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USB 3.0 Accessories Thread

macduke

macduke

macrumors G5
Original poster
Jun 27, 2007
13,667
21,082
This thread is all about USB 3.0 and accessories that take advantage of the new specification and super speed! USB 3.0 runs at about half the speed of a single Thunderbolt channel, but with the high cost of TB accessories right now and the fact that most devices don't yet saturate 3.0 (except for maybe high-end SSD RAID 0 configs), USB 3.0 brings value and speed right now!

So go forth and search! I'm subscribed to this post, so I'll try to update the list as we go.


USB 3.0 Accessories


Card Readers

Lexar Media Inc. Dual Slot USB 3.0 Reader Professional – $37.37

Hoodman Ruggedized Raw Steel Superspeed USB 3.0 UDMA – $49.95

Kingston MobileLite G3 USB 3.0 Card Reader – $11.74

Transcend USB 3.0 Multi Card Reader – $17.49

Kingston's USB 3.0 Media Reader – $23.74

PixelFlash USB 3.0 Compact Flash Memory Card Reader – $18.95

GYMLE USB 2.0/3.0 Super Speed Professional Multiple Memory Card Reader – $13.98


Docks for Multiple Port Types

Toshiba Dynadock U3.0 Universal USB Connect Docking Station – $149.99

Ports: 4 x USB 3.0, 2 x USB 2.0, 1 x Gigabit Ethernet, 1 x HDMI, 1 x DVI, 1 x line-in mic, 1 x line-out headphone, 3 x line-out 5.1 audio (info via this tech document)


Enclosures

Akitio 3.5" USB 3.0 – $41.94


eSATA

eSATA Vantec NexStar eSATA to USB 3.0 Adapter – $19.99

BYTECC SuperSpeed USB 3.0 to eSATA 3Gbs Adapter – $19.99

Mukii ZIO-Q050U3-BK USB3.0 to eSATA Dongle – $21.99

Newer Technology eSATA to USB 3.0 Adapter – $24.99


Ethernet (Gigabit)

Toshiba Dynadock U3.0 Universal USB Connect Docking Station – $149.99 // This is the same dock as listed above in the Dock section, but listed here because it's the only gigabit ethernet port we've seen listed that runs on USB 3.0.


Flash Drives (Speedy)

There are many models to choose from. I tried to narrow it down based on reviews and top speed since the reason to get the USB 3.0 version is for speed. Too bad many of these drives seem bulkier and uglier than many of the 2.0 drives I've owned. Also note that many of these come in alternate sizes.

Mushkin Enhanced Ventura Pro 32GB – $42.99 // Read: 120MB/s Write: 70MB/s

ADATA N005 Pro 64GB – $89.99 // Read: 180MB/s Write: 90MB/s

Patriot Supersonic Magnum 64GB – $89.99 // Read: 200MB/s Write: 120MB/s

Kingston HyperX DataTraveler HyperX 3.0 128GB – $237.99 // Read: 225MB/s Write: 135MB/s

Transcend JetFlash 780 8GB – $17.99 // Read: 100MB/s Write: 20MB/s

Sony 16GB Micro Vault USM-Q – $29.99 // Read: 120MB/s Write: Unknown

Lexar JumpDrive Triton 16GB – $46.99 // Read: 145MB/s Write: 110MB/s

Verbatim Store 'n' Go 32GB – $53.35 // Read: 120MB/s Write: 70MB/s

Super Talent RAIDDrive 128 GB – $426.34 // Read: 300MB/s (firmware upgrade to 370MB/s) Write: 160MB/s


Hard Drives (Desktop)

Western Digital My Book Essential 1TB – $99.99

Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Desk 3TB – $149.99

BUFFALO DriveStation Axis 3TB – $184.99

Verbatim Store n Save 2TB – $129.99

Hitachi 1TB Touro Desk DX3 – $89.00

Iomega 1TB eGo Charcoal – $129.00

LaCie Minimus 2TB – $139.00

LaCie 2TB LaCie d2 Quadra – $196.00


Hard Drives (Portable)


Western Digital 320GB My Passport Essential – $64.95

Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex 500GB Ultra-Portable – $79.99

BUFFALO 500GB Black External Hard Drive – $81.99

ADATA DashDrive Durable Series HD710 1TB Black Water & Shock Proof – $119.99

Western Digital My Passport 2TB – $199.99

TOSHIBA Canvio 1TB – $99.99

LaCie Rikiki 500GB – $82.95

LaCie 500GB F.A. Porsche Designed – $94.00

LaCie Rugged Mini 500GB – $94.95

Seagate 1TB FreeAgent GoFlex – $94.99 * I have owned this for around 8 months and recommend it.

