Need Advise before purchasing Kanex Thunderbolt to eSATA + USB 3.0 Adapter

[imrellik]

Hello I'm interested in Buying Kanex Thunderbolt to eSATA + USB 3.0 Adapter but have some doubts so i contacted the customer support for answers but didn't got any response.

So if some body who is using this product or have good knowledge can help me clear my doubts i would really appreciate.

1. I have two 3.5 Inch Internal Serial ATA Hard Disk, want to use them as external HDD, can i connect it to Kanex eSATA Port and will i be able to Read/Write on the HDD? will eSATA port will provide power to HDD or do i need external AC Power Adapter to provide power to my 3.5 Inch Internal Serial ATA Hard Disk?

2. I also have 5.25 Inch Internal Serial ATA DVD Writer & want to use it as external Drive so same question will eSATA port will provide 12 V power to DVD Drive or do i need external AC Power Adapter to provide power to my 5.25 Inch Internal Serial ATA DVD Writer?

I do have AC Power Adapter to provide power to my Serial ATA Device (L Shape) but would need eSata cable the one which has on one end goes to eSATA Port & the other end goes to Optical Drive eSata Data (L Shape) port then my Serial ATA device will work.

 

[harryb2448]

If for use on your 2011 iMac, it is USB2. The usual go is to pop the drive into a caddy which is mains powered. How are you going to get an eSATA card into an iMac?

 

[imrellik]

@harryb2448 - Kanex Thunderbolt to eSATA + USB 3.0 Adapter, thunderbolt cable will be going into my Thunderbolt port this way the adapter will give me USB 3.0 & eSATA, 2 different Ports to connect devices. My confusion is there are eSATA cable available every where, on 1 end of the cable its eSata and other end goes to Serial ATA device that is Data and power but this adapter doesn't say eSATAp which means it won't power the Serial ATA Device therefore i think if i want to connect my Internal Device to eSATA port i will need eSATA cable the one which has on one end goes to eSATA Port & the other end goes to the Drive eSata Data (L Shape) port.

Here's the link - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LOLBBQQ/?tag=macforums0e4-20

If for use on your 2011 iMac, it is USB2. The usual go is to pop the drive into a caddy which is mains powered. How are you going to get an eSATA card into an iMac?

 

[harryb2448]

Suggest having a read of this. Some say the Kanex will not work:-


http://apple.stackexchange.com/ques...bles-adapters-exist-for-os-x-and-mac-hardware

 

[imrellik]

Thanks for replying and thanks for the link, I'll definitely read the return and refund policy before buying the device from Amazon, till now what i can understand is that Kanex Adapter will not provide power to Devices whether it be USB 3.0 or eSATA but as i mentioned earlier i do have AC Power Adapter to power my 3.5 or 5.25 Inch Internal Serial ATA Devices all i need is cable to connect to eSATA Port to transfer DATA and hope it works on Kanex Adapter.

 

[imrellik]

Just got eMail from Kanex Customer Support Department and here's what they have to say "Thank you for contacting us. The USB 3.0 gives out 6 Watts/1.2 Amps so if your hard drives requires more power to work, you will need a power supply to have the device work. Also the eSATA port requires power, so your eSATA will need a power supply" Quiet interesting might me helpful for people who are interested in buying this product. I was right eSata will not provide power to eSATA Device & USB 3.0 is also limited.

 

[harryb2448]

As I said mains powered devices. For mine to my external SSD I use Thunderbolt which provides power.

And it is faster than USB2/3. Checked this out using USB and TB when backing up with SuperDuper. An iMac is not like say a Mac Pro where you can slot an eSATA card into the PCI-E slots.

 

[imrellik]

Hello I've purchased Kanex Thunderbolt to eSATA + USB 3.0 Adapter as well QZHD01 USB 3.0 SATA Hard Drive Dock (ASMedia ASM1153E Chipset) Plug & play, support hot swap for my 3.5 Inch Internal Hard Disk and after using these both devices i can say it has given new life to my iMac, I can finally use my 3.5 Inch SATA III Hard Disk as external hard disk. Here's some screen shot of Blackmagic speed test.

1. WDC WD2500AAJS - Old PC HDD 250GB, 7200 RPM, Data Transfer Rate 972 Mbits/s (Connected to iMac USB 2.0 Port)


2. WDC WD2500AAJS - Old PC HDD 250GB, 7200 RPM, Data Transfer Rate 972 Mbits/s (Connected to Kanex Thunderbolt to eSATA + USB 3.0 Adapter)


As you can see the speed test show huge performance difference when connected to USB 3.0 Port of Kanex Thunderbolt to eSATA + USB 3.0 Adapter.