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Buffalo 1TB Thunderbolt/USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive $228 (RRP $329)

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Buffalo 1TB Thunderbolt/USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive $228 (RRP $329)Affiliate
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mr_me450 on 22/09/2012 - 11:07 amazon.com (228 clicks)
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This is an expensive 1 TB hard drive, but very cheap for a Thunderbolt drive. Unlike many more expensive Thunderbolt drives, the Thunderbolt cable is included here.
The RRP for this drive in Australia is AU$329, but Amazon are selling it for US$229.99 + 8.60 postage, making it about AU$228 all up, thanks to our awesome exchange rate. :)
There are many cheaper USB 3.0 drives out there, so this would predominately be for those Mac users who have a Thunderbolt port but no USB 3.0 ports. Unfortunately the transfer speeds on this drive are the same whether you are using USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt, so it won't give you true Thunderbolt speeds, but it will obviously be a hell of a lot faster than USB 2.0.
Still, if you're looking for a portable, versatile, drive that can speed up transfers on your Mac and still plug into other non-thunderbolt machines then this is the best deal I've come across.
Cheers.

Price History at C CamelCamelCamel.
Computing 1TB Buffalo Computer Peripheral Portable Hard Drive

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  • johnno07 on 22/09/2012 - 11:11
    +21

    Seeing things like this makes me glad my life doesn't depend on a Mac.

    • Andreu on 22/09/2012 - 14:38

      http://www.pcworld.com/article/260623/windows_laptops_with_t…

      Please check out this article…

      "Windows Laptops with Thunderbolt"

      • Shaw on 22/09/2012 - 18:08

        Read it again, you clearly didn't understand…

        Seeing things like this makes me glad my life doesn't depend on a Mac.

        • Andreu on 22/09/2012 - 18:50

          it's not only Mac that is using Thunderbolt.

        • Shaw on 22/09/2012 - 18:59

          You are right, read my post at the bottom of the page, but it is more the fact that this is a predominantly apple deployed (yes, others have, and it is developed by Intel, and I do hope it becomes mainstream) technology right at this very moment in time.

    • SickDmith on 23/09/2012 - 00:22

      I am glad my life doesn't depend on Intel.

  • Ghogger on 22/09/2012 - 11:14
    +6

    Hooray for the Apple tax.. That is a crazy price for a 1TB portable hard drive. How can they justify that price premium for the inclusion of a thunderbolt port?

    I paid $99 for a portable hard drive from the same company with the same dimensions and capacity;
    http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/76738

    Crazy.

    • liquidator001 on 22/09/2012 - 13:01

      Crazy.the Apple tax.

    • stiiky on 22/09/2012 - 13:54

      It is indeed much pricier than usb 3 drives but it does also include a $55 thunderbolt cable. I don't even think the big lacie/pegasus systems include the ca le in their prices.

    • brendanl on 22/09/2012 - 16:52
      +1

      Thunderbolt is an extension of the system bus, not just a master/slave topology like USB. There's a lot of componentry required, and at the moment there's only a few Thunderbolt controller manufacturers producing them in low volumes, hence the high cost.

  • mr_me450 on 22/09/2012 - 11:22

    I know. Economy of scale I guess; there are a lot more USB 3.0 devices out there and more competition too. Anyone with a new Mac with USB 3.0 is far better off giving Thunderbolt a miss here, but for those whose only other option is USB 2 (like me) this is a much better deal than you'll find with other Thunderbolt drives.

  • hyk000 on 22/09/2012 - 11:23
    +3

    Got to pay to be Apple cool.

    • bbyboy on 22/09/2012 - 12:55

      unless you have been living under a rock, thunderbolt is now not only restricted to apple computers

      • lostn on 22/09/2012 - 13:52

        Is there a good reason why anyone else would want to use a non standard port like thunderbolt?

        • bbyboy on 22/09/2012 - 14:27

          multiple display from one port
          faster transfer speed
          multiple drives connected to one port

        • Andreu on 22/09/2012 - 14:27

          thunderbolt is designed by Intel. please check before commenting about it being non standard.

          http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/io/thunderbolt/thunde…

          just because Wintel machines hasn't made it standard on their machines, doesn't mean it's none standard.

