diannarucker Loc: Iowa

Has anyone heard of the Thunderbolt external hard drive? I'm going to be talking to our schools rep for Apple computers and he is recommending this. I do need another external hard drive but was also considering the Epson p7000 portable hard drive.
Opinions please???
thanks

normsImages Loc: Alabama for now

twice the cost but much faster transfer speeds. Does you Mac have thunderbolt capability? I’ve considered upgrading with that being one of the advantages.

mawyatt Loc: Clearwater, Florida

I know the Thunderbolt interface is faster than USB 3, but Is the Thunderbolt drive actually any faster than USB 3 drive on a new MBP?

diannarucker Loc: Iowa

Yes the new computer will have the thunderbolt capability. I'm getting a 15 in macbook pro with retina display.
Do you know anything about the the Epson 7000

PhotoArtsLA Loc: Boynton Beach

Thunderbolt is MUCH faster than USB 3, about the differential between an olde Ford Model T and a Bugatti Veyron with the $300,000 second key.

Artcameraman Loc: Springfield NH

I have a Drobo on my work station in a network. 4gigs alocated to each.
Works fine but I still have 2 gigs backups just in case. Drives fail but with a switchable drive just pop out the failed one, put in another and make a copy from your backup.
artcameraman

normsImages Loc: Alabama for now

one thing about the new retina display models, you CAN NOT up grade the RAM later. It is hardwired so get it in the beginning with the max RAM you think you may need plus a little more.

fotogk Loc: Tuftonboro, NH

thunderbolt stupid fast great for video. Wish I had that problem. :)

Erv Loc: Medina Ohio

I have the Epson 7000. It is a nice little travel hard drive. I like it because you can see your pictures after you down load them. Just to make sure they are there. It is also nice to take to family outings so folks can look at your pictures and not bang your lap top around. It goes through the battery pretty fast tho. I don't use it for a main back up tho. Just leave selected shots in to show folks. After I get home I put them on my other hard drives. But as a viewer out in the field it is awesome. Save my camera and my lap top.
Erv
For got to add, you don't have to drag your lap top around every where is the best part.

stopmedown1 Loc: England UK

If you need lese than say, 64 gb, why not use an USB stick or even an SD card + reader that will fit in an USB socket. It's much cheaper and lighter.

Best wotsits ,
Stopmedown1

Squint Loc: Stockton, CA

I have a small Epson p3000 (less capacity than the p7000) and take wit with me whenever I travel. Download the days shots, reformat the card and you're ready to go again. I've had it for years and had no problems with it. Not as easy to review the images as a laptop, but the smaller size and portability makes up for that.

diannarucker Loc: Iowa

ok the processor is a 2.6hz Quad-core intel core i7, turbo boost up to 3.6 ghz and the memory will be 16 gb, storage in macbrook pro is 512 gb flash storage, I could spend another 450 dollars for 768gb but hoping not to.
the thunderbolt seagate 1TB goflex portable for mac thunderbolt hard drive is 279 dollars. That is the one i"m thinking of ordering today too.
Opinions?
enough memory there?

diannarucker Loc: Iowa

I may end up getting something like this after I get my computer and thunderbolt paid for. I like the idea of the portability

VietVet Loc: Brooklyn, NY

I have the MacBook Pro with that exact configuration. I couldn't see spending almost $500. More for just a slight increase in the HD. I bought the LaCie 2big 6tb thunderbolt raid storage and a 1tb Buffalo portable HD also thunderbolt and the speed is unbelievable. The only problem I've had not related to the to thunderbolt is I have an Epson 2400 photo printer and there are no drivers for it as of yet. The ones Apple recommended makes the the 2400 act as a regular document printer.

mawyatt Loc: Clearwater, Florida

Thanks LA.

What I am wondering from an engineering standpoint is; If the physical HD R/W channels & head control servo are the top end limit of HD R/W & access speed, which seems likely, then once this limit is approached, no interface can significantly improve performance for a single drive. I believe that some of the better USB 3 drives are the same physical drive that is used with the high performance internal HDs, probably so with the Thunderbolt HDs as well. So the core physical HDs are similar, just the interface is different.

As mentioned, if the real bottleneck is the physical HD itself, and not the interface, then as long as any interface, Firewire, USB or Thurderbolt, is faster than the physical HD capabilities, little difference will be seen between the interfaces in overall HD performance.

Of course a RAID system would be different since now you are dealing with multiple physical drives on a single interface. Here I would expect to see a significant difference between interfaces because the HD bottleneck has been expanded by the multiple physical drives to a point where the interface may be the bottleneck.

Anyway this is all speculation on my part, those like you with direct experience are the real answer.