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Shopping for external HD: Too bad no eSata and USB 3.0 port

M

mark28

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 29, 2010
1,632
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I just couldn't help to notice all those USB 3.0 external drives on the market now. Even SSD external USB 3.0 drives :eek:

After viewing some benchmarks, eStata and USB 3.0 external hard drives are much faster the Firewire 800 drives. Pretty funny how $800 laptops have USB 3.0 and eStata ports while a $2000 laptop doesn't. :(

Anyway, what do you guys use as external firewire 800 hard drive? The Iomega eGo Mac Edition won the Editors' Choice of 2009, but I'm hearing mixed reviews about it due to high temperatures.
 
Just wondering...what laptops have USB 3.0 already? I searched around on Engadget but couldn't find any. eSATA is fast because it is the same interface as the internal drives. Firewire is not as fast but it is more flexible, as many pro audio and video interfaces use firewire.
 
jclardy said:
Just wondering...what laptops have USB 3.0 already? I searched around on Engadget but couldn't find any. eSATA is fast because it is the same interface as the internal drives. Firewire is not as fast but it is more flexible, as many pro audio and video interfaces use firewire.
Click to expand...

Envy 15 and 17 have 1 USB 3.0 port.
 
while esata is faster, no single 7200 rpm drive maxes out firewire 800 anyways
 
Freyqq said:
while esata is faster, no single 7200 rpm drive maxes out firewire 800 anyways
Click to expand...

False. For example, 2TB Caviar Black provides +110MB/s sustained read performance and nearly 250MB/s burst read performance while FW800 suffers to provide 80MB/s performance. Let alone what RAID 0 setups can provide.

For average Joe, it doesn't matter but if you're doing a lot big file transfers, the extra performance does matter

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/foru...tal-caviar-black-2tb-hard-drive-review-7.html
 
circularforward said:
Envy 15 and 17 have 1 USB 3.0 port.
Click to expand...

MagSafe power port
Gigabit Ethernet port
One FireWire 800 port (up to 800 Mbps)
Mini DisplayPort
Two USB 2.0 ports (up to 480 Mbps)
SD card slot
Audio line in
Audio line out
Kensington lock slot

i do not see any 3.0?

i know it would be nice but theres like 1 external drive with 3.0?

and e sata would be nice as well but to keep weight and size down you must draw the line some where
 
TopHatPlus said:
MagSafe power port
Gigabit Ethernet port
One FireWire 800 port (up to 800 Mbps)
Mini DisplayPort
Two USB 2.0 ports (up to 480 Mbps)
SD card slot
Audio line in
Audio line out
Kensington lock slot

i do not see any 3.0?

i know it would be nice but theres like 1 external drive with 3.0?

and e sata would be nice as well but to keep weight and size down you must draw the line some where
Click to expand...

circularforward meant HP Envy series, not MacBook Pros
 
jclardy said:
Just wondering...what laptops have USB 3.0 already? I searched around on Engadget but couldn't find any. eSATA is fast because it is the same interface as the internal drives. Firewire is not as fast but it is more flexible, as many pro audio and video interfaces use firewire.
Click to expand...

For the cheap laptops that have USB 3.0:
- Most new laptops from Asus.
- Acer Travelmate Timeline 8471-733G32MN
- Toshiba Satellite U500-11E

Most of the new Elitebooks from HP also come with USB 3.0, but they are not cheap.

Actually, that's why USB 3.0 or eStata would be so great. Then I have firewire port free for a pro audio interface. Can you perhaps "chain" a firewire port similar to a USB hub?

edit: I have no idea yet how I will use an audio interface and an external HDD at the same time because USB 2.0 is very slow. Maybe it's just best to keep everthing on the internal drive I suppose.
 
Why waste your time with USB or eSata?? USB is way too slow, it's stupid to put a hard drive on USB. eSata does not provide any bus power, so you need a separate AC adapter to power the external drive.

Firewire 800 provides plenty of bus power to run multiple 2.5" 7200 rpm drives, no AC adapters required, and at 80 MB/s, it provides great performance.
 