        • Shaw on 22/09/2012 - 18:17

          Just because it is designed by Intel does not mean it is a standard port, it will be a standard input when it is taken up as a replacement/partner for USB ports in mass.

        • bonus999 on 23/09/2012 - 14:17

          It looks like the argument which once Firewire was bone long time ago.
          and being a standard input don't mean it need to be popular and common use like USB.

        • MATTDAMON on 23/09/2012 - 19:31

          noone said its going to replace USB, if anything it will replace DP and HDMI/DVI ports, since its a multi function ports.

          At the time firewire was around, it was significantly faster then USB, and more reliable to boot.

  • warwick108 on 22/09/2012 - 11:44
    -2

    There are generally made for people who either:
    1.. Transfers large amounts of data everyday
    2.. Editing photos and accessing them from This external hdd

    Anyone tried using a usb 3.0 and editing a file in autocad? Its quite painful

    • krisspy on 22/09/2012 - 11:59
      +2

      You do know a mechanical drive doesn't fully saturate the bandwidth of usb 3 right? Only reason to need thunderbolt is if you need to piggyback moonitors/drives or if your using an ssd.

      USB 3 is good for ~400MB/s (minus overheads, latency), mechanical drives top off at ~120MB/s, depending on which part of the platter is being used.

  • c64 on 22/09/2012 - 12:51

    seems very expensive for a 1tb portable.

  • MATTDAMON on 22/09/2012 - 13:17
    +2

    Just an FYI to the apple haters, Thunderbolt isnt an apple creation, it was designed and implimented by Intel.

    • UFO on 22/09/2012 - 13:20

      … and there we go, I knew there had to be a reason for the gaybo name.

      I swear Intel marketing team must be made up of 15yo geeks.

      • Andreu on 22/09/2012 - 14:40

        hmm.. when everyone else is tranferring data at 10Gb/s, you can stay at USB3 and wonder why it's taking forever to backup/transfer your file across.

        I don't mind having a 15yo around the house who can design that kind of technology.

        • lostn on 22/09/2012 - 18:54

          hmm.. when everyone else is tranferring data at 10Gb/s, you can stay at USB3 and wonder why it's taking forever to backup/transfer your file across.

          When devices are actually capable of 10Gb/s (and affordable) there will be USB4 or USB5 which will be faster than that. But it will still be backwards compatible with USB1-3 and use the same connector.

          Right now actual maximum speeds are overkill for the devices using them.

          Also, I wouldn't call 6Gb/s taking "forever". I would be extremely happy if I could reach those speeds right now but nothing comes close yet.

        • krisspy on 22/09/2012 - 21:05

          Thunderbolt wasn't made strictly for hard drives.

          Right now actual maximum speeds are overkill for the devices using them.

          No they're not. Companies are already utilising this for external gpu solutions. Not to mention some people i know piggybacking a monitor and 3 drives in one port on his laptop.

      • wah...aiya on 22/09/2012 - 16:53

        iirc, it was apple that coined the term thunderbolt. At the time, intel was still calling it lightpeak.

        • Shaw on 22/09/2012 - 18:24

          Every project has it's "codename"

          Thunderbolt (codenamed Light Peak)

        • wah...aiya on 22/09/2012 - 22:00

          Feb2011 article on maximumPC:

          it appears Apple plans to rename it "Thunderbolt," though it's unclear if Intel will adopt this nomenclature as well

    • lostn on 22/09/2012 - 18:49

      Just an FYI to the apple haters, Thunderbolt isnt an apple creation, it was designed and implimented by Intel.

      Well I have an Intel motherboard and there is no Thunderbolt on it. If Apple are the ones patronizing the creation, I think it's fair to say that their users are the ones betting money on these unnecessary (inessential if you want a more diplomatic term) competing standards.

  • Cheap Rich Guy on 22/09/2012 - 13:37

    Anyone tried sticking an SSD in a USB3 enclosure? I'd be interested to know what speed was achieved.