Seagate 500GB GoFlex Turbo (7200RPM) – $99.95

Buffalo 1TB MiniStation Stealth – $113.71


Hard Drives (RAID Arrays)

Buffalo 2TB DriveStation Duo

Newer Techn Guardian MAXimus Enclosure Q 2-Drive RAID 1 & Two 1TB Hard Drive Kit – $314.90

LaCie 2TB 2big – $315.00

OWC 6 TB Mercury Elite-AL Pro Quad Interface External Dual Drive Array with RAID 0 – $529.00


Hard Drives (SSD)

Transcend 64 GB 1.8" (4.57 cm) Portable SSD – $89.99 // Read: 260MB/s Write: 110MB/s

Transcend 128 GB 1.8" (4.57 cm) Portable SSD – $139.95 // Read: 260MB/s Write: 200MB/s

Iomega External SSD 64GB – $139 // Read: 265MB/s Write: 215MB/s

OWC 256GB m4 SSD 2.5" & Mercury Elite Pro Mini Combo Interface Case – $254.99 // Read: 500MB/s Write: 260MB/s

OWC 720GB Vertex 3 2.5" SSD & Mercury Elite Pro Mini Combo Interface Case – $712 // Read: 550MB/s Write: 520MB/s

Verbatim Store 'n' Go 64 GB External SSD – $184.64 // Read: 160MB/s Write: 120MB/s


Hubs – USB 3.0 to 3.0/2.0

Uspeed USB 3.0 7 port Hub with USB 3.0 Cable and Power Adapter – $49.98

Aluratek 4-Port USB 3.0 SuperSpeed Hub – $39.99

IOGEAR SuperSpeed USB 3.0 4-Port Hub – $36.45

D-Link 4-Port SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Hub – $45.24


SATA

NewerTech Universal Drive Adapter – $29.99

Syba USB 3.0 to SATA Device Adapter Cable with AC Adapter – $25.87

Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Upgrade Cable USB 3.0 – $22.97


Thunderbolt to USB 3.0 Hub

…


WIFI Gigabit 802.11ac

…

.
 
Last edited:
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Even better:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/thunderbolt-hdd-blu-ray-dock,news-38812.html

----------
Macman45 said:
How about a USB 3 Blu Ray Burner....quite a few out there, just an example



http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/725692-REG/Buffalo_BR3D_12U3_USB_3_0_12X_Blu_ray.html
Click to expand...

Not necessary. Optical Drives just barely saturate USB 2 at full speed so USB 2 is more than sufficient. It's not worth it if you're paying a premium for a USB 3 version.

I am planning to get myself one of these:

http://www.caldigit.com/VR2/

Host Interface:
eSATA x 1
FireWire 800 x 2
FireWire 400 x 1
USB 3.0 x 1

Interface Transfer Rate:
eSATA: up to 3Gbits/s
FireWire 800: up to 800Mbits/s
FireWire 400: up to 400Mbits/s
USB 3.0: up to 5Gbits/s

RAID Function:
Supports RAID 0, 1, Spanning, JBOD
Automatically online fast disk rebuilding
Automatic disk failure detection
Hot swappable disks
USB 3.0 & eSATA do not support JBOD

What's nice about USB 3 is that you can get a fairly cheap 2.5" USB 3 enclosure and easily add a SSD to your iMac without taking it apart.

I also like these things if you're looking for extra storage for your MBA

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/64gb...rx-pendrive-usb-30-read-225mb-s-write-135mb-s
 
Last edited:
theSeb said:
Even better:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/thunderbolt-hdd-blu-ray-dock,news-38812.html

----------



Not necessary. Optical Drives just barely saturate USB 2 at full speed so USB 2 is more than sufficient. It's not worth it if you're paying a premium for a USB 3 version.

