Versatile, good-looking, and fast enough for most applications, the Buffalo MiniStation Thunderbolt HD-PATU3 makes an excellent buy for those looking for a portable Thunderbolt storage device.
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82
Conclusion: We like it
The dual-interface Buffalo MiniStation Thunderbolt gets blazing speeds using either USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt, and is a great drive to get if you have a Mac laptop that includes Thunderbolt but not USB 3.0. It's priced well below other portable Thunderbolt drives, includes a Thunderbolt cable (something Apple charges $50 for), and is a handy way to share large files between a Thunderbolt-equipped Mac and USB 3.0-capable PC. … show more
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Since a significant portion of Apple's MacBook line now uses lower capacity flash storage, you'll need a place to put your large media files. The Buffalo Ministation Thunderbolt has a price premium over a plain USB 3.0 drive, but you'll get the much faster Thunderbolt interface. For video mavens,...
Read the full review →If you have a late 2011 Mac with Thunderbolt, or a 2012 model that supports USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt, this drive will be great for backing up or storing your data, though its performance is hampered by its rotating drive platters.
Read the full review →The higher price point of the Thunderbolt interface may turn off some customers...But this may not matter if you're looking for an upgrade from USB 2.0 (or even FireWire) to Thunderbolt -- the speed jumps may make it worth the additional price.
Read the full review →Buffalo's speedy MiniStation portable hard drive complements MacBooks nicely and includes both Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 interfaces on the same drive, but it's not significantly faster using either interface versus the other.
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marc
The dual-interface Buffalo Ministation Thunderbolt gets blazing speeds using both USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt. In informal tests, using USB 3.0 on a recent Samsung laptop and Thunderbolt on a Mac mini, I easily transferred a 1.7GB file in well under 20 seconds, compared to about 1 1/2 minutes using...
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fbartolini
Disappointing performance. the drive speed is very low to take any real advantage of the thunderbolt port. Only slightly better speeds than even a regular USB2 drive.
Read the full review →How it stacks up
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