USB 3.0 accessories

[James Silverton]

Hello All!

I am perfectly well convinced that USB 3.0 offers lots of speed
advantages but I am not clear which peripherals are actually presently
available. Can someone give me some examples? I have a new machine with
some 3.0 ports.

--


James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

 

[XS11E]

I am perfectly well convinced that USB 3.0 offers lots of speed
advantages but I am not clear which peripherals are actually
presently available. Can someone give me some examples? I have a
new machine with some 3.0 ports.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=USB+3.0+accessories

 

[Paul]

Hello All!

I am perfectly well convinced that USB 3.0 offers lots of speed
advantages but I am not clear which peripherals are actually presently
available. Can someone give me some examples? I have a new machine with
some 3.0 ports.

There are

1) USB3 hubs (one port to four port)
2) USB3 flash stick (high capacity, moderate speed)
3) USB3 hard drive enclosures (the majority of available product)
4) HDMI/component digitizer for uploading movies from HD cameras (Intensity Shuttle)

http://www.blackmagic-design.com/images/products/intensity/hero-smokey.jpg

I haven't seen any mention of web cams yet. The hard drive
enclosures would be competing with ESATA. And a
recent innovation on ESATA, is the addition of power
pins to the connector, so at least some new ESATA products,
no longer need a power supply. And that is intended to put
ESATA on a more competitive footing, when compared to USB3.

So in terms of "wow factor", USB3 is pretty muted at the
moment. Part of the challenge, is putting high speed I/O for
the USB3 connection, onto cheap chips. It raises the stakes
for the companies that make the chips, and makes their life
more difficult. (It is as hard a transition, as it was for
companies making PCI chips, to put in high speed I/O in
order to do PCI Express.)

The USB3 hard drive enclosure chips, still have a ways to
go in terms of maturity. The best transfer rates to date
are around 200MB/sec (you'd get that with an SSD drive, as
a single hard drive cannot manage to sustain that speed). I've
seen one product announcement, where a RAID0 will be set up
inside a USB3 enclosure, but that won't go any faster
either. It's possible there is some room for improvement,
in the design of the enclosure chips, as they're supposed
to eventually go faster than 200MB/sec. There is a chart
here, with theoretical speed calculations.

http://www.nordichardware.com/index.php?option=com_content&catid=112&lang=en&view=article&id=20792

Paul

 

[Brian Gregory [UK]]

There are

1) USB3 hubs (one port to four port)
2) USB3 flash stick (high capacity, moderate speed)
3) USB3 hard drive enclosures (the majority of available product)
4) HDMI/component digitizer for uploading movies from HD cameras
(Intensity Shuttle)


http://www.blackmagic-design.com/images/products/intensity/hero-smokey.jpg

I haven't seen any mention of web cams yet. The hard drive
enclosures would be competing with ESATA. And a
recent innovation on ESATA, is the addition of power
pins to the connector, so at least some new ESATA products,
no longer need a power supply. And that is intended to put
ESATA on a more competitive footing, when compared to USB3.

So in terms of "wow factor", USB3 is pretty muted at the
moment. Part of the challenge, is putting high speed I/O for
the USB3 connection, onto cheap chips. It raises the stakes
for the companies that make the chips, and makes their life
more difficult. (It is as hard a transition, as it was for
companies making PCI chips, to put in high speed I/O in
order to do PCI Express.)

The USB3 hard drive enclosure chips, still have a ways to
go in terms of maturity. The best transfer rates to date
are around 200MB/sec (you'd get that with an SSD drive, as
a single hard drive cannot manage to sustain that speed). I've
seen one product announcement, where a RAID0 will be set up
inside a USB3 enclosure, but that won't go any faster
either. It's possible there is some room for improvement,
in the design of the enclosure chips, as they're supposed
to eventually go faster than 200MB/sec. There is a chart
here, with theoretical speed calculations.

http://www.nordichardware.com/index.php?option=com_content&catid=112&lang=en&view=article&id=20792

Paul

Presumably, even at this stage, an external USB3 hard drive is a big
improvement on an external USB2 one for applications like imaging your
internal drives for backup purposes.

