Lack of Tbolt to Firewire solution other than a Tbolt display is causing some clients to wait.

Apple is not shipping the Tbolt to FW cable yet.

The Newer Tech Quad docks at least give an ability to use the USB 3 connection and raw drives are getting pretty cheap so not a bad work around for the moment and docks are always useful.
http://eshop.macsales.com/imgs/ndesc/nwt_voyager/nwt_voyager_Q3_gall2.jpg

http://www.newertech.com/imgs/products/storage/voyager/voyager_q_back.jpg

This is also coming in

http://eshop.macsales.com/imgs/ndesc/nwt_esatatousb3/esatatousb3_hero3.jpg

Already have an external drive with an eSATA port? Take advantage of high-bandwidth USB 3.0 performance and experience data rates up to 3Gb/s from your external drive with the NewerTech eSATA to USB 3.0 Adapter. It's Plug and Play easy to add...simply connect your eSATA drive enclosure to the adapter and then plug the adapter into your computer's USB 3.0 port. No drivers, no hassle, just maximum performance and ultimate use of your existing eSATA equipped external storage units.


LaCie has the eSATA to Tbolt as well tho $199 not cheap.

http://www.lacie.com/imgstore/product_large/eSATAHub_TB_logo.jpg

http://www.lacie.com/imgstore/product_large/eSATAHub_TB_back.jpg

Still it makes any of the higher end quad interface right up to the OWC Qx2 accessible at high speed.

I bought a 2 bay dock to replace my FW800 one. USB3 is screaming fast, though something I was not aware of is that you cannot swap out drives on the go. If you pull one drive out, the other gets ejected as well.

I was looking at another model:
Canada Computers | Hard Drive Enclosures | Mediasonic (HFD1-SU3S2) ProBox 4 Bay Dock USB 3.0 & eSata for 2.5" / 3.5" SATA HDD (http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=14_679&item_id=045343)

Under the manufactures specs it says you can swap out drives on the go without disturbing the others plugged in, but has to be via esata. Great I though as I will be buying a thunderbolt adapter hub that has esata, once they come out from belkin. I asked this in another tread and it seems that this still would not work as its not true esata I guess.

it would have been really nice if apple had...you know...made both a few of the computers themselves and the associated peripherals before they started shipping these "magical and revolutionary" new computers

Yup :rolleyes:

it would have been really nice if apple had...you know...made both a few of the computers themselves and the associated peripherals before they started shipping these "magical and revolutionary" new computersWhat are you talking about? Apple ships a TB to FW800 cable right now. The only problem is that it costs $999 and comes with a 27" monitor. ;-)

hehe that's what Larry at OWC suggested when I asked him, :rolleyes:

I mostly like the idea of being able to chain the drives since i'm on an MBA right now and there are limited ports. At least when i'm at my home desk a USB 3 hub is a good option and still fast enough for me needs.

[preview]Lack of Tbolt to Firewire solution other than a Tbolt display is causing some clients to wait.

Apple is not shipping the Tbolt to FW cable yet.

The Newer Tech Quad docks at least give an ability to use the USB 3 connection and raw drives are getting pretty cheap so not a bad work around for the moment and docks are always useful. ...


I have and use my Newer Tech Quad dock daily, and normally with a WD 1TB SATA 3.0Gb/s interface with my old mid-2007 24" iMac via FW 800, and happy with the speed I need, but...

So I assume if I wanted to use it's potentially faster USB/eSATA connection I would then need a newer Mac, a SATA 6 Gb/s interface hard drive and some other adapters or cables???

Lost in all this fast and getting faster upgrading world. ;)

I bought a 2 bay dock to replace my FW800 one. USB3 is screaming fast, though something I was not aware of is that you cannot swap out drives on the go. If you pull one drive out, the other gets ejected as well.

I was looking at another model:
Canada Computers | Hard Drive Enclosures | Mediasonic (HFD1-SU3S2) ProBox 4 Bay Dock USB 3.0 & eSata for 2.5" / 3.5" SATA HDD (http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=14_679&item_id=045343)

Under the manufactures specs it says you can swap out drives on the go without disturbing the others plugged in, but has to be via esata. Great I though as I will be buying a thunderbolt adapter hub that has esata, once they come out from belkin. I asked this in another tread and it seems that this still would not work as its not true esata I guess.

It is true eSATA wonderings but that dock has a port multiplier built in that is why it only has one eSATA port so as I mentioned to connect to your Mac would have to have native port multiplier support which no MacBook Pro has.. in fact no Mac Pro has it either but at least with a Mac Pro you can add a PCIe eSATA card that is port multiplier aware.

Now eventually you might be able to also do this with TBolt by getting one of these ExpressBox 3T (http://www.magma.com/thunderbolt) ($979 when they are actually available for order, apparently they are shipping to those who have pre-ordered but you can't order one right now) so you can add external PCIe card to a Tbolt Mac and then buy one of the 2 port-multiplier aware eSATA cards the company says will work with the box (http://www.magma.com/thunderbolt-compatibility), both are by FirmTek one is a 4 port eSATA card and the other is a 2 post eSATA card but because they are port-multiplier aware the 4 port card allows up to 20 eSATA drives to be attached and the 2 port eSATA card allows up to 10 drives to be attached.

Problem is that that the ExpressBox 3T is not yet available (again for order) and the FirmTek cards are as of yet only OSX compatible up to OSX 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard). If and when the FirmTek cards are ever Lion or mountain Linon compatible the 2 port card is about $100 and the 4 port card is a bout $200 (at OWC) so someday for around $1100 you could make the $119.99 Mediasonic (HFD1-SU3S2) ProBox 4 Bay Dock USB 3.0 & eSata for 2.5" work with your MacBook Pro via Tbolt and eSATA.

So that is the full explanation as to why the Mediasonic (HFD1-SU3S2) ProBox 4 Bay Dock USB 3.0 & eSata for 2.5" would not work on Tbolt using eSATA, USB 3.0 yes but not eSATA.

What is the pricing for the HD docks? I have always liked the idea of a "plug & play" idea for external HDs... By the way, is it recommended to have a HD dock if you don't plan to switch out HDs very often? I just like the added functionality of being able to take the HD out easier than to take it out of a casing.

What is the pricing for the HD docks? I have always liked the idea of a "plug & play" idea for external HDs... By the way, is it recommended to have a HD dock if you don't plan to switch out HDs very often? I just like the added functionality of being able to take the HD out easier than to take it out of a casing.

Depends... there are tons of them out there now. HD docks are great, some say they shouldn't be used on a daily basis but I do and have had no issues...

Depends... there are tons of them out there now. HD docks are great, some say they shouldn't be used on a daily basis but I do and have had no issues...

I was asking about the price of the HD docks the OP had in the picture? ;)

I was asking about the price of the HD docks the OP had in the picture? ;)

might help if you referenced the original post then. see the quote button? give it a try

;)

I was asking about the price of the HD docks the OP had in the picture? ;)

Check here (http://eshop.macsales.com/search/NewerTech+docks) and decide according to your needs.

might help if you referenced the original post then. see the quote button? give it a try

;)

Considering it was the first set of pictures the OP had, I didn't think quoting was necessary... lol ;)

Check here (http://eshop.macsales.com/search/NewerTech+docks) and decide according to your needs.

Thanks For The Link! I will consider picking one up if I see the real need too.

Thanks For The Link! I will consider picking one up if I see the real need too.

I believe that MacDoc handles the Newer Technology products and I believe also matches the OWC pricing.

Drop him a message.