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MAC moving from FW800 to eSATA?

M

Macademy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 13, 2010
16
0
FL
Who knows what the real deal is on these rumors?

I hear that FW800 will soon/eventually be replaced on Macs with eSATA.

Any truth to this? If so, how would current equipment be adaptable?

I ask because I JUST BOUGHT new Macs and am looking at some external drives and need to decide if FW800 port is a must or not?

thanks all.
 
I've yet to run across anything in a best buy powered by esata, and barely anything by FW.
 
Even if that occurs, it will not be an over night transition. If you just purchased new macs, then don't worry. Buy external drives that have both FW and eSATA ports. OWC sells them. Of course by the time you need to replace your macs, you'll probably want to get new external drives as well. Buy what you need now and don't worry about future technology.
 
Good advice thanks.

a few general questions...
how does one get notified by the Forum (perhaps by email?) that their discussion thread was answered)...Or when they wish to follow a thread?

is there an adaptor made to go from FW800 to eSATA?

I can save $ by not buying a FW800 drive.
 
General: I've been watching this for at least a couple of years, and using eSATA via ExpressCard 34 adapters on a MBP. Haven't seen any indication that Apple is going to go to eSATA, though it would have been easy to do (the Intel chipsets could support an additional SATA device easily), and it's appeared on some PC desktops and laptops.

I suspect that they are going to skip eSATA completely, and go straight to Intel Light Peak (10GB/s). Maybe USB 3, as well. See
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khPx1dEIPnA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfGevFIVKw4
and search for more info. They're claiming that cards may be available by end of this year, and systems by early next year.

Macademy said:
Good advice thanks.

(1) a few general questions...
how does one get notified by the Forum (perhaps by email?) that their discussion thread was answered)...Or when they wish to follow a thread?

(2) is there an adaptor made to go from FW800 to eSATA?

I can save $ by not buying a FW800 drive.
Click to expand...

Re (1): go to your Control Panel ("User CP" top left on page). You can control whether you are automatically subscribed to threads you create/post to. Also, under "Thread Tools", you can subscribe to a thread you haven't posted to.

Re (2): I haven't seen one, but you could google for it.
 
ruftytufty said:
General: I've been watching this for at least a couple of years, and using eSATA via ExpressCard 34 adapters on a MBP.
Click to expand...

this would work on my MBP... what speed does it run at? Is it same as FW800 would be, or does it reach eSATA speeds?

Also, Do you know of a solution for Mac Mini which doesn't have a card slot?
 
Macademy said:
this would work on my MBP... what speed does it run at? Is it same as FW800 would be, or does it reach eSATA speeds?

Also, Do you know of a solution for Mac Mini which doesn't have a card slot?
Click to expand...

full eSATA speed (which you'll only see if you use a 2-port expresscard, and are transferring between 2 external drives - if you're transferring between the internal drive and external, you'll probably be limited by the speed of the internal drive, at least at current laptop drive speeds).

regarding macs w/no expresscard or other card slots: i just decided to google "esata firewire adapter", and turned up this thread and device:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/766979/

expensive ($130), and only supports "direct connect" enclosures (read tthat thread and the referenced forums carefully), but would appear to work at FW800 speeds.
 
Wouldn't something like this work for a Mac Pro? Just connect the inner sata connector to an empty drive bay.

manystyles-esata-pci-bracket.jpg
 
quantum003 said:
Wouldn't something like this work for a Mac Pro? Just connect the inner sata connector to an empty drive bay.

manystyles-esata-pci-bracket.jpg
Click to expand...

Yes.

Connect to either the two empty SATA ports on the motherboard on the older models, or on the newest ones, either to the second optical drive SATA port or an empty HDD carrier port.

I have that same cable inside of my Core i7 PC.

Though it also has a Molex out cable, so I can connect internal SATA drives outside of it. Makes it handy for repair work.
 
ReanimationLP said:
Yes.

Connect to either the two empty SATA ports on the motherboard on the older models, or on the newest ones, either to the second optical drive SATA port or an empty HDD carrier port.

I have that same cable inside of my Core i7 PC.

Though it also has a Molex out cable, so I can connect internal SATA drives outside of it. Makes it handy for repair work.
Click to expand...

Great info... and if you wouldn't mind... a simpler recap verification because I'm a novice.

My equipment is brand new (just recv'd this week):
1 ea - Mac Mini 2.53/4GB/320
1 ea - 13.3" Mac Book Pro 2.53/4GB/250
1 ea - Drobo 04 w/2 ea - 1TB WD Caviar Green drives, plus 1 ea - 1.5TB WD Caviar Green drive
1 ea - Tripp Lite UPS

Objectives and current thinking for MAC equipment:
1. video capture 250+ hrs of mini DV Standard def (1 hr tapes)
- capture, logging, EDL with Final Cut Express
- files then to be transferred to a professional editor (yet to be determined)
- editing for online and documentary use is most likely to be in FCPro
- I may do some editing in FCE too (or purchase FCP for my system - IF I HAVE TO)

2. I'm toying with the idea of capturing simultaneously to each machines internal hard drive, then batch transferring to the Drobo ext drives

3. I also have 2 ea - Dell PC laptops with USB/FW400/4 pin ports
- I am buying another external drive primarily for entire system backup protection (looking at Fantom Green Drive 1TB Quad because it has USB/IEEE/FW400/800 & eSata ports)
- I am also considering future use of connecting or transferring data to this drive from my MAC equipment. I realize this requires that I set the drive up as (FAT 32).
- Does FAT 32 reduce speed or quality in any way (especially for PC backup use, if I NEVER end up using it with my MACs)?

Am I on-target with any of this so far???

4. MY GOAL in this thread was to:
a) make sure I was purchasing the right equipment (not over or under purchasing drives/cables)
b) determine best use setup for highest transfer rates in any/all configurations

Considering this picture, can I and how would I use/connect the suggested cabling?

AND what about the latest post referencing USB 3.0... I don't think any of my systems have that capacity.

Thanks for the guidance...
 
ruftytufty said:
Re (1): go to your Control Panel ("User CP" top left on page). You can control whether you are automatically subscribed to threads you create/post to. Also, under "Thread Tools", you can subscribe to a thread you haven't posted to.
Click to expand...

thanks.
 
I find moving away from FW800 doubtful. eSATA is very very fast (3gbits/sec) but has one serious, well I wouldn't say "flaw". Let's say "aspect". It's not hot-pluggable like USB or FW. You have to start the machine up with the eSATA device connected and on.

This would likely leave out most laptop owners, especially MacBook owners as they tend to sleep their computers rather than fully shutting them down when moving them.
 
You people seem to forget, Firewire serves far more than drives.

There are no eSATA audio interfaces, nor likely will there ever be as the standard does not support communication for audio, it is storage only. If iMacs didn't have FW800, then everyone I know who has bought one would not have done.

Apple will not ditch FW for eSATA. At best it will be included alongside FW, but that is also very unlikely. Light Peak and USB3 are far more versatile than eSATA.
 
patrick0brien said:
I find moving away from FW800 doubtful. eSATA is very very fast (3gbits/sec) but has one serious, well I wouldn't say "flaw". Let's say "aspect". It's not hot-pluggable like USB or FW. You have to start the machine up with the eSATA device connected and on.
.
Click to expand...

That is not true. eSATA can be hot swappable providing the controller and driver support it.
 
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