Will USB 3.0 come out? Will it make my USB 2.0 computers obsolete?
 

I read on a mac website that newer computers may get usb 3.0. If this comes out, does this mean that devices like external hard drives & hard drive enclosures will only have usb 3.0?

If this happens, then will I be able to use them with my computers which all have only usb 2.0.

USB3 is already here. The drives work fine across USB2 connections, at USB2 speeds. :thumb:

It's really not too dissimilar from how USB 1.1 drives and devices work fine plugged in USB2 slots on a computer.

Trivia / Extra Information:

Aside from speed, the difference is mostly physical to the wiring:

• Current USB2 drives have a standard USB2 flat head connector on one side (which goes into the computer), and either a large square connect or flat slim connector on the other end (which goes into the drive/device).
• USB3 drive drives have a flat slim B-shaped connect on the device/drive side, and a standard flat head connector on the computer side. The computer-side flathead is also deeper pocketed for USB3 slots (female connector on computer) as well as deeper internally on the male end (input wire). A USB2 device works fine because USB2 wires cannot make contact with the deeper USB3 connections.

Looking For Some Good drives?

The Seagate portable drives are excellent USB3 drives: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B0056YNA7U
Several sizes, from 500GB to 3TB available.

A client recently sent us a stack of 500GB drives to store his project, and I've been thrilled by their performance (both quiet and cool!)
Those are also available at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B0056YNA7U

... in case you're looking for some drives. [;^)]

So if drives or devices all go to usb 3.0, I should still be able to use them with usb 2.0 ports?

is usb 3.0 that much faster than usb 2.0?

is usb 3.0 faster than firewire 400/800?

& if mac comes out with mac minis that have usb 3.0, would it be worth it for me to get one with usb 3.0 ports? & sell my current usb 2.0 mini? or should I just stick with my current mini? I like it so far, it is fast, photoshop is instantanious in opening & closing & switching from different tools.

USB3 is faster in theory, but may not be much faster in practice. Most ads and marketing materials tout it as "10 times faster" than USB2, being 5 Gbit/s vs USB2's 480 Mbit/s, but fail to mention that those are top speeds. Unlike Firewire, USB is not sustained -- it's burst. So 480 and 5Gb are just theoretical max speeds under ideal (unrealistic) scenarios. Actual transfer rates are much slower.

Firewire is sustained, and is therefore better suited for many applications.

The same issues of speed claims vs actual speeds exists on IDE and SATA hard drives, too.
Also routers. ("Gigabit" is rarely more than 200mbit.)

Thanks, just needed some reassurance that I did the right thing getting this mini. It does have a thunderbolt port, what do you think to that? it seems good in theory, but most devices or enclosures dont have this port on them. So for now, if I want speed I will use firewire & for less demanding tasks I will use usb 2.0 (of which is all I currently have)

does anybody know of any good not too expensive firewire hubs? are they any good? right now, my computer has just 1 firewire 800 port.

I'm reminded of a conversation I had in college with a friend. It's one of those types of conversations you never forget, because it was almost an epiphany.
We were discussing ex-girlfriends, and I asked him what he thought about his most recent ex from a year ago. His response? "I don't."

Those two words essentially sum up my feelings here, too:
Q: What do you think of a thunderbolt port?
A: I don't.

And for the reasons you mentioned: Good in theory, but who cares about theory? I have work to do.

They're all expensive.

Example @ $70: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Sonne...ology/FHB8284/
That's a two-port hub, but only one port is 800 -- the new port added is only 400 speed. (But that's probably fine.)

Example @ $160: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B00506K4NC
This is the NitroAV 8-Port FireWire 800/1394b Professional Hub/Repeater, which looks promising. Lots of people like it.