Do I KEEP this accessory or do I RETURN it?

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I spent the last couple of days with a DSLR in my hands and when I popped the SD card into an adapter then into my Orico 7 bay USB reader, it told me that to copy the 1200 pictures (RAW and .jpgs) it would take 22 minutes. (This hub connects to the iMac via a USB port on the backside). I bit the bullet and found some emails to catch up on. 25 minutes later, the copying was done. Since I take a lot of pics weekly, I decided to hit the Apple store (6 minutes away if I hit all the lights just right). ;-) I came home with a Belkin 4 port USB 3.0 Hub + USB-C Cable. Just for drills, I took the same SD card, inserted it into the new Hub, and it showed me it was going to take the SAME amount of time, 22 minutes, to copy the same files over to another folder. This hub connects to the iMac through a Thunderbolt port on the rear of the machine. Hmmm...... $69.95 USD and absolutely no difference in transfer times.

But, I also brought home a USB-C to SD Card Reader ($39.00 USD--- an Apple product). Again, I inserted the SD card directly into the Card reader (which dangles off the back of the iMac due to a very short cord). In less than FOUR minutes the same 1200 pictures were transferred to another directory! That's an 18 minute savings in time.

The Apple geek (and I use that term affectionately) that assisted me promised if neither device worked better than what I already had they would be glad to accept it as a return. The Card Reader blew me away with its' speed. The Belkin USB Hub performed OK, but at the same rate my older Orico which has 7 ports vs 4 ports did.

That's a lot of info to just ask this question...... should I return the Belkin Hub and get my 70.00 bucks back??? (hey, it's almost Christmas!) :)

And for those that want the 'skinny' on the photo-ONLY iMac.. here are the specs.... (IOW..this machine doesn't have one email on it, nor one song, nor anything but the OS, Photoshop, Lightroom, Bridge and a Nikon specific software package). It is never connected to the Net unless checking for software updates (Apple, Adobe or Nikon), then it is immediately disconnected. A clean, mean machine it is :cool:

Late 2017 iMac
High Sierra
Retina 5K, 27"
24 GB 2400 MHz DDR4
4.2 GHz Intel Core i7
Radeon Pro Graphics 8GB

Thanks, everyone! And I hope none of you are suffering too much from Turkey Coma!

Cheers!

Pat
 
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Course it will take the same time on your nearly ten year old iMac. If this is on the 2017 model maybe the Orico is USB2 and that is as fast as it can go.
 
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p_rod
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Hey Harry!

It's always a pleasure to hear from you!

The Orinoco is about 2, maybe 3 years old. Not sure if it is USB 2 or 3... it all gets so confusing nowadays.

But I was thinking that if the newest, "bestest" thing in the Apple store WITH a thunderbolt cable cannot outdo an older model using a USB cable, maybe I should just return it to save the $$$. My OLD iMac has an old 3 holer USB hub that works just fine for that old workhorse iMac!

Thanks, Harry

Cheers!

Pat
 
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Pat I would get my money back. On my 2016 i7 iMac I use two backups both on SSDs. One Silicon Power TB SSD and the other a Kingston SSD via USB. They do identical backups via SuperDuper Smart Backup to within ONE SECOND of each other!
 
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Well apparently your original SD card reader/adapter is the weak link here, and must not be USB-3 speed, thus not taking advantage of the Belkin hub. So unless you have USB-3 compatible devices that you want to use, I say return the Belkin hub and keep the faster USB-C to SD reader.
 
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p_rod
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Harry and Jonathan!

I will return the Belkin hub to Apple as soon as they open today.

Thank you for the feedback!

Cheers!

Pat
 

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