 

[Kirk Bubul]

Also, I haven't seen any USB3 thumb drives yet. Are they available? If
so, what are their prices like, as compared to USB2 thumb drives.

I've seen Kingston Digital USB 3.0 flash drives that are 16GB and 32GB
for $64 and $99, respectively, on Amazon.com. I've not seen smaller
capacity.

 

[XS11E]

Presumably, even at this stage, an external USB3 hard drive is a
big improvement on an external USB2 one for applications like
imaging your internal drives for backup purposes.

Many computers have external SATA ports and they can be added to older
PCs so I have to wonder if USB3 would offer any advantage for an
external HD? I can see other accessories taking advantage of the speed
but I'm not sure of external HDs.

 

[Brian Gregory [UK]]

Many computers have external SATA ports and they can be added to older
PCs so I have to wonder if USB3 would offer any advantage for an
external HD? I can see other accessories taking advantage of the speed
but I'm not sure of external HDs.

I'd rather have a common connector that I can use (even if at reduced speed)
with virtually any PC.

 

[XS11E]

I'd rather have a common connector that I can use (even if at
reduced speed) with virtually any PC.

Not sure that's relevent. If you're making an image of your computer
why would you want it available on "virtually any PC"?

 

[Ken Blake]

I've seen Kingston Digital USB 3.0 flash drives that are 16GB and 32GB
for $64 and $99, respectively, on Amazon.com. I've not seen smaller
capacity.

Thanks. They are very expensive compared to USB2! Another reason that
I'll wait.

 

[Ken Blake]

Presumably, even at this stage, an external USB3 hard drive is a big
improvement on an external USB2 one for applications like imaging your
internal drives for backup purposes.

Although the USB3 will certainly be faster, I've always done that
overnight. When I do it overnight, it's finished when I get up in the
morning, so I don't really care how long it took.

 

[Flint]

There are

1) USB3 hubs (one port to four port)
2) USB3 flash stick (high capacity, moderate speed)
3) USB3 hard drive enclosures (the majority of available product)
4) HDMI/component digitizer for uploading movies from HD cameras
(Intensity Shuttle)

Plextor just released a USB 3.0 12X BluRay writer in Europe. No word
on when it will hit the shelves in the U.S. however.

http://www.tcmagazine.com/tcm/news/...s-usb-30-supporting-12x-blu-ray-writer-europe

 

[Brian Gregory [UK]]

Not sure that's relevent. If you're making an image of your computer
why would you want it available on "virtually any PC"?

To mount the image and read files off it.

 

[Paul]

Plextor just released a USB 3.0 12X BluRay writer in Europe. No word on
when it will hit the shelves in the U.S. however.

http://www.tcmagazine.com/tcm/news/...s-usb-30-supporting-12x-blu-ray-writer-europe

There is a press release here.

http://www.tru-pr.co.uk/press/clients/plextor/PX-LB950UESpec.pdf

Paul

 

[Miles]

* Paul wrote, On 06-Feb-11 11:00:

There are

1) USB3 hubs (one port to four port)
2) USB3 flash stick (high capacity, moderate speed)
3) USB3 hard drive enclosures (the majority of available product)
4) HDMI/component digitizer for uploading movies from HD cameras (Intensity Shuttle)

http://www.blackmagic-design.com/images/products/intensity/hero-smokey.jpg

I haven't seen any mention of web cams yet. The hard drive
enclosures would be competing with ESATA. And a
recent innovation on ESATA, is the addition of power
pins to the connector, so at least some new ESATA products,
no longer need a power supply. And that is intended to put
ESATA on a more competitive footing, when compared to USB3.

So in terms of "wow factor", USB3 is pretty muted at the
moment. Part of the challenge, is putting high speed I/O for
the USB3 connection, onto cheap chips. It raises the stakes
for the companies that make the chips, and makes their life
more difficult. (It is as hard a transition, as it was for
companies making PCI chips, to put in high speed I/O in
order to do PCI Express.)