I am planning to get myself one of these:

http://www.caldigit.com/VR2/

Host Interface:
eSATA x 1
FireWire 800 x 2
FireWire 400 x 1
USB 3.0 x 1

Interface Transfer Rate:
eSATA: up to 3Gbits/s
FireWire 800: up to 800Mbits/s
FireWire 400: up to 400Mbits/s
USB 3.0: up to 5Gbits/s

RAID Function:
Supports RAID 0, 1, Spanning, JBOD
Automatically online fast disk rebuilding
Automatic disk failure detection
Hot swappable disks
USB 3.0 & eSATA do not support JBOD

What's nice about USB 3 is that you can get a fairly cheap 2.5" USB 3 enclosure and easily add a SSD to your iMac without taking it apart.

I also like these things if you're looking for extra storage for your MBA

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/64gb...rx-pendrive-usb-30-read-225mb-s-write-135mb-s
Click to expand...


One thing I'm not short on is storage....I have a new Pegasus R4 in addition to a 3TB TC which now is only backing up my MBP and MBA...I'm not actually jumping on the retina this year...but there will be plenty of USB 3 accessories coming out for the new MBP.
 
Macman45 said:
One thing I'm not short on is storage....I have a new Pegasus R4 in addition to a 3TB TC which now is only backing up my MBP and MBA...I'm not actually jumping on the retina this year...but there will be plenty of USB 3 accessories coming out for the new MBP.
Click to expand...

I am kicking myself for not ordering one before the prices jumped up with the flooding. Unfortunately the prices have not returned to their previous levels and I was expecting to be ordering my sandy bridge mac pro last night, which would have taken care of my fast storage needs.
 
macduke said:
[*]Possible TB to USB 3.0 two port hub?
Click to expand...

This would make a great addition to the 2011 iMacs that have not been updated to USB 3 (or for those of us with other legacy thunderbolt equipment).

I hope that someone steps up and makes a simple box with 2 thunderbolt ports (1 in/1 out) for daisy chaining (many of the 2011 models only have 1 thunderbolt port), and 2 or more USB 3.0 ports.

Only thing I have heard is a couple of "dock" type hubs, but they are very expensive, and include unnecessary (for me) ports such as speaker and mic jacks, Ethernet jacks, etc.
 
When I got my new camera, I got this USB 3 cf card reader from Hoodman.

RAW Steel

Dale
 
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This is cool too, Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex USB 3.0 Upgrade Cable.

Designed to attach to Seagate external drives but actually you can use it to connect any bare SATA drive to a USB 3 port, and for only £$20-25.
 

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I have beek using a Sandisk USB3.0 card reader via my hacked USB3.0 express card.

USB3.0 card readers are must have for any photographer, amateur or pro, as today's digital camera produce enormous files. Once you taste the 90MB/s... there's no way in the world one would go back the the 2xMB/s of those USB2.0
 
JasonH42 said:
This is cool too, Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex USB 3.0 Upgrade Cable.

Designed to attach to Seagate external drives but actually you can use it to connect any bare SATA drive to a USB 3 port, and for only £$20-25.
Click to expand...

That's the cable that came with my 1TB GoFlex! I remembering picking that up right before the hard drive prices skyrocketed. Got the drive for about $80. I ended up buying a FireWire adapter so I could get more speed. Guess I'll have to dig out that 3.0 cable now! Thanks for reminding me about it. I'll be interested to run some benchmarks and see how much faster that drive is under USB 3.0. Bet the improvements are modest but still improvements. Wouldn't be surprised for it to bump from 75MB/s on FW up to around 100MB/s. It sure would be fun to hook an SSD up to that and see what happens!

----------

I updated the list with some of the suggestions so far. I really like the plugin design of the Kingston reader, but it doesn't support CF cards. So far I like the aesthetics of the Lexar reader the best. But I prefer the plugin style "thumb drive" look that is smaller. I've had a really great USB 2.0 one from PQI for years that has taken a ton of abuse. I'm always throwing it into different bags and it has never failed me. Just wish that the 18mp RAW files and 1080p video from my 7D transferred faster since I have a pile of pretty fast CF cards. Time to go research!
 
