TRENDnet Launches New 5Gbps USB 3.0 Storage Enclosures

[martin_metal_88]

Then the ones I have try must be shit ( ok it was vantec ) wasn't really faster then a actual 2.0 USB transfert...like 5-10% faster in a good mood.
Was this one
Vantec ? NexStar 3 SuperSpeed - NST-380S3-BK- 3.5'' SATA to USB 3.0 External Hard Drive Enclosure (Onyx Black)

[mikellini]

Not sure if you need external power to run this or if it'll run off of the USB

[AkG]

2.5" Form Factor drives are bus powered so none need an external power brick. USB 3.0 std calls for .900 of an amp which is more than enough for any 2.5" hdd. :)

As for speed, it depends on the controller chip used inside the enclosure. The JM based ones are extremely less than optimal, but the ASMedia based ones are VERY good. They could have been your bottleneck MM, plus up until only a couple months ago the NEC controller used to give USB 3.0 to systems (PCIE adapter and motherboards themselves) had a performance wall of about 145mb/s or so. A firmware update fixed that...but not all companies have implemented it. I get my firmware updates from: SONY/NEC firmwares

Renesas purchased that part of NEC (or so I heard) so the later firmwares will show your devices as a "renesas" controller and not NEC. ;)

[mikellini]

So for less than the cost of a 64 gb USB 2 flash drive you could slap a kingston 64 gb SSD into one of these and have a product that will probably outperform like crazy (depending on the controller I suppose)

[AkG]

Originally Posted by mikellini

So for less than the cost of a 64 gb USB 2 flash drive you could slap a kingston 64 gb SSD into one of these and have a product that will probably outperform like crazy (depending on the controller I suppose)

Easily.

Hell you could also drop a 2.5" WD 500GB into one of these (or any good usb 3.0 enclosure for that matter...assuming this one doesnt use a JM controller), pick up a PCI-E USB 3.0 adapter (such as my favorites the Gigabyte x1 or Asus U3S6 x4) AND still not only have a good chunk of change left over compared to a 64GB USB 2.0 Flash drive it would also smoke it in performance. ;)

USB 3.0 enclosures are great for people who have the time, inclination and/ or spare parts to make their own "perfect" external storage solution. They also usually are cheaper than pre-made solutions (always a nice bonus). Great way to get some extra life out of laptop hard drive when you yank it and replace it with a SSD for example.

[ipaine]

Originally Posted by AkG

PLUS esata is a pain in the butt. When usb 3 goes main stream it will push esata to the side lines. Nothing beats plug and play simple.

That is why I see USB 3 gaining and surpassing e-sata quickly. I know I have a dock at work that is e-sata and while it works great I do have to go into device manager and scan for hardware changes every time I swap a drive in it. Hmmm, I might just have to convince work to get me some USB 3 stuff.