The USB3 hard drive enclosure chips, still have a ways to
go in terms of maturity. The best transfer rates to date
are around 200MB/sec (you'd get that with an SSD drive, as
a single hard drive cannot manage to sustain that speed). I've
seen one product announcement, where a RAID0 will be set up
inside a USB3 enclosure, but that won't go any faster
either. It's possible there is some room for improvement,
in the design of the enclosure chips, as they're supposed
to eventually go faster than 200MB/sec. There is a chart
here, with theoretical speed calculations.

http://www.nordichardware.com/index.php?option=com_content&catid=112&lang=en&view=article&id=20792

Paul

Sorry to intrude into this thread, but it's right up my alley. I have
a USB3 external drive for images, etc. The almost new HP laptop is
USB2 with 1 combo port ESATA/USB2. Have been searching to no avail
for a cable USB3 one end and ESATA on the other. Any ideas where to
find it will certainly be appreciated. (In my opinion this would
offer a speed of about 3gb??
Miles

 

[Paul]

Sorry to intrude into this thread, but it's right up my alley. I have a
USB3 external drive for images, etc. The almost new HP laptop is USB2
with 1 combo port ESATA/USB2. Have been searching to no avail for a
cable USB3 one end and ESATA on the other. Any ideas where to find it
will certainly be appreciated. (In my opinion this would offer a speed
of about 3gb??
Miles

There is one here, but read the reviews first.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812270301

The other option, would be to look for a dock, and use
raw drive mechanisms instead. Again, read the reviews, because
this is pretty new technology and might not be perfect.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817392037

Paul

 

[Miles]

* Paul wrote, On 07-Feb-11 20:56:

There is one here, but read the reviews first.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812270301

The other option, would be to look for a dock, and use
raw drive mechanisms instead. Again, read the reviews, because
this is pretty new technology and might not be perfect.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817392037

Paul

Thanks, but these are the reverse of what is needed. I need a female
usb3 (external hard drive) with a male on the other end to connect to
the computer with a female Esata. Much to my surprise, still haven't
found anything.

 

[Paul]

* Paul wrote, On 07-Feb-11 20:56:

Thanks, but these are the reverse of what is needed. I need a female
usb3 (external hard drive) with a male on the other end to connect to
the computer with a female Esata. Much to my surprise, still haven't
found anything.

So you're telling me, you have already purchased a pure, USB3 external
drive (with no other interfaces). And you have a computer with ESATA
interface. And you want a way to go from computer ESATA to USB3 peripheral
hard drive ?

Instead, you would purchase an external hard drive, with both USB3 and ESATA
connectors, so that both options are available to you. At the moment,
most of the available products are USB2 and ESATA, like this.

http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/productimage/17-392-022-06.jpg

I only see a couple which have USB3 and ESATA, and they're multi-drive
enclosures. This is an example of a multi-drive enclosure with both
USB3 and ESATA.

http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/17-707-252-04.jpg

I'm not aware of any protocol conversion, that goes from ESATA packets,
to USB3 protocol. There may not be a one to one mapping.

*******

For $20, you can add a PCI Express USB3 card to a relatively new desktop computer.
You need a PCI Express x1, x4, x8, or x16 connector, to use this. This will
not fit in an old PCI slot.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815124091

Otherwise, if this is a laptop or some other computer, you could just
run a USB3 cable. On this one, the left hand connector fits a USB2
or USB3 connector on the computer, the right hand one fits your
enclosure. You probably already have this cable. The left part should fit
into a USB2 and run at 30MB/sec ? So at least you can get some usage
from it, even if it doesn't do 130MB/sec.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812607020

Paul

 

[Miles]

* Paul wrote, On 20-Mar-11 16:30:

So you're telling me, you have already purchased a pure, USB3 external
drive (with no other interfaces). And you have a computer with ESATA
interface. And you want a way to go from computer ESATA to USB3 peripheral
hard drive ?

