Buffalo Intros Dual-Interface Thunderbolt Portable HDD
Buffalo has introduced the world's first external drive featuring USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt ports.
This week during Computex, Buffalo Technology demonstrated the world's first portable Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 dual-interface external drive. Dubbed the MiniStation Thunderbolt / USB Portable Hard Drive, it features a sleek aluminum body with a transparent frosted top, and an indirect disk access LED indicator on the underside that will illuminate a desktop or any other supporting surface.
"Creating, storing and moving digital content on the go has always been a challenging proposal for all types of users as either the interface was incompatible or too slow or the storage solution was physically too large," said Brian Verenkoff, director of marketing at Buffalo Technology. "Collaborating with Intel to deliver the world’s first dual-interface Thunderbolt and USB storage solution as well as the world’s first portable Thunderbolt hard drive reaffirms Buffalo’s pioneering spirit and engineering excellence."
Buffalo Japan offers a few additional details, reporting that it will be offered in 500 GB and 1 TB capacities, and technically labeled as the HD-PATU3 Series external drive. The USB 3.0 interface will provide transfer speeds up to 5 Gbps whereas the Thunderbolt connection will support up to 10 Gbps transfer speeds. It will be compatible with both the Windows and Mac platforms, it won't need a separate power connection, and it will be backwards compatible with USB 2,0 ports.
Buffalo’s MiniStation Thunderbolt drive will be available later this summer, so expect additional technical details -- along with pricing -- to be revealed soon.
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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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molo9000 ojasNice, now make it cheap. Though i don't see transfers ever hitting 10GB/s with a HDD...Reply
The key to Thunderbolt is that (just like with FireWire) you can daisy chain devices.
You can connect an external display, a bunch of external hard drives, and whatever else you might want with a single cable to your laptop. -
Kryan ReplyDubbed the MiniStation Thunderbolt / USB Portable Hard Drive
you don't say???? And here I thought it was a flux capacitor! -.-
it's going to be insanely expensive and probably have its fair share of faults. A few more years for Thunderbolt -
Vladislaus molo9000The key to Thunderbolt is that (just like with FireWire) you can daisy chain devices.You can connect an external display, a bunch of external hard drives, and whatever else you might want with a single cable to your laptop.The problem with daisy chains is that for every device you plug in you see the bandwidth reduced.Reply -
thecolorblue VladislausThe problem with daisy chains is that for every device you plug in you see the bandwidth reduced.Reply
not with thunderbolt... at least 1 data and 1 video connection can move through the connection with zero impact on performance i believe... anandtech has a good review of the interface.
not sure that i see value in it personally but who knows what the future holds