Argon21 said:
Why waste your time with USB or eSata?? USB is way too slow, it's stupid to put a hard drive on USB. eSata does not provide any bus power, so you need a separate AC adapter to power the external drive.
Click to expand...

USB is in every laptop - more compatibility, less headaches. FireWire 800 is pretty much Mac only at this point. Some have FireWire 400 which is slightly slower than USB 2.0 anyway.

eSATA is like having the drive connected inside the machine. It's about the fastest it gets. The need for A/C is moot if you really need raw speed. Faster than FireWire 800 speed.
 
revelated said:
I'm talking numbers. FireWire is 400, USB 2.0 is 480, I believe.
Click to expand...

Read the links and you'll understand why the 400 vs 480 doesn't tell the whole story. Those USB numbers are meaningless in actual real-world use.
 
revelated said:
I'm talking numbers. FireWire is 400, USB 2.0 is 480, I believe.
Click to expand...

USB 2.0 struggles to provide sequential speeds of 30MB/s while FW400 can easily provide sequential speeds of over 40MB/s. At least in my experience, USB struggles to provide sequential speeds in general, the speed is jumping all the time from few MB/s to +50MB/s peaks.

Theoretical numbers are simply useless.
 
mark28 said:
I just couldn't help to notice all those USB 3.0 external drives on the market now. Even SSD external USB 3.0 drives :eek:

After viewing some benchmarks, eStata and USB 3.0 external hard drives are much faster the Firewire 800 drives. Pretty funny how $800 laptops have USB 3.0 and eStata ports while a $2000 laptop doesn't. :(

Anyway, what do you guys use as external firewire 800 hard drive? The Iomega eGo Mac Edition won the Editors' Choice of 2009, but I'm hearing mixed reviews about it due to high temperatures.
Click to expand...

I use one of these - http://www.inxtron.com/products/hddmulti/taurus/pdd_superslcm

Has USB 2.0, FW400, 2xFW800 and eSATA.

And if you have the 17" MacBook Pro, you can just get an expresscard adapter for USB 3.0 and/or eSATA :)
 
Argon21 said:
Why waste your time with USB or eSata?? USB is way too slow, it's stupid to put a hard drive on USB. eSata does not provide any bus power, so you need a separate AC adapter to power the external drive.

Firewire 800 provides plenty of bus power to run multiple 2.5" 7200 rpm drives, no AC adapters required, and at 80 MB/s, it provides great performance.
Click to expand...

I need the firewire 800 for an audio interface. Since there is only 1 firewire 800 port, something like USB 3.0 ( which is also powered ) or eStata would have solved my problem.

If I want to use both at the same time, I'm now forced using it on a slower USB 2.0.
 
GGJstudios said:
Read the links and you'll understand why the 400 vs 480 doesn't tell the whole story. Those USB numbers are meaningless in actual real-world use.
Click to expand...

Other people's "real world" testing doesn't always tell the whole story either.

In my experience, USB 2.0 has always blown Firewire 400 away, at least in the Windows world. I don't claim to speak for the Mac world because, of course, the MBP does not have a FireWire 400 port anymore. Again, more compatibility, less headaches.
 
revelated said:
In my experience, USB 2.0 has always blown Firewire 400 away,
Click to expand...
Have any statistics to back that up? Every independent test available shows FW400 outperforming USB 2.0. If you have facts to back up your claim, post them here. Otherwise, "your experience" isn't the least convincing.
 
Argon21 said:
Why waste your time with USB or eSata?? USB is way too slow, it's stupid to put a hard drive on USB. eSata does not provide any bus power, so you need a separate AC adapter to power the external drive.

Firewire 800 provides plenty of bus power to run multiple 2.5" 7200 rpm drives, no AC adapters required, and at 80 MB/s, it provides great performance.
Click to expand...

No, you stick another USB connector into one of the other USB jacks for power. It's common for laptops to have at least three USB jacks. E-SATA is much better and the jack also works as a 2.0 USB.

And btw, where's my HDMI!
--
 
elpmas said:
any brands to recommend?
Click to expand...
Other World Computing (OWC)

OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro™

owcmeaqmaphero350.jpg



OWC Mercury On-The-Go Pro

main_otg_pic2.jpg
 
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