Instead, you would purchase an external hard drive, with both USB3 and ESATA
connectors, so that both options are available to you. At the moment,
most of the available products are USB2 and ESATA, like this.

http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/productimage/17-392-022-06.jpg

I only see a couple which have USB3 and ESATA, and they're multi-drive
enclosures. This is an example of a multi-drive enclosure with both
USB3 and ESATA.

http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/17-707-252-04.jpg

I'm not aware of any protocol conversion, that goes from ESATA packets,
to USB3 protocol. There may not be a one to one mapping.

*******

For $20, you can add a PCI Express USB3 card to a relatively new desktop computer.
You need a PCI Express x1, x4, x8, or x16 connector, to use this. This will
not fit in an old PCI slot.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815124091

Otherwise, if this is a laptop or some other computer, you could just
run a USB3 cable. On this one, the left hand connector fits a USB2
or USB3 connector on the computer, the right hand one fits your
enclosure. You probably already have this cable. The left part should fit
into a USB2 and run at 30MB/sec ? So at least you can get some usage
from it, even if it doesn't do 130MB/sec.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812607020

Paul

Yes, it's a laptop on which I'm attempting to achieve US3 speed.
Since I've already purchased a 500gb portable hard drive am looking
for a connector, not another entirely new hard drive - (not certain
the one you are quoting is a small portable or a full size drive?)
Miles

 

[Paul]

Yes, it's a laptop on which I'm attempting to achieve US3 speed. Since
I've already purchased a 500gb portable hard drive am looking for a
connector, not another entirely new hard drive - (not certain the one
you are quoting is a small portable or a full size drive?)
Miles

If the laptop has ESATA, then your best bet would be to shop for an
ESATA enclosure. Chances are, the enclosure will have ESATA and USB2,
so you'll have two options for later.

Here is an example of a 2.5" enclosure for $25. This comes with no
hard drive. You move the hard drive from the old enclosure, to the new
one. The drive just snaps into the internal SATA connector of the
enclosure (very smooth).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817392009

The first review on that one is interesting, as it says:

"eSATA does not work with my Dell Studio 1737 laptop. It works on all
my other systems. Might be the laptop, USB works fine."

The manual here, says the order of connection is ESATA cable first,
then USB cable, and the USB cable carries bus power so that the
drive is powered while you're using ESATA as the data interface.
The order of (hot) connection of cables is important, because the
drive detects which interface to use, based on cable installation
order. You connect the ESATA cable first, so that when the USB cable
is connected second, the drive detects the ESATA termination impedance
and switches to ESATA mode. No data then travels over the USB cable, and
the USB just carries power.

http://www.vantecusa.com/system/application/media/data_file/nst-260_user_manual4.pdf

If you connect just the USB cable, then both data and power flow over the
USB cable and the drive stays in USB mode until it is powered off.

*******

When using ESATA, you need a source of power. The newest form of ESATA
connector is ESATAp, which includes power pins. Both ends of the link
would need to support this new option, for it to work. With ESATAp,
there would be no need to worry about power any more. There is a picture
of the connector here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESATAp

"On a notebook, eSATAp can supply up to 5v to power up a 2.5" HDD/SSD.

On a desktop workstation, it can supply up to 12v to power up larger
devices including 3.5" HDD/SSD or 5.25" optical drives."

*******

The housing of the enclosure also has a +5VDC input jack, which you can
connect an external adapter (or a power only USB cable). If you use an adapter,
then only the ESATA cable needs to be connected to the laptop.

http://images17.newegg.com/is/image/newegg/17-392-009-Z06?$S640W$

If you use the USB2 interface on the enclosure alone, the laptop can power the
hard drive using bus power. Sometimes. As long as the drive doesn't draw
too much power. If the drive installed in the enclosure draws too much power,
then you either need a "Y" USB cable and two available USB ports on the laptop,
or, you can use an external adapter.