    • MATTDAMON on 22/09/2012 - 13:44

      Depends on the SSD in question, whist usb3 is sold as '5gbps' after overheads etc your looking at around 3.5-4, which is around 350MB's-400MB's

    • Russ on 22/09/2012 - 15:13

      I too am interested to hear from anyone who has put an SSD into a USB3 enclosure. At the 128GB level, USB3 memory sticks are roughly the same price as (SSD + enclosure), but the (SSD + enclosure) will have much faster write speeds. I'd be happy to put up with the larger physical size.

  • lostn on 22/09/2012 - 13:51

    These Apple users seem to pay a premium for everything.

    • MATTDAMON on 22/09/2012 - 14:03

      Except thunderbolt isnt an apple design, nor is it exclusive to Apple at all. Plenty of motherboard manufacturers make boards with Thunderbolt ports.

      • lostn on 22/09/2012 - 14:09

        I didn't say Apple created it. But if it's in their systems and not in most PC M/Bs, I would say it's the Apple users paying a premium. It's definitely not a standard port in M/Bs like USB, DVI, Ethernet, etc.

        • bbyboy on 22/09/2012 - 14:29

          do you think usb, dvi and ethernet ports were standard at one time?

        • MATTDAMON on 22/09/2012 - 15:17

          Its new tech, like anything it will mature and eventually become mainstream, just like DVI, HDMI, Display port, Sata, PCI-E etc.

          You just have tunnel syndrome and think that because Apple have it on their macbook range, its theirs and its property to them and they want to charge a huge premium for it.

        • lostn on 22/09/2012 - 18:25

          do you think usb, dvi and ethernet ports were standard at one time?

          They quickly became standard not long after they came out, yeah.

          I have doubts that Thunderbolt will, simply because it competes against too many other more established standards such as USB, Firewire and eSATA. On the other hand, USB competed with… parallel port? Ethernet was new, and not replacing or competing with anything else.

        • lostn on 22/09/2012 - 18:40

          You just have tunnel syndrome and think that because Apple have it on their macbook range, its theirs and its property to them and they want to charge a huge premium for it.

          For the umpteenth time, I never said Apple created it or that it belongs to them. But if it's a standard in in their range of hardware and not for PC users, it's quite fair to say that the users of said Apple products are paying premiums to use these new formats.

          The things you mentioned became mainstream fast because the things they replaced were no longer up to the task. DVI = digital, VGA = analog, HDCP is not supported for VGA. HDMI is required for TVs to be HDCP compliant. Displayport is in the same situation as thunderbolt. AGP can no longer handle the bandwidth needed for video cards to continue advancing, thus PCI-E took over.

          SATA, PCI, AGP, etc are all internal connections on the motherboard. Changing these doesn't make that big a difference to the user. It's only the internal devices that are affected by these changes, which you change every time you upgrade your rig and then forget about it. What internal ports they are using are irrelevant. USB and TB are external connectors. A range of hardware (especially older) is going to be using this and affected by them. A new competitor to USB is going to have a rough time. My new PC is a few months old and it doesn't even have Firewire in it, which has been around for more than 10 years. Why? Because it failed against USB. Not even the Applettes could make this format popular.

          For Thunderbolt to unseat USB as the connection of choice, it needs to do things that USB can't do that we can't live without, and I'm not seeing it. I've yet to see a USB storage device max out the capabilities of USB3 and we are years away from this being affordable. USB3 also is backwards compatible with 2.0 which just makes the transition that much smoother. TB is a competing standard that we just don't need.

          I see Thunderbolt as the next Firewire at best. At best it will coexist with USB4 or 5. It's never going to become mainstream. If you think that's tunnel syndrome, so be it.

        • MATTDAMON on 22/09/2012 - 19:58
          +1

          There is no other peripheral interface that can currently do multiple devices through the one port, and there is no other interface other then networking that can do 10gb on that interface.

          Firewire is long dead, USB is the current standard, but is power limited and only does upto 5gb worth of bandwidth, and you cannot daisey chain individual data streams (NCQ is a workaround to this, but adds latency) eSata is only good for storage devices, and wont work for video etc.

          Thunderbolt will eventually become mainstream, like alot of tech, just needs time to mature.

  • quarrymaster on 22/09/2012 - 14:17
    -1

    You think there'd be a market for USB, USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 were it not for Apple dragging their minuscule PC market share users kicking and screaming along with the first iMac? How long did it take PCs to ditch serial and parallel ports?

