iMac and USB

[Mr. Incredible]

I got the 2010 21.5'' iMac (3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, and 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3)

and I'm looking for a new external hard drive.

The one that I currently have is the Maxtor One Touch 4, and I use a USB 2.0 to plug it into my iMac.

I found a new external hard drive to get, and it uses a USB 3.0; will I be able to plug this into my iMac, or will it not work?

 

[Intell]

Yes, USB 3 is backwards compatible with USB2.

 

[alust2013]

Yes, it will work. USB 3.0 is backwards compatible.

 

[Mr. Incredible]

http://www.google.com/products/cata...b-iEoT4swOi95DnDQ&ved=0CIABEPMCMAA#ps-sellers

^So, will that work?

It's a good deal right, for a 2TB HD at 5.0 GBps with a USB 3.0?

Will my computer get those speeds also, or less? Cause when I clicked on About this Mac, and more info, in the USB section, it says:

Speed: Up to 1.5 Mb/sec.

Will the 3.0 usb increase the speeds for the data transfers or will it stick with the 1.5 Mb/sec?

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

http://www.google.com/products/cata...b-iEoT4swOi95DnDQ&ved=0CIABEPMCMAA#ps-sellers

^So, will that work?

It's a good deal right, for a 2TB HD at 5.0 GBps with a USB 3.0?

Will my computer get those speeds also, or less? Cause when I clicked on About this Mac, and more info, in the USB section, it says:

Speed: Up to 1.5 Mb/sec.

Will the 3.0 usb increase the speeds for the data transfers or will it stick with the 1.5 Mb/sec?

No, you'll get up to ~450 Mb/sec, which is the speed of USB2. I am not sure why the computer is displaying the speed of USB1, which is what you mention. Is that the port that the keyboard is plugged into?

 

[Mr. Incredible]

No, you'll get up to ~450 Mb/sec, which is the speed of USB2. I am not sure why the computer is displaying the speed of USB1, which is what you mention. Is that the port that the keyboard is plugged into?

450 Mb/sec? Sounds good to me.

I'm not sure if it's USB1 or 2, but if you mentioned that it's 1, then I'm not sure why it's like that.

When I clicked:
Apple>About This Mac>More Info...>

It opened a box. On the left side, under Contents, in the Hardware section, I clicked on USB. To the right, there are 2 sections, the USB Device Tree, and the USB Bus.

In the USB Bus section, in the sub section IR Receiver, it says:

Product ID: yada yada yada
Vendor ID: yada yada yada
Version: 0.16
Speed: Up to 1.5 Mb/sec
Manufacturer: Apple Computer, Inc.
Location ID: 0xa buncha other numbers
Current Available (mA): 500
Current Required (mA): 100

In the section above, the USB Device Tree.

Where it says USB High-Speed Bus, it has:
Photosmart C4200 series (printer)
OneTouch (current external hard drive)
Internal Memory Card Reader (not sure what this is)

^Is something wrong with my computer or settings?

 

[Badger^2]

2TB for $120 is too much.

$90 is better: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...m1043X499650Xdfadb0cb5daafb8cfa4b183f20e02f2f

$120 for 3TB is even better (Coupon code "EMCKDKG36): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...m1043X499650X2977216eb2fb96210e434fbd70abc885

Dont get hung up on speeds.

If you want more speed, get the first drive, then add this FW800 "foot" for $20: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Seagate...8199529445&skuId=9948596&st=seagate&cp=1&lp=1

You "About this Mac" should look like this:

Internal memory card reader = SD card reader = that little slot below the DVD

 

[Mr. Incredible]

2TB for $120 is too much.

$90 is better: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...m1043X499650Xdfadb0cb5daafb8cfa4b183f20e02f2f

$120 for 3TB is even better (Coupon code "EMCKDKG36): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...m1043X499650X2977216eb2fb96210e434fbd70abc885

Dont get hung up on speeds.

If you want more speed, get the first drive, then add this FW800 "foot" for $20: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Seagate...8199529445&skuId=9948596&st=seagate&cp=1&lp=1

You "About this Mac" should look like this:

Image

Internal memory card reader = SD card reader = that little slot below the DVD

Image

The coupon that you posted, how long is it good for? Can I use it like in a few weeks?

Unfortunately, my "About this Mac" doesn't look like that. It looks like this:

I have a wireless mighty mouse, and a wireless keyboard, maybe that's the reason to why my keyboard isn't showing up in the USB section?

Does the rest look normal, or too slow?

I took my iMac to the apple store a few months ago to replace my display, because one side was a little messed up, and it took them a few days to fix it. You think they might've swapped anything with my iMac?

Edit: Sorry for the low quality image. I uploaded it on photobucket, can't figure out how to make it look clearer.

 

[Hellhammer]

Look at the high-speed USB buses in System Profiler. The regular USB buses are for internal devices such as the IR receiver and they don't need more than 1.5Mb/s. Your USB ports in the back are USB 2.0, providing up to 480Mb/s (~35MB/s in real world).

 

[Bear]

The Speed: line is the speed of the device that's attached, not the speed of the USB subsystem in the iMac. Looking at my system, I have:

• Speed: Up to 480 Mb/sec
• Speed: Up to 12 Mb/sec
• Speed: Up to 1.5 Mb/sec
• Speed: Up to 480 Mb/sec
• etc

For my currently connected devices. Te IR Receiver for instance doesn't need any speed faster than that. Nor does a mouse need the 480Mb/s. And Bluetooth isn't very fast either, so it connects at a slower speed.

But to answer your question. A USB 3.0 device connected to USB 2.0 will run at USB 2.0 speeds.

 

[sth]

For better performance, you might want to consider a FireWire 800 enclosure. They're noticably faster.