*******

In the preceding sections, you can see the focus is on providing a power
source, and making sure the cables are connected in a certain order, in
order that the drive start up in the proper mode. Failure to follow the
rules, either results in the drive using the wrong interface, or the
drive may not have enough power to spin the platters.

*******

It's possible ESATA and USB3, single drive enclosures will show up some
day soon.

I'd say your problem can be solved for $25 and a little work with a screwdriver.
Some pre-built external hard drives, are hard to disassemble, in which case
it is smarter to buy a raw 2.5" hard drive to install in your new enclosure.

Paul

 

[Miles]

* Paul wrote, On 21-Mar-11 14:06:

If the laptop has ESATA, then your best bet would be to shop for an
ESATA enclosure. Chances are, the enclosure will have ESATA and USB2,
so you'll have two options for later.

Here is an example of a 2.5" enclosure for $25. This comes with no
hard drive. You move the hard drive from the old enclosure, to the new
one. The drive just snaps into the internal SATA connector of the
enclosure (very smooth).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817392009

The first review on that one is interesting, as it says:

"eSATA does not work with my Dell Studio 1737 laptop. It works on all
my other systems. Might be the laptop, USB works fine."

The manual here, says the order of connection is ESATA cable first,
then USB cable, and the USB cable carries bus power so that the
drive is powered while you're using ESATA as the data interface.
The order of (hot) connection of cables is important, because the
drive detects which interface to use, based on cable installation
order. You connect the ESATA cable first, so that when the USB cable
is connected second, the drive detects the ESATA termination impedance
and switches to ESATA mode. No data then travels over the USB cable, and
the USB just carries power.

http://www.vantecusa.com/system/application/media/data_file/nst-260_user_manual4.pdf

If you connect just the USB cable, then both data and power flow over the
USB cable and the drive stays in USB mode until it is powered off.

*******

When using ESATA, you need a source of power. The newest form of ESATA
connector is ESATAp, which includes power pins. Both ends of the link
would need to support this new option, for it to work. With ESATAp,
there would be no need to worry about power any more. There is a picture
of the connector here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESATAp

"On a notebook, eSATAp can supply up to 5v to power up a 2.5" HDD/SSD.

On a desktop workstation, it can supply up to 12v to power up larger
devices including 3.5" HDD/SSD or 5.25" optical drives."

*******

The housing of the enclosure also has a +5VDC input jack, which you can
connect an external adapter (or a power only USB cable). If you use an adapter,
then only the ESATA cable needs to be connected to the laptop.

http://images17.newegg.com/is/image/newegg/17-392-009-Z06?$S640W$

If you use the USB2 interface on the enclosure alone, the laptop can power the
hard drive using bus power. Sometimes. As long as the drive doesn't draw
too much power. If the drive installed in the enclosure draws too much power,
then you either need a "Y" USB cable and two available USB ports on the laptop,
or, you can use an external adapter.

*******

In the preceding sections, you can see the focus is on providing a power
source, and making sure the cables are connected in a certain order, in
order that the drive start up in the proper mode. Failure to follow the
rules, either results in the drive using the wrong interface, or the
drive may not have enough power to spin the platters.

*******

It's possible ESATA and USB3, single drive enclosures will show up some
day soon.

I'd say your problem can be solved for $25 and a little work with a screwdriver.
Some pre-built external hard drives, are hard to disassemble, in which case
it is smarter to buy a raw 2.5" hard drive to install in your new enclosure.

Paul

Looks as though it may work; however since I have a iomega eGo with a
nice red case and plastic protector (thick-softener), and there
doesn't appear to be a way of opening the case, don't know if the case
would fit in the NexStar case and if the USB3 female on the drive will
plug ingo the NexStar case. Will need to call NexStar and iOmega to
ascertain if it will work. A lot of trouble and expense when all is
needed is a connector/converter to plug into eSata/USB2 femalecombo
port on the HP, to USB3 female which should be very inexpensive.