no thunderbolt hard drive enclosures?

[Gareth]

Build your own using a cheap SCSI enclosure. Only one TB port though, so it would have to be end of chain (which is a deal breaker for me).
http://www.datoptic.com/thunderbo.html $139.


Another option is one of the Seagate GoFlex Thunderbolt adapters. It's not an enclosure, so you'd have to do some mods to make sure a bare drive stays put.
http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Desktop-Th...009HQCAPQ/

[chopper]

I'm sorry. We lost one of the cheap and dead easy FW ports over this bullcrap? $800 for a bare enclosure!?

An $800 drive for an $1100--1900 iMac.

[Robert M]

C(-)ris,

That's a lot of drives and far from what a typical every day person with a computer owns! I can definitely understand where you are coming from because I'm in a similar situation. Not quite as many drives but definitely far more than average and, like you, I tend to leave my machines running 24/7.

You and I are definitely not an example of an average computer user. Due to this, I take myself out of the equation because I doubt the average person keeps their computer on all the time nor has more than a couple of external drives. So, having to turn a computer off and/or using an external ac adapter isn't going to be an issue.

Robert

[clay]

I think USB 3 is probably the defacto interface for most folks when it comes to Time Machine/backup drives, general purpose external storage and peripherals. It's plenty fast for just about anything except video editing (though you may be fine to edit a simple project in iMovie or Final Cut, as long as you're not on the clock doing paying client work). For folks that need the ultimate speed/performance, and have budgets that support it, a Thunderbolt-based RAID device is probably the way to go at this point (unless you're still on a Mac Pro). If Thunderbolt ever becomes more than just a high-end, expensive, niche product, we can expect more consumer-level devices that support it. But, until then (if that moment ever arrives), most of us will probably just need to adapt to USB 3 or Firewire, depending on the computer that you're using and the requirements of your particular situation.

[C(-)ris]

Robert M wrote:
C(-)ris,

That's a lot of drives and far from what a typical every day person with a computer owns! I can definitely understand where you are coming from because I'm in a similar situation. Not quite as many drives but definitely far more than average and, like you, I tend to leave my machines running 24/7.

You and I are definitely not an example of an average computer user. Due to this, I take myself out of the equation because I doubt the average person keeps their computer on all the time nor has more than a couple of external drives. So, having to turn a computer off and/or using an external ac adapter isn't going to be an issue.

Robert

True, but I don't think the average person needs more than USB3. Not sure they would bother with eSATA.

[robfilms]

everyone-

thank you for sharing your thoughts.

all i'm trying to do is cut digital media using apple tools: final cut pro/17" macbook pro/i7 quad imac/mac pro.

firewire 400 worked great for standard definition (sd) footage.

forewire 800 works just okay for some flavors of high definition (hd) footage.

esata is an option as i installed an esata port in my mac pro.

but the express card slot/esata device nevers seems to work properly on my editor's 17" macbook pro (though it always works on my 2008 15" mbp. go figure)

with the faster speeds offered by thunderbolt, i was hoping the wider digital pipeline would easily accommodate hd footage.

i'm only sorry my editor's 17" macbook pro does not come with usb3.

ymmv.

be well.

rob

[decay]

how about this: a new iMac with no FireWire ports, just 2 TB ports, should have affordable options that don't use up a USB port, since those are not daisy-chainable.

$29 for the Apple adapter, plus the cost of a FW800 enclosure.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MD464Z...re-adapter

thanks, Apple.

[decay]

or, if you can trust Lacie's dependability, get a TB 2big
http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?id=10573

[Bosco]

I recenlty bought an Apple branded Thunderbolt -> FW800 adapter from OWC. It works fine... But, as you all have mentioned, it sure would be nice to have a 3.5" thunderbolt enclosure.

Maybe OWC Larry can shed some light on why there are no single Thunderbolt enclosures at OWC..?

-

[Gareth]

robfilms wrote:
but the express card slot/esata device nevers seems to work properly on my editor's 17" macbook pro (though it always works on my 2008 15" mbp. go figure)

Another option is LaCie's eSATA Thunderbolt hub ($180-$200). http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?id=10574 It connects via Thunderbolt, has two thunderbolt ports for connecting additional devices and has two eSATA ports, and I think it's driverless (at least they don't have any drivers posted for the Mac and list is at Mac compatible from 10.6 and up).