to an external drive?
You might want to 'hold your horses' on the TB to ethernet/firewire adapters as of yet. Currently the pre 2012 release MBP/MBA with TB are having issues with the TB update 1.2 that's required for the older hardware to work with the new TB adapters. As of now, my TB-gig ethernet adapter is a paper weight until Apple fixes the drivers. (BTW it's causing widespread kernel panics, so much so that Apple pulled it off their servers several days ago)
Oh oh, I bought one of those too along with the Seagate drive. Let me go check it out....
Holding on to my 2011 MBA as well (not to mention my iPad 2). Here's a nice comparison for those that are interested.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGxb6_vhbGI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGxb6_vhbGI
Geez, the Thunderbolt to Ethernet adapter is going back too! It doesn't work with the 2011 MBA. I plug it in and... nothing happens. Ratz.
No. You'd need a USB 3.0 interface on the drive itself. Now, you might be able to remove the HDD from its current enclosure and install it in a USB 3.0 enclosure and get good speeds, though.
Wasn't there an issue with the Thunderbolt driver update recently? Some people reported getting the download and then it was pulled? That could be the reason your adapter isn't working.
Yes, I missed that. Apple (thankfully) didn't release an update for the old Airs.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4020399?start=0&tstart=0
Wirelessly posted
I have yet to upgrade from my 2010 because I don't want to give up Snow Leopard.
I have yet to upgrade from my 2010 because I don't want to give up Snow Leopard.
My thunderbolt to gigabit adapter works fine on my 2011, or at least it shows up in the list. I didn't plug in a cable but will tomorrow.
It will show up in the network setting but it will tell you the cable is unplugged although the cable is plugged in.
Reviewers have biases. Some even have agendas. Some like Macs, some like PCs, some are old fashioned, some like new stuff. Sure, you can read reviews and get other people's opinions, but nothing, NOTHING will substitute your OWN judgement and your OWN experiences.
Nothing my friend.
Nothing beats the hands-on experience.
I originally bought the 11-inch late-2010 MBA when it was released because the reviews I read indicated it would be perfect for my needs. I spent HOURS reading and watching videos and finally pulled the trigger with confidence.
Turns out, I owned it for less than an hour before deciding that the 13-inch model was for me...and I've never looked back.
Again, nothing beats the hands-on experience.
Good luck, ZBoater.
The thing is that you don't upgrade. Instead, you "trade" for a few hundred dollars.
Here's my advice: Sell your 2011 MBA (let's say $1000), buy the 2012 model (let's say $1600), and you'll effectively pay only around $600 for the upgrade. In my opinion, USB 3.0, faster SSD, faster processor, faster GPU, 8gb RAM, asymmetrical fan, the brand new 1-year guarantee, etc is worth the few hundred dollars.
I've been doing that myself for quite some years and it's a formula that works pretty well if your income allows it.
I own a July 2011 MBA, the lack of USB 3 on this machine & the lack of affordable TB portable solutions at this point is a sore point with me. Yes, I like my Air but do feel that if Apple wanted to release a notebook that featured TB & did not include USB 3 on a machine sold to consumers that they should have supported TB & made sure we had an affordable external drive to be able to use it. A 3rd party device that's hot, heavy & costs over $400 arriving almost a year later is a big fail IMHO.
I have a 2011 13 inch MBA with AppleCare, I was offered the princely sum of $800 for it (if I also include the $50 laptop bag) the guy offering told me that Craig's list is literally flood with MBA's & that he was making a generous offer as all he needs to do is wait till all those other sellers start getting their credit card bills for the new retina Pro's they upgraded to, those selling prices will drop like rocks flung into the river as sellers start getting desperate to sell their 2011 hardware.
Taking that big of a hit fiscally on a computer I've only owned for 6 months in order to plunk down around another 1K to purchase a newer model that has nice features but is basically an incremental upgrade is a decision that needs to be thought long & hard over. The thought process gets even longer when I stop to consider that Apple has failed to deliver an affordable, portable Thunderbolt storage solution for the consumers who purchased the older Air.
A new model MBA? Wonderful! Congrats Apple, now how about TB solutions for your other customers, those of us who got the 2011 MBA confident that you would take care of us?
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I never upgrade before my current mac is at least 5 years old, even then i get around 1/3 of the price i payed for it
I always sell a previous generation model for about 66% of what price I originally paid, and since Apple's prices are fairly constant upon release, that means that you're effectively paying only a net 33% for the "upgrade".
I've done this already with my iMac and my old MBA, so it's perfectly feasible.
Im not a fan of Seagate but started buying their drives because they promised a Thunderbolt adapter for their GoFlex line. But when I first started seeing specs and prices then I was extremely disappointed.
Portable Thunderbolt Adapter $100
+ Very Fast
+ Enables high speed data on non-USB3 Macs
- VERY Expensive
- VERY Hot
- VERY Big and makes it less "portable"
- Did you say it Doesnt come with a Thunderbolt Cable
Portable GoFlex Firewire 800 Adapter ($20)
+ Fast
+ Cheap
+ Small
- Requires $30 TB->Firewire adapter which hasnt been released yet
- VERY Hot
Portable GoFlex USB3 Adapter (Free since its included)
+ Fast
+ Backward Compatible
+ Small
- No native USB3 support prior to 2012 Macs
- No announced TB->USB3 Adapter
I actually bought the Firewire adapter and was surprised that it also ran VERY HOT. So hot that it felt like it could melt the integrated cable so I returned the whole thing and got a desktop version with the firewire adapter. And while that model doesn't run hot, it runs awfully slow for a FireWire drive and only comes out about 10% faster than USB2.
Its frustrating because with bad hardware, bad pricing and a bad rollout then the blame can be pointed in so many directions. And as a consumer then all I want is something that works which is why I ended up going for USB3. I just plugged in my portable USB3 WD drive into my 2012 Air and it worked with no issues.
Ugh. Thats so disappointing. Hopefully thats a fixable error because the 2011 is such a good machine and if they can provide Thunderbolt Ethernet/USB3/Firewire then it would really extend its life for many users.
If I was on the ball and sold a couple weeks ago, this might have worked out. I can no longer get 1000 bucks for the 2011. Prices are closer to 700-800 atm.
Also, this 2011 MBA has been the best computer I've ever owned (I'm middle age now sigh). It felt weird to sell it so soon. How can it go from "best ever" to "must sell" so quickly? Hint, I convinced myself it shouldn't. =) One more year... (unless rMbp 13 arrives in the fall, then I might be in trouble).