    Ungrateful.

    • g12345567 on 22/09/2012 - 14:26

      huh! I just purchased the latest Z series Intel motherboard and even though it doesn't come with the cables, it still has ports to add serial & parallel ports.

      Thunderbolt seems expensive. but is it more reliable at sustaining the high/fast speeds compared to USB 3.0?

      • MATTDAMON on 22/09/2012 - 15:13

        With these sorts of things, it boils down to what you are transfering from to see its full speed potential, TB is a 10gb link (similar to 10gb networking, CX-4, SFP, Copper) The only way you can saturate these kinds of links is with multiple spindles or SSD's.

    • lostn on 22/09/2012 - 18:45

      You think there'd be a market for USB, USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 were it not for Apple dragging their minuscule PC market share users kicking and screaming along with the first iMac? How long did it take PCs to ditch serial and parallel ports?

      What were you using your parallel ports for?

      If my recollection is right, it didn't take long at all after USB was introduced for parallel and serial ports to disappear.

      I do not see USB disappearing any time soon, if ever. It will only be replaced with different colored ports of the same shape and size. More expensive motherboards (which most PC users won't buy unless they're buying branded PCs) will include the Thunderbolt, eSATA and Firewire ports, but USB will remain standard in every board.

  • Kelalako on 22/09/2012 - 14:31

    Tempting.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbolt_(interface)

    And these HD are aimed at the marketshare of apple users. Because no one else provides thunderbolt drives yet. Though Seagate does offer a thunderbolt adapter for their goflex drives $100 without the cable.

    So this is pretty decent.

  • Ghogger on 22/09/2012 - 17:49

    The main thing that annoys me is that Apple doesn't include USB3 along with thunderbolt, why have USB 2.0? Why not just have a USB3 port? The answer is so you can justify the premium for thunderbolt… C'mon, $55 for a cable??

    • mr_me450 on 22/09/2012 - 18:48

      Actually, USB 3.0 was introduced on most Macs this year.

  • Shaw on 22/09/2012 - 18:55

    Acer's Aspire S5 ultrabook

    Acer's US$1,399 Aspire S5 ultrabook is a thin-and-light laptop that has a 13.3-inch screen and is 14.99 millimeters thick. The laptop has a "MagicFlip I/O Port," which pops out to reveal Thunderbolt, USB 3.0 and HDMI (high-definition multimedia interface) ports. The ultrabook has Intel's Ivy Bridge Core i7 processors and a 256GB solid-state drive. The ultrabook's battery is not impressive at 6.5 hours of run time on a single charge, but if you want a Thunderbolt port, this is one of the thinnest and lightest laptops available. Amazon is selling the laptop for $1,299.

    Lenovo's ThinkPad Edge S430

    Lenovo has only one laptop model, the ThinkPad Edge S430, with a Thunderbolt port. The laptop was originally announced ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show in January, and recently started shipping in some parts of Europe and Asia-Pacific, but is yet to ship in the U.S. The laptop has a 14-inch screen, is 22 millimeters thick and weighs 1.8 kilograms, but that can vary depending on the battery and components. The Thunderbolt port is accompanied by a USB 3.0 and a mini-HDMI port. The laptop comes with a choice of Ivy Bridge Core i3, i5, i7 processors, Microsoft's Windows 7 OS and up to 1.5TB of storage. An Nvidia graphics card can be added for improved multimedia capabilities. The laptop's price varies by region: It starts at £739.99 (US$1,156) in the U.K.

    Asus's Thunderbolt laptop coming

    Asus showed off a G55 gaming laptop with a 15.6-inch screen and Thunderbolt port at the Computex trade show in Taiwan. The laptop is already available with a Mini-DisplayPort monitor connection, but the company said it may replace that with a Thunderbolt port on some models. Thunderbolt supports PCI-Express for data transfers and DisplayPort to connect monitors. The G55 models with Thunderbolt were due in early July in some regions, but Asus wasn't immediately available for comment on when the laptops will ship. The G55VW laptop comes with Intel's Core i7 or i5 processors and a choice of graphics cards, ports and storage options. A GS55VW model without Thunderbolt is available for $1,220 on Amazon.com.

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