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Usb 3.0

K

kigru

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 3, 2008
26
0
Hi, ive been doing some research since i have been in the market for a portable firewire externeral enclousre. I came across an aritcle that mentioned the capbilities of usb 3.0. I found more articles claiming that even with that type of technolgy old systerms would not be compatible. How true is that?

some background info of my situation: im a mobile djay, and ive been experiencing lag with my external 2.5 when i have it connected through usb. This is my only option since im still in college and can not store all my music on my mbp. im wondering if this set up
will help, whats your opinion. i have a mbp 2.33 (one before santa rosa)
thanks.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16839729001&cm_re=usb_3.0-_-39-729-001-_-Product
 
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most products are backwards compatible with usb2.0, but you always have to check the product itself of course. But generally there will be full backwards support :)
 
Why don't you try a firewire enclosure instead - it's significantly faster than USB. But generally for a disk used for accessing music I would think USB would be fast enough to handle whatever you're doing. Then again, maybe your software requires more access to the drive than I realize.

Perhaps the drive is spinning down, and the lag you're experiencing is the time it takes to spin the drive back up before it can read again. I know this happens to me with my 3.5" drives and causes a beach ball for about 4 seconds while they spin up.
 
silencer88 said:
Why don't you try a firewire enclosure instead - it's significantly faster than USB. But generally for a disk used for accessing music I would think USB would be fast enough to handle whatever you're doing. Then again, maybe your software requires more access to the drive than I realize.

Perhaps the drive is spinning down, and the lag you're experiencing is the time it takes to spin the drive back up before it can read again. I know this happens to me with my 3.5" drives and causes a beach ball for about 4 seconds while they spin up.
Click to expand...

maybe its worth unticking "put hard drives to sleep" in the energy pane in system preferences?
 
If you want to get a good product, then I would recommend a good 2.5" FW800 enclosure. Since you have an older computer, and you didn't mention if it was the 17" (which has the expresscard slot) USB3 would only be of use on computers with that port.

EDIT: turns out that link was worth looking at before writing that reply. So, you need to make sure that drivers exist for that card.

DoFoT9 said:
maybe its worth unticking "put hard drives to sleep" in the energy pane in system preferences?
Click to expand...

Might work. However some external drives have their own power controllers, so they will spin down regardless of how the settings are set in OS X. WD drives will do that.
 
I think I read elsewhere on this forum that USB 3.0 drivers don't exist for Macs yet. You may be better off with an E-SATA + USB2.0 express card. You can then use E-SATA external drives and use the USB2.0 port for power. The max speed of a 2.5" drive is well below the E-SATA and USB3.0 maximum so I doubt you would notice a performance decrease with E-SATA.
 
sammich said:
Might work. However some external drives have their own power controllers, so they will spin down regardless of how the settings are set in OS X. WD drives will do that.
Click to expand...
true - didnt think of that. im not sure if my WD spins down. never checked.

sammich said:
Actually, I saw this before:

http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/pr...e/?intcmp=bac-en-us-home-h_hero1-goflexlaunch

It's basically a dock/drive that will let you buy new adaptors as they come out. If you say buy the basic USB2 version of the dock/drive now, and then finally Apple releases a USB3 Macbook, all you need to do is buy the USB3 adaptor and connect it at that speed.
Click to expand...

i couldnt even stand looking at that site, let alone the video lol. why not buy a USB3.0 hard drive now? it will still work with all other computers.
 
sammich said:
If you want to get a good product, then I would recommend a good 2.5" FW800 enclosure. Since you have an older computer, and you didn't mention if it was the 17" (which has the expresscard slot) USB3 would only be of use on computers with that port.

EDIT: turns out that link was worth looking at before writing that reply. So, you need to make sure that drivers exist for that card.



Might work. However some external drives have their own power controllers, so they will spin down regardless of how the settings are set in OS X. WD drives will do that.
Click to expand...

i have a 15inch 2.33 with an express slot

thanks for all the feedback, there were a few post i wanted to comment back on but figured i would address them here.

i know that most externals are backward compatible.

what i wanted to know was, would i be able to utilize the full capability of usb 3.0 with that kit through my express slot on my macbook pro? if it seems like i wont be able to then


i run traktor pro on my computer when i dj. i use both my external and internal hard drive for song selection, but i am mostly worried about a beach ball during a set. i just want faster, less lag, and less power consuming way to get my music to play so i dont look like fool in the middle of a set.
 
kigru said:
i have a 15inch 2.33 with an express slot

thanks for all the feedback, there were a few post i wanted to comment back on but figured i would address them here.

i know that most externals are backward compatible.

what i wanted to know was, would i be able to utilize the full capability of usb 3.0 with that kit through my express slot on my macbook pro? if it seems like i wont be able to then


i run traktor pro on my computer when i dj. i use both my external and internal hard drive for song selection, but i am mostly worried about a beach ball during a set. i just want faster, less lag, and less power consuming way to get my music to play so i dont look like fool in the middle of a set.
Click to expand...

Expresscard support for USB3 might arrive in 2011. I'd give a 50:50 chance of happening.
 
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