Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

USB 3.0/Type C External Hard drive

I've been using 2x Atom SSD's from Glyph, very happy with them.

One is RAID-0 2TB and flies!!!

https://www.cnet.com/products/glyph-atom-ssd/review/

f6d3ed74f5f04a018e1c45dc90853815.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: SackJabbit
I use 3 drives; 2 seagate go 2tb and 1 western digital 2tb. They're USB 3.0 and while they didn't originally come with USB-C cables, when I upgraded to the new MBP, I purchased usb-c cables for $7 rather than use adapters. Everything works perfectly.

Seagate
https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Back...F8&qid=1481171146&sr=1-1&keywords=seagate+2tb

WD
https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Por...481171150&sr=8-2&keywords=western+digital+2tb

USB C cables
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00Z5XFH82/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
I don't see the point of these expensive external SSD products when you can easily put together a faster one much cheaper:

1 X Satechi Type-C USB 3.1 10Gbps enclosure - $30 - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FWT2N4E/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

1 X Sandisk Ultra II 1TB SSD (550MB/s read 500MB/s write) - $194 (at time of purchase) - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00M8ABHVQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

So for under $230 bucks you get a blazing fast 1TB USB-C 3.1 10Gbps external SSD solution.
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
triumph71 said:
I don't see the point of these expensive external SSD products when you can easily put together a faster one much cheaper:

1 X Satechi Type-C USB 3.1 10Gbps enclosure - $30 - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FWT2N4E/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

1 X Sandisk Ultra II 1TB SSD (550MB/s read 500MB/s write) - $194 (at time of purchase) - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00M8ABHVQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

So for under $230 bucks you get a blazing fast 1TB USB-C 3.1 10Gbps external SSD solution.
Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with that option, but I wanted something more rugged, smaller than 2.5in, and faster (getting over 800mb/s write speeds).
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
triumph71 said:
1 X Sandisk Ultra II 1TB SSD (550MB/s read 500MB/s write) - $194 (at time of purchase) - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00M8ABHVQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

So for under $230 bucks you get a blazing fast 1TB USB-C 3.1 10Gbps external SSD solution.
Click to expand...

See the problem?
SATA III and USB 3.0 (3.1 Gen1) share roughly the same bandwidth, you only gain about 80 MB/s by going 3.1 Gen 2 10 Gbit/s, because now your SATA-SSD becomes the bottleneck.

But yeah, if you don't care about getting the smallest package possible that's a cheap and easy solution, just don't expect 10 Gbit/s.
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
triumph71 said:
I don't see the point of these expensive external SSD products when you can easily put together a faster one much cheaper:

1 X Satechi Type-C USB 3.1 10Gbps enclosure - $30 - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FWT2N4E/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

1 X Sandisk Ultra II 1TB SSD (550MB/s read 500MB/s write) - $194 (at time of purchase) - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00M8ABHVQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

So for under $230 bucks you get a blazing fast 1TB USB-C 3.1 10Gbps external SSD solution.
Click to expand...
I thought about it,but the size/portability was most appealing to me. The PNY drive is that not that much larger than a CF card.
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
LS417 said:
I've been using 2x Atom SSD's from Glyph, very happy with them.
One is RAID-0 2TB and flies!!!
Click to expand...

I just received the Glyph Atom RAID today and been processing video on it all day. Reformatted it as exFAT and benchmarked it at 804MB/s, 560MB/s read/write. Super awesome drive and nice of them to include a 3.1gen USB-C and 3.0 USB-A cable with it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: LS417
I have a T3 and it is awesome. Just make sure the USB-C -> USB-C cable you buy is actually USB 3.0 speeds, a ton of them are just charging cables that only support USB 2 speeds.
 
jclardy said:
I have a T3 and it is awesome. Just make sure the USB-C -> USB-C cable you buy is actually USB 3.0 speeds, a ton of them are just charging cables that only support USB 2 speeds.
Click to expand...

Finding a 0.3 to 0.5 m cable with 5 to 10 Gbit/s and USB-C on both ends is a pure nightmare.
USB-C to A? Sure, hundreds of.
USB-C to C? Only USB 2.0 speeds and right length or right speeds but way too long.
 
Wowereit said:
Finding a 0.3 to 0.5 m cable with 5 to 10 Gbit/s and USB-C on both ends is a pure nightmare.
USB-C to A? Sure, hundreds of.
USB-C to C? Only USB 2.0 speeds and right length or right speeds but way too long.
Click to expand...
Really? Why is that hard?

Here's a bunch of them:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vnpEXfo2HCGADdd9G2x9dMDWqENiY2kgBJUu29f_TX8/edit#gid=0

I've personally tested the Targus one. Works great, delivers the full wattage that the MBP can use.

Edit: sorry, didn't read the premise: you need 1 to 2 ft. cable.
 
vishavg said:
Hi everyone,

I picked up the new macbook pro and I'm in search for an external hard drive that has both usb-c and usb 3.0 compatibility. I haven't seen a thread for external hard drive options, so thought I might as well start one. I know many people are looking into this. What are your suggestions?

The two I'm looking at currently:

http://www.lacie.com/ca/en/personal/porsche-design/porsche-design-mobile-drive/
- charging ability through usb-c

http://www.g-technology.com/products/g-drive-mobile-usb-c

thanks
Click to expand...

Lacie is a terrible terrible company who for years have knowingly put out bad, buggy, unstable drives and their customer service is terrible. There was a class action against them a few years back for this very reason.

I have a G-Tech and like if very much.

BUT… you should also look into OWC (macsales.com) enclosures w/ hardware RAID. A lot of people love them. I have one of the older FW800/USB3.0 models, and it's quiet and very high quality.

Samsung also makes a zipply little USBC 3.1 SSD drive, for smaller, on-the-go work.
 
  • Like
Reactions: cerberusss
iizmoo said:
Exactly what I want to plug into my $2000 MBP :)

I'll just wait a few months for Anker to maker a shorter cable, I have their C-C and C-A cables, just happened to be 3ft-ers...
Click to expand...
Yes, that is the best. That said, I think these cables are probably fine for data purposes. I wouldn't send 89 watts over it, though. Problem of course is, you're starting to mix overly cheap, possibly dangerous cables into your equipment.
 
cerberusss said:
That would work, yes.
Click to expand...

I remember reading above somewhere that a charging cable won't work. That's why I asked initially. Can someone give me a run down on how to tell if cables are compatible. For my knowledge the mac ports are female, and they require a female to male cable to work?

speaking of anker, I found this hub on amz.ca, not sure amz.com has it but it seems to be the best hub for the price, if you only require 4 usb 3.0, hdmi, and usb c.
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B01B782PN8/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A142BGUZC6UH73&psc=1
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
vishavg said:
I remember reading above somewhere that a charging cable won't work. That's why I asked initially. Can someone give me a run down on how to tell if cables are compatible. For my knowledge the mac ports are female, and they require a female to male cable to work?
Click to expand...

I have the feeling that you're mixing up your USB-C and USB-A/B cables...

To repeat, the general wish for USB-C is as follows: only one cable (USB-C male/male) will be used for connecting harddisk with laptops, laptops with chargers, etc. Thus, both data and power flow over the USB-C cable.

Now, there's a bunch of existing devices, and these used to have USB-A (male) to USB-B (male) cables. To hook them up with your macbook, you can either get a dongle from Apple or replace the cable with an USB-C (male) to USB-B (male) cable. Over such cables, only data flows. And yes, a little bit of power, enough to power the external device.
 
  • Like
Reactions: schmidti91
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back