Macman45 said:
One thing I'm not short on is storage....I have a new Pegasus R4 in addition to a 3TB TC which now is only backing up my MBP and MBA...I'm not actually jumping on the retina this year...but there will be plenty of USB 3 accessories coming out for the new MBP.
Click to expand...

I've bit the bullet and ordered the R4 yesterday. This is YOUR fault. I wanted at least 4 bays and RAID 5.
 
uaecasher said:
does anyone know if the GoFlex SATA adapter is 3.0 or 2.0?
Click to expand...

Everything listed in the main post should be USB 3.0 (including the GoFlex, which I own).

----------

I've been updating the list with things I find but I'd like more help from the community. Please keep adding stuff guys! I've been looking for smaller flash drives (since many 3.0 ones are huge), and better looking accessories for things like hubs, etc. Guess we might just have to wait for Belkin and the like to come out with some better looking gear (at a higher price no doubt). Hopefully all the well-known Mac accessory makers out there with their superior designs will start rolling out USB 3.0 accessories over the coming weeks and months.

Keep the submissions coming! I want this thread to become massive.
 
macduke said:
Everything listed in the main post should be USB 3.0 (including the GoFlex, which I own).

----------

I've been updating the list with things I find but I'd like more help from the community. Please keep adding stuff guys! I've been looking for smaller flash drives (since many 3.0 ones are huge), and better looking accessories for things like hubs, etc. Guess we might just have to wait for Belkin and the like to come out with some better looking gear (at a higher price no doubt). Hopefully all the well-known Mac accessory makers out there with their superior designs will start rolling out USB 3.0 accessories over the coming weeks and months.

Keep the submissions coming! I want this thread to become massive.
Click to expand...


No, I meant of the SATA is 3.0 i.e the 6Gbps not the 3Gbps
 
I can recommend the InXtron (was MacPower) SK-3500 Super-S3 SK3-SBU3OS (eSATA, FW800, USB3). This enclosure is also one of the best enclosures if you need a fast FW800 HDD (supports also FW800 daisy chaining). I use it together with a Western Digital 3 TB WD30EZRX. Make sure that you use the correct jumper settings because the enclosure supports "only" SATA-II, and the HDD uses SATA-III. Runs very cool and silent.

I'm sure you can use one of the 4 TB drives (Hitachi) within this enclosure. Should be good for smaller HD video projects (1-2 hour(s) uncompressed 1080p, for example) or for really fast Time Machine backups.
 
dumb question?

OK so I ordered the new macbook pro retina as well as an external usb 3.0 hard drive. It is the silicon power A80 1 tb and it is usb 3.0. On their website it says that it only runs at USB 2.0 on macs. Would that just be because at the time of that being written, there weren't any 3.0 ports on macs? Or would an external usb 3.0 drive actually not work on a mac with the 3.0 port?? I need help because I don't want to be stuck with a drive that runs way slower than it should.:confused:
 
maxorific1 said:
OK so I ordered the new macbook pro retina as well as an external usb 3.0 hard drive. It is the silicon power A80 1 tb and it is usb 3.0. On their website it says that it only runs at USB 2.0 on macs. Would that just be because at the time of that being written, there weren't any 3.0 ports on macs? Or would an external usb 3.0 drive actually not work on a mac with the 3.0 port?? I need help because I don't want to be stuck with a drive that runs way slower than it should.:confused:
Click to expand...

most probably that was written before wwdc
 
JasonH42 said:
This is cool too, Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex USB 3.0 Upgrade Cable.

Designed to attach to Seagate external drives but actually you can use it to connect any bare SATA drive to a USB 3 port, and for only £$20-25.
Click to expand...

This came with my Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Ultra Portable 1 TB hard drive. I am only getting the speeds in the picture that I have attached. Seems sluggish?
 

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Any word on cheaper PCIe USB 3.0 cards for the Mac pro now that OSX seems to have some form of native support?
 
undies1993 said:
This came with my Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex Ultra Portable 1 TB hard drive. I am only getting the speeds in the picture that I have attached. Seems sluggish?
Click to expand...

I'm about to buy one of thos Seagate Freeagent Goflex USB3 drives. Are you still seeing those speeds? I would expect it to be faster.

Any advice on format? Is it ok to reformat to Mac OS Extended (Journaled)?
 
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