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ThunderBolt to USB 3 cable anywhere?
I’ve done the requisite searches and have not seen one. I know Apple makes a ThunderBolt to FireWire 800 cable for about $30, but that’s not what I need. I have an early 2011 MBP i7 Quad and the eSata via the Expresscard slot never worked well (switched out cables and cards numerous times), and it didn’t come with USB 3. I edit from a 2nd internal drive, but I would just like to speed up large video file transfers for backup between external drives.
I like to use the bare drive docks (i.e. the OWC Voyager). The fastest connection available for these today at OWC is USB 3, which if I had the TB to USB 3 cable and two drive docks would work nicely for me. Ideally, they will soon come out with a TB version for those of use with MBPs without USB 3, but who knows when/if that will be available.
Thanks,
Dave -
33 Replies
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Not a cable, but it’s a TBolt dock with ports: https://www.belkin.com/us/p/P-F4U055
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Jeremy,
Ouch! Take a digital off and it’s in my price range. I’m hoping for a $30 or under cable solution and I may have to wait a while for it. If my Expresscard slot is actually fine and the problem lies with the eSata connector on my OWC 2-drive RAID enclosure, then this might work for me-
https://eshop.macsales.com/search/expresscard+to+usb+3I think my new goal here is to get away from external enclosures altogether and since I can get 2TB drives at a good price now, I can just use two separate USB 3 drive docks to accomplish what I want with backups. Could be me, but it seems every external enclosure I’ve ever gotten (mostly from OWC) ends up having at least one port go bad on it. I think this is what just happened with my 2-drive RAID enclosure (which was my main edit drive until recently). It appears that the eSata connection is bad, but the FW800 works fine, it’s just slow for 300 GB transfers. I just plugged in a drive dock with eSata and the same Expresscard and it came right up on the desk top. Must be the RAID and not the card slot.
Thanks,
Dave -
Jeremy –
Have you used the Belkin? It’s an interesting little piece of gear I’ve had my eye on. Would love a real world review.
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Michael Hancock
Editor -
[Michael Hancock] “Have you used the Belkin? It’s an interesting little piece of gear I’ve had my eye on. Would love a real world review.”
I have not, unfortunately.
I was semi-dissapointed when they took the eSata connection off of the Belkin, but I’m sure they had a good reason to do so. Still, with the multiple USB3, audio, and especially the ethernet port, I’m sure the Belkin will do just fine.
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It definitely looks promising, and the price doesn’t seem too bad either. If you get your hands on one, please do a review.
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Michael Hancock
Editor -
Can it be done in just a cable?
Or are there protocol issues… which is why it has to be done thru a box?
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[Marcus Moore] “Can it be done in just a cable?
Or are there protocol issues… which is why it has to be done thru a box?”
There’s ethernet and fw TBolt cables, I don’t see why there couldn’t be USB3 cables.
I think there aren’t any because they’d be expensive, and USB3 is usually already part of a Thunderbolt computer, that is to say, I’m not sure if they’d sell enough of them to make it worth it.
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Dave, there is an ExpressCard solution for USB3 that is $20 and works under Mountain Lion with no drivers necessary.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/350600627667?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649
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[Jeremy Garchow] “I think there aren’t any because they’d be expensive, and USB3 is usually already part of a Thunderbolt computer, that is to say, I’m not sure if they’d sell enough of them to make it worth it.”
Yep, that’s my thought too. I believe this situation primarily just effects us 2011 owners. I think the 2012 and up have both TB and USB 3.
Dave
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Gary,
Cool, thanks. I’ll book mark it as an option. If I go the route of using the ExpressCard slot to connect USB 3, I’ll try to get the best card I can afford. I’ve had problems with cheaper cards in the past, especially with popping out when you least expect it.
Thanks